Ann McEwen was raised in the Pioneer Valley, and her family always had a dog or two and a houseful of cats. She graduated from Colby College in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French. Next she attended the School of Visual Arts, which led her to a career in advertising and design in New York City. She moved back to the Valley in 1981 and opened her own advertising & design shop in Northampton, serving both local and national clients.

In 1997, she began the planning and creation of Riverbend Animal Hospital with Dr. Thomson. Soon after Riverbend was launched, she closed her design firm to focus on the business of the hospital. She now oversees the financial health, personnel matters, and long-term planning for the hospital.

Ann loves to spend time with her family and pets, watching her sons play sports, and traveling. She is a hospice volunteer and sings with the Valley Rock Choir. She loves art, photography, singing, fitness, backpacking (especially Grand Canyon), skiing, and The New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle.

Sharon Sweeney joined us in May 2012. She graduated from the veterinary technology program at Becker College in 1992, earning her certification as a Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT). For the past 20 years, she has worked at several animal hospitals in central and eastern Massachusetts.

At Riverbend, the multi-talented Sharon oversees the smooth running of the hospital, utilizing her organizational strengths, her excellent communication skills, and her extensive veterinary technician experience. A firm believer in delivering nothing less than excellent customer service, she also directly manages the front desk. And she is always willing and able to lend a hand in the medicine department.

Sharon lives in Hatfield with her husband and their three cats. They are avid movie watchers. In her spare time Sharon also enjoys reading, cooking, and going to sci-fi conventions.

Margaret Flaherty has been with Riverbend Animal Hospital since opening day in 1999. Her responsibilities cover every area of the hospital, from providing support to the doctors and veterinary technicians, supervising our laboratory, working with chemotherapy and dental patients, to supporting the reception desk, trouble-shooting our computer system, and handling all of our ordering needs.

Margaret graduated from Stonehill College in eastern Massachusetts in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and attended graduate school in zoology at the University of Rhode Island. She is a Certified Veterinary Technician.

In 1978 she joined the staff of the Brockton Animal Hospital and became the nursing supervisor in 1985. She moved to western Massachusetts in 1998 to take a position with Rowley Memorial Animal Hospital/MSPCA as the internal medicine specialty technician and the assistant nursing supervisor. Margaret’s areas of interest in veterinary medicine include oncology and the clinical laboratory.

Margaret lives in Florence with her partner and their five children. The family also includes Hercules (a basset mix), Grace (a black lab mix), four cats, two cockatiels, and assorted fish. Margaret enjoys cooking, gardening, and reading.

Shauna Kosak joined Riverbend’s Front Desk team in March 2012. She has worked in the veterinary field for nine years as both a receptionist and a veterinary assistant. With a kind heart and deep love for animals, Shauna has been a foster mom for many cats and dogs, fostering her first baby kitten when she was just 13 years old.

Shauna lives in Holyoke with her husband (Scott), two amazing children (Coraline and Ashton), two crazy rescue dogs (Homer and Yogurt), their intrepid disabled rescue cat (Napoleon), and a sweet snugly kitty (Eva).

After a long career in retail sales, Sara made the switch to veterinary care and never looked back. In 2009, Sara started working as an adoption counselor at the Dakin Humane Society. From there, she took on a role in Dakin’s high volume spay/neuter clinic. After an intensive training at Humane Alliance in North Carolina, Sara became a veterinary assistant. Sara spent over 7 years at Dakin learning every position in the clinic (except veterinarian!). Eventually, it was time for a change from the very specialized environment of a spay/neuter clinic and she ventured into private practice as a veterinary receptionist. Sara joined our crew at Riverbend in April of 2019 and we love having her here. This is a perfect position for Sara, blending her love of animals, people and science. Her spot behind the front desk at Riverbend is a dream come true! Working with a group of like-minded, compassionate people who love animals makes it a joy to come to work every day!

When not answering the phones or snuggling animals at work, Sara enjoys making art and music, bike riding and racing triathlon. She lives at home with her husband and son. They have 2 complementary colored tuxedo kitties, Charlene and Mystery and a cattle dog mix named Rue.