Meet Our Leadership Team
Dr. Caitrine Hellenga, Medical Director
Dr. Hellenga believes that her pets are her greatest angels and teachers. Dr. Hellenga is an up-front doctor whose sincere advice generates a trusting relationship with her clients. She will think creatively to solve medical problems when it comes to a critical time in your pet’s life. She is also a very compassionate person. This compassion helps lift the burden from you while she administers superior care for your pet. Having pets her whole life in combination with handling her current dog’s severe allergies and back problems have taught Dr. Hellenga to be understanding of client stress in all types of challenging situations.
Dr. Caitrine Hellenga is a 1998 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. She came to Winter Park Veterinary Hospital after graduation and practiced here for 9 years. In 2007 she moved to St. Louis be closer to her family. While in St. Louis she practiced at a 24/7 emergency and critical care hospital that provides a full range of intensive care services as well as routine health care.
Dr. Hellenga has returned to WPVH as the Medical Director. She has a special interest in dermatology, dentistry, emergency and critical care, preventive care, avian and small mammal medicine, German shepherds, soft tissue surgery, compassionate euthanasia, and staff training.
She was valedictorian of her veterinary school class at the University of Tennessee, a school known for its avian and exotic medicine training. She was honored with membership in Phi Beta Kappa and the veterinary honor society Gamma Sigma Delta.
Dr. Hellenga shares her home with her husband Tim and enjoys walking their dog Harper, cooking, and reading murder mysteries.
Caitrine is Irish for Catherine and is pronounced: KAY-trinn (rhymes with Caitlin). Hellenga is Dutch and can be pronounced: HEL-eng-guh or hel-LENG-guh as your tongue will allow.
Billy Hess, MBA, MA Hospital Manager
Billy literally grew up at Winter Park Vet as the oldest son of the founders of the modern-day Winter Park Veterinary Hospital. He is proud and humbled to have the honor to continue both his family’s and Winter Park’s legacy to the next generation.
He spent many summers helping out at Winter Park Vet as a kid. Baseball was his true passion as a child and he pursued that as far as he could go. As a native Floridian from Casselberry, he played at Lyman High School and then went on to play 4 years at Columbia University serving as team captain his final season and winning numerous awards. He always wanted to play professional baseball so when an opportunity arose after graduation to play and coach overseas he jumped at the chance. One season led to another and eight years later – having played in Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Australia – he retired to join the family business and help his parents find a path to retirement after 30 years of building Winter Park Vet. He moved back to Central Florida with his wife Eva, whom he met in Europe, and is from Hungary. She is a trained lawyer and now loves the arts and culture of the Winter Park area.
Billy has always been passionate about pets and still remembers his first pet, a cockatiel named Jellybean. He fondly remembers her lovely whistle when he would come home from school or fed her in the morning. He also shares many fond memories of his dad, Dr. Hess, bringing home pets to nurse back to health overnight or wildlife animals to rehab and help get back to living life in the wild. He recalls, “We had a baby deer and flying squirrel that lived with us for a while as child while they were recovering and it was just magical to see such amazing animals up close”. These early memories serve as the foundation for Winter Park Vet continuing their close partnership with Audubon and serving Central Florida’s wildlife as Billy has taken over day to day management of the hospital.
Having received a BA in Psychology and International Relations as well as a MA in International Relations and MBA, Billy’s main focus at Winter Park Veterinary Hospital today is to continue its legacy of providing the absolute best in care and service to our patients and clients. In addition, his family has always believed in making Winter Park Vet a great place to work and grow while serving this amazing profession.
Billy and Eva are passionate about their pets having 2 dogs, a saluki named Circe and a Golden named Mici. They have also rescued 5 cats over the years, all of which have Hungarian names. Billy is an avid golfer and together they love traveling, hiking, and going back to Hungary to visit family and friends.
He looks forward to welcoming your family to the Winter Park Veterinary Hospital Family!
Kathryn
Bio Coming Soon
Lauren
Bio Coming Soon
Lindsay
Lindsay was born and raised in Southern New Hampshire, where she attended the University of New Hampshire and earned her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Pre-Veterinary Medicine. For the past 18 years, she has worked as a certified veterinary technician at various large emergency, surgery, and specialty hospitals. Her passion has always been teaching, training, and sharing her love and knowledge of the veterinary field with her peers.
After losing her beloved boxer, Cody, Lindsay recently moved to Florida. One of her favorite memories with Cody was when they would visit Starbucks and he would eagerly anticipate his pup-cup, standing on the center console with his head on her shoulder as they approached the barista.
In August 2022, Lindsay joined Winter Park Veterinary Hospital to continue her career in educating, training, and supporting the hospital’s family culture. In her spare time, she enjoys going to the beach, horseback riding, and experiencing the world of drift car racing. Lindsay also loves to travel and hopes to do more in the future.
Kayla
Kayla is a native Floridian who grew up in South Florida. She has always had a passion for helping people and has worked in various customer service roles for almost 15 years. Six years ago, she entered the veterinary field and discovered a new passion for helping people and their pets. This field has allowed her three passions to merge into a rewarding career – helping people, loving animals, and learning something new every day.
Kayla has a senior dog named Rufus, a chihuahua beagle mix, who will climb any obstacle for food. Despite Rufus’s antics over the years, Kayla loves him more each day. Recently, she added a yellow lab named Cali to her family. Although Cali was not a planned addition, Kayla couldn’t be happier that she came into her life. Her constantly wagging tail never fails to bring a smile to Kayla’s face.
Outside of spoiling her two furballs, Kayla loves reading poolside and making memories with friends and family.
