Meet Our Veterinary Team
Meet the Veterinarians & Team of Hatton Veterinary Hospital! We’re pleased to provide exceptional vet care for your pets!
Get To Know Our Team!
We are solely dedicated to your pet’s care! We look forward to getting to know you, and we hope you’ll take the time to scroll down and get to know us.
Doctors
Management
Tamiko
Hospital Manager
Tamiko has been working in the veterinary field for 24 years. She takes pride in providing exceptional customer service when it comes to veterinary medicine. The success of the veterinary practice is contingent on the team’s ability to create and foster relationships with their clients and patients.
She finds it very rewarding to see the hard work that the team does provide immense joy and peace to their clients. Their patients are integral members of their client’s families.
She likes to spend her free time with her family and friends, weightlifting, working out with her daughter, cooking, meditating, and traveling.
Suzanne
Lead Technician
Bio Coming soon
Registered Veterinary Technicians
Lisa
RVT
Lisa Perry has been practicing veterinary medicine for 27 years at Hatton Veterinary Hospital. She obtained her RVT license 17 years ago and completed her schooling in the Veterinary Technician Program at Consumes River College. Lisa takes pride in creating special bonds with all her Feline friends. She believes she can understand them on a level others cannot. She truly enjoys being around animals and cares greatly for their health and well-being.
In her free time, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family. Her husband and daughter love to vacation as often as they can; some of their favorite places to visit are Disney and Hawaii.
Dr. Kelsey
Veterinarian
Dr. Kelsey Woodson-Hill earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from UC Davis and has five years of experience in small animal care. She has a special interest in animal behavior and enjoys surgery, ultrasonography, and caring for a wide variety of medical cases.
Dr. Woodson-Hill has wanted to become a veterinarian since she was four years old. Her lifelong love for animals inspired her to pursue a career dedicated to making a difference in the lives of pets and their families everyday. She believes the best care comes from working collaboratively with pet parents to find solutions that support both their pets’ health and their family’s needs.
Outside of work, she enjoys swimming, reading, crocheting, gardening, and spending time with her husband and their dog, Theo.
Dr. Bell
Veterinarian
Dr. Carissa Bell earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from UC Davis. She is certified in RECOVER Basic Life Support, Diversity and Inclusion in Veterinary Medicine through Purdue University, and Fear Free certified, with advanced training in low-stress handling techniques. She brings several years of experience in veterinary medicine with a special interest in preventative medicine.
Dr. Bell’s passion for veterinary medicine began early in life, driven by a deep appreciation for animals and the ability to create meaningful relationships with pets and pet parents. Her time working as a veterinary assistant strengthened her commitment to animal care and reinforced her desire to become a veterinarian.
Outside of work, Dr. Bell enjoys playing video games, reading, singing karaoke with friends, and spending time with her husband, their dog Horton, and two cats, Oliver and Toothless.
Dr. Wingate
Veterinarian
Dr. Wingate was born on the central California coast but moved when young to Pennsylvania, where she had an assortment of pet frogs, rodents, and two cats. One of her treasured memories was spending two weeks living with an Amish Family from whom she picked her first kitten and named him Lord Toffee Leopard Belly, who lived a long and adventurous life. She moved back to California just before college and attended UC Davis, majoring in biology, which fed her strong interest in both plants and animals. She was accepted by the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School but elected to go back to UC Davis for her veterinary degree. She shares her mini farm with rescue cats and dogs, as well as horses, sheep, goats, and a partner who once said she could get a capybara once they are down to two dogs. She enjoys gardening, traveling, camping in their vintage trailer, and making gourmet pizzas with friends and family.
Dr. O’Neil
Veterinarian
Dr. O’Neil is a Midwesterner, born and raised in northeastern Minnesota. She graduated from the University of Minnesota–Duluth in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She then attended Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine to pursue her veterinary degree. She concurrently completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Iowa State University and her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Iowa in 2020. Upon graduation, she moved to Elk Grove, California, with her husband and their sweet orange tabby cat, Nelly. They recently adopted an Australian Cattle Dog mix puppy, Josie.
Dr. O’Neil has interests in surgery, dentistry, and particularly exotic and wildlife medicine, as she has had experience in wildlife conservation and medicine in South Africa and at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. She is also Fear Free Certified. In her spare time, she likes to spend time with her family and friends, hiking, reading, running, doing yoga, traveling, and skiing. She looks forward to serving the Elk Grove community.
Dr. Tieu
Veterinarian
Originally from Sacramento, CA, Dr. Michelle Tieu graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 2011 with a major in general biology and a minor in biological anthropology. She worked at a small animal/exotics practice in La Jolla, CA, just before starting her studies at Western University of Health Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine. She received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine with Phi Zeta honors in 2016.
Dr. Tieu then completed a year-long intensive small animal specialty internship at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital, San Marcos before moving to the Pasadena area, where she previously practiced for 6 years. She has now moved back to her hometown of Sacramento and is excited to be providing veterinary care to the Elk Grove community.
She takes pleasure in being detail-oriented and communication-driven, and she enjoys building trust and close bonds with her patients and their owners.
Her professional interests include internal medicine, cardiology, wellness, and geriatric medicine. She is a proud member of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association (SVVMA), and California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA).
Outside of the office, Dr. Tieu enjoys musicals, snacking, drawing, watching movies, and being a homebody with her husband, two kids (3 and 1 years old), Golden Retriever Azula, and Savannah cat Saphira. When she retires, she plans to become a Disney animator!
Dr. Takata
Veterinarian
Dr. Laura Takata has been practicing since 1986 and went to school at UC Davis, BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology, then UC Davis, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. After many years of practice, Dr. Takata has developed a good intuitive sense when it comes to understanding and diagnosing a pet’s illness. She puts her heart and soul into her work and takes her job very seriously. She tries to treat her clients like family and treat her patients as if they were her own.
In her free time, she loves to cook (vegetarian/vegan foods), and when time allows, she hopes to get back into practicing and playing the ukulele. She loves to spend quality time at home with her family and pets. Dr. Takata likes to hike in the Sierras and spend time on the Coast. She looks forward to continuing her studies in Chinese acupuncture and herbal medicine.
Dr. Nguyen
Veterinarian
Dr. Lily Nguyen was born and raised in the Sacramento area, specifically Elk Grove! She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2017. She then went on to pursue her doctorate of veterinary medicine from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 2023. After graduation, she went straight to practice, working at a general practice and urgent care for a year before finding a strong passion for shelter medicine. She then went on to work at a local animal shelter, providing veterinary care to both homeless and owned pets in the underserved community. During this time, she developed a special interest in surgery, infectious disease, preventative care, and community medicine. She is now excited to be back in general practice serving her hometown of Elk Grove. She enjoys building relationships with her clients, and she prides herself in providing a wide spectrum of care to her patients.
In addition to her work, Dr. Nguyen is a proud pet owner with 2 cats and 2 dogs. She enjoys her time outside of work by watching movies (especially horror films), trying out new restaurants in the area, and playing video games/board games with her friends, family, and spouse.
Dr. Hatton
Veterinarian
Dr. Hatton and his wife Elizabeth opened Hatton Veterinary Hospital in 1993 after moving from the Greenhaven area, where he owned and operated Greenhaven Veterinary Hospital, and first met both Drs. Takata and Ku. He is a graduate of the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and has a particular interest in general and orthopedic surgery
“My hobbies include sailing, fishing, woodworking, and spending time with his grandson (usually fishing!).”
Dr. Ku
Veterinarian
Dr. Gloria Ku has been practicing for over 30 years and graduated from Dartmouth College and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
She enjoys working with families and individuals to provide the best care they can for their animal companions. She has a particular interest in acupuncture as an adjunct to traditional care, dentistry, surgery, internal medicine, and geriatric care. Fostering her relationships with animal companions and nurturing her shared quality of life is her motivator.
Dr. Ku enjoys hiking with her dogs, traveling to new places, and trying new foods, especially in the company of family, friends, and their pets too!
Dr. Chen
Medical Director
Dr. Brian Chen attended the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine and has been practicing for ten years. He believes each pet is an individual and a treasured member of the family. His goal is to keep pets healthy so that they can spend as much time with their humans as possible.
In his free time, he likes to build Lego models, play video games, cook, bake, and eat.
Dr. Cleary
Veterinarian
Dr. Cleary is from the foothills just outside the Sacramento Valley. She received her undergraduate education at UC San Diego and graduated from the UC Davis School of
Veterinary Medicine in 2013. She has one well-loved tortoiseshell kitty at home along with her husband Hai and a greyhound niece, and 11 kitty nieces and nephews. Dr. Cleary has an interest in preventative medicine and dentistry.
She is a devout cat lover but enjoys caring for her canine patients, also. Her non-fur ball interests are sewing and scuba diving. She is also the Ms. Fix It at her home and for her two sisters. She is an equipment enthusiast at home and at the clinic. Dr. Cleary has several cameras for macro eye photos in the clinic and for taking photos while diving.