Meet Our Retired Staff

Mary Brummer, DVM, was raised in western New York. She received her undergraduate degree, a bachelor of arts in biology, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She then earned her doctorate from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, New York. Dr. Brummer spent her final summer before graduation from Cornell working at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center learning animal nursing care and assisting in surgical procedures. After graduation, she joined the team of veterinarians here. She has been practicing at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center since 1988.

Dr. Brummer has been interested in animal health and medicine since her teenage years. She was surrounded by science and art as a child, as were her three older brothers who also sought education and careers as physicians. During her college years, Dr. Brummer was encouraged by supportive veterinarians and professors who mentored her and stayed in touch through her veterinary training. Additionally, she developed strong personal friendships with classmates while at Cornell, including one in particular, David Brummer, now Dr. David Brummer, DVM, ACVIM, and they were later married. She returned to Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center when David completed his internal medicine residency.

Dr. Brummer is proud to be part of the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center because this hospital offers the most advanced, caring veterinary practice in the region. She believes that our excellent reputation is the result of many years of hard work, good service, and high standards of care. Major advantages for patients at our hospital include having veterinary specialists on staff, our stellar support staff, and our 24-hour emergency service available for all. The new hospital building is welcoming, bright, and clean—a very comfortable place for a pet to visit. Dr. Brummer sees sick and well patients for preventive care, annual checkups, vaccinations, surgery, and emergency treatment.

She enjoys gardening, music, playing flute, cooking, and floral design. She and Dr. David Brummer have two adult children-one recently graduated with his PhD and the other; she recently completed medical school and started a residency program.

Dr. Mary retired from OPVMC in May 2017 after 33 great years at the hospital. She is thoroughly enjoying all the riches of life including family, friends, food, travel and gardening.

David G. Brummer, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, knew he wanted to be a veterinarian since the third grade. After graduating from Amherst College, he entered the New State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in 1980. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, with distinction, in 1984. After completing an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, he returned to Cornell for a residency in small animal medicine. In 1991, he became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Medicine (ACVIM).

Dr. Brummer and his wife, Mary, are both veterinarians and both practice at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center. They met while classmates at Cornell. The Drs. Brummer have two children and one granddaughter. Gordon (father of Clarke) is an engineer and Hannah is a pediatrician; all reside in Boston.

Dr. Brummer joined the staff of the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center in 1993 and became a partner in 1995. As a board-certified internist, he specializes in internal medicine. This specialty includes diseases of the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, liver, hormonal organs, and nervous system. The average day might find him performing ultrasound examinations, performing minimally invasive biopsy procedures, and performing a neurologic examination.

When not at work, Dr. Brummer enjoys oil painting, reading, gardening, and spending time with his family. He is an active member and elder of the Orchard Park Presbyterian Church, where he regularly leads adult Christian education classes.

James Fingeroth, DVM, Diplomate ACVS, hails originally from New York City, but spent his college years in upstate New York, earning his bachelor of science degree (summa cum laude) at Hobart College in Geneva, and then his doctorate from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca.

After graduation from veterinary medical school, Dr. Fingeroth was selected as an intern/first-year resident at New York City's prestigious and world famous Animal Medical Center (AMC). He was then asked to stay on at the AMC for his surgery residency and completed his second year of training at the AMC. Dr. Fingeroth then had the opportunity to expand his horizons by completing the final years of residency training in small animal surgery at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Upon completing his formal residency, Dr. Fingeroth remained two more years at Ohio State, joining the faculty as an adjunct assistant professor of surgery. In 1988, Dr. Fingeroth passed the rigorous American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) certifying examination in veterinary surgery, making him at that time one of only 350 board-certified veterinary surgeons in the world. Only veterinarians who have completed a residency in surgery and passed the certifying examination are qualified to be called specialists in veterinary surgery. That same year, he relocated to Rochester, New York, where he helped found and establish Veterinary Specialists of Rochester.

Over the next 20 years, he helped recruit numerous other specialists to upstate New York and also helped train dozens of graduate veterinarians through internship and residency programs. He is proud to count a number of board-certified specialists in surgery, neurology, internal medicine, oncology, emergency medicine, pathology, dentistry, and ophthalmology among those he helped to train early in their post-graduate careers.

Dr. Fingeroth decided to pursue veterinary medicine as an ideal way to combine his compassion for and wanting in general to help animals, with his interest in science and medicine. He believes that the pursuit of post-graduate education and training through internship, formal residency, and time spent in a faculty position had the greatest influence on his career. These experiences not only provided him with skills and knowledge well beyond the basic veterinary degree, but also ingrained lifelong habits of keeping up with state of the art and seeking better solutions to problems encountered in the daily practice of veterinary medicine. The post-graduate experience also helped him to forge close relationships with leading specialists from around the globe, providing ongoing intellectual stimulation and camaraderie that carries on even decades later.

Dr. Fingeroth joined the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center in 2009 as the senior staff surgeon three days a week. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in various surgical fields, including orthopedics, neurosurgery, endocrine, and oncological (cancer) surgery. In addition to his work at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center, Dr. Fingeroth is a senior consultant to the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), which is an online consulting service for veterinarians around the world. He serves as reviewer for several major scientific journals, contributes chapters to a large number of widely read veterinary textbooks, is the author or co-author of numerous publications in scientific journals, consults with various industry partners in developing new surgical techniques and devices, and is the author/editor of the first ever veterinary textbook focused on intervertebral disc disease in dogs and cats.

In addition to his own clinical duties at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center, Dr. Fingeroth provides ongoing mentoring to Dr. Paul Kloc, and Dr. Flesher our two residency-trained veterinarians who also limit their practice to surgery, as well as providing consultations on surgical issues to our associate staff veterinarians in the community portion of our practice. He works closely with Drs. David Brummer and Kevin Kumrow, both board-certified internists here at the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center, and Dr. Ashley Case, medical oncologist, in providing state-of-the-art specialty services to our referral and community practice, as well as consulting on emergency cases. Dr. Fingeroth prides himself on his ability to help his patients through his surgical skills but he takes equal pride in assisting his clients by providing candid, easy-to-understand advice involving surgery, as well as finding ways to help pets without resorting to surgery.

His surgical expertise includes joint replacement (he has been performing total hip replacements since 1984), knee surgery, fracture repair, spinal and brain surgery, and a wide variety of thoracic and abdominal surgeries. He is also respected as an oncologic surgeon, including major tumor resections and reconstructions for maxillofacial and oral tumors, chest tumors, and other complex cases. Dr. Fingeroth's continuing goals are to provide the best service he can to his referred clients and to try to improve the overall level of quality of veterinary services offered at Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center and to the western New York community.

On a personal note, Dr. Fingeroth lives in Mendon, New York, with his wife, Robbie, and a menagerie that includes a large number of canines, cats, horses, and an assortment of rodents and fish. He is an avid Native American horseman and has been a licensed pilot since 1973. He enjoys flying for pleasure, business, and also provides charity flights for people through Angel Flight/Patient Airlift Services and for animals through Animal Rescue Flights and People N Paws. In his spare time when not flying or horseback riding/training, Dr. Fingeroth enjoys reading, music, native craftwork, hiking, and solitude.

L. Mark Hedges, DVM, grew up in central Ohio. He received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from The Ohio State University in 1982. Dr. Hedges joined the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center after graduation to work with Dr. Jack Laurie, DVM. In 1995, Dr. Hedges, along with his partners Dr. David Brummer DVM, ACVIM, and Dr. Susan Metzger DVM, purchased the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center from Dr. Laurie. Dr. Hedges was blessed to play a small part in an amazing team that worked together to help the practice grow in size and reputation. In 2017, after 22 years Dr. Hedges and his partners sold the practice to the current owners. Dr. Hedges has an interest in surgery and enjoys treating and providing health care for his patients.

Dr. Hedges is proud to say that his family is his greatest personal accomplishment. He and his wife, Grace have four wonderful daughters, and to date, six beautiful grandchildren. In his spare time, Dr. Hedges loves to visit his daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, who are scattered between New York, Ohio and Michigan. Since the sale of the practice, Dr. Hedges has had the time and pleasure to join his wife Grace in serving with Joni & Friends Wheels For the World. This is a ministry dedicated to distributing and donating refurbished wheel chairs to people with disabilities around the world. Since 2016, Dr. Hedges and Grace have worked in India three times and have also done training for wheelchair distributions in Peru. They hope to be able to continue serving those with disabilities with Wheels for the World for many years to come.

Since the death of “Buddy”, Dr. Hedges’ beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the Hedges household has been without a pet. This unfortunately is due to severe allergies that several of the new family members have towards cats and dogs. However, his love for animals continues to be satisfied by providing care for his clients and their pets.

Susan Metzger, DVM, was raised in the western New York area. She received her bachelor of science from Cornell in 1977 and her doctorate from the NYS College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell in 1983. Upon graduation, she joined the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center. She, along with Dr. Mark Hedges and Dr. David Brummer, purchased the practice from Dr. John Laurie in 1995. In 2017 they sold the practice to a group of their young, enthusiastic, talented and hard working associates.

Dr. Metzger decided to become a veterinarian when she was about 10 years old. Her mother is a great animal lover, and their home was always a place where the neighborhood kids brought sick, injured, or orphaned animals. While in high school, she developed a strong interest in science, so a career in veterinary medicine just seemed to make sense.

When not working, Dr. Metzger loves the outdoors and enjoys hiking, biking, skiing, and gardening. Her family consists of her husband, Jay; their two sons, Jon and Matthew; her beloved dog, Kiko and her lovable but challenging cat, Bandit.

Susan Mercer, DVM, obtained her undergraduate degree, a bachelor of science in animal science, from the University of New Hampshire. She received a master's degree in veterinary parasitology from Texas A&M. While working toward her master of science degree in veterinary parasitology, Dr. Mercer explored tick-borne diseases in dogs and this inspired her to seek more structured information than pursuit of her master's degree afforded her in hopes of better understanding the disease processes and how better to help dogs afflicted with tick-borne diseases. Therefore, Dr. Mercer then continued her education and obtained her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from The Ohio State University, where she was named to Phi Zeta, a national honor society upon graduation. After a brief stint as a large animal veterinarian, she now exclusively provides emergency care to pets, and has done so since joining Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center in 1991. She is a member of the AVMA, VECCS, NYSVMS, and AAHA.

Dr. Mercer always had a large menagerie of pets while growing up, and as she also worked for a veterinarian (who was also her Sunday school teacher) everyone brought her all the strays and injured animals to care for, much to her father's dismay! She is still taking care of sick and injured pets at night and feels this is her true calling and niche. She is honored to work with such a great medical team, especially at night, and is truly thankful to the clients who trust her to care for their pets in their crisis hour. Dr. Mercer says she doesn't know what she would do without emergency medicine that keeps her mind fresh and engaged.

Dr. Mercer is an outdoor enthusiast, and you will find her enjoying the outdoors year round. She loves hiking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. Dr. Mercer also competes internationally as an amateur woman atlatlist. She is proud of her ranking as an atlatlist (a specialized dart thrown with an atlatl), and in 2018 she ranked #1 women world atlatlist. Read more about the World Atlatl Association. This is a great accomplishment, as her father used to say she "couldn't hit the broadside of a barn"! When forced to be inside, she loves to read, stretch with yoga, or relax with tai chi and qigong. Someday she would like to retire to more fully take advantage of the natural outdoors and travel that she loves.