Dr. Atkinson graduated from Washington State with her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degree over 20 years ago. Dr. Atkinson has worked in emergency medicine in Texas, Connecticut, and New York; as the medical director of busy hospitals in Bushwick, Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Upper East Side; as chief of staff of a Connecticut hospital; and as a surgery instructor at The University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. During her career, she has focused on improving the lives of companion animals and strengthening the human-animal bond. Dr. Atkinson treats all types of family pets, from the tiniest pocket pet to pot-bellied pigs, believing that all pets deserve the best care possible.

During her final year of veterinary school, Dr. Atkinson became certified in veterinary acupuncture, and continues to explore and enjoy the benefits of integrative medicine for her patients. She believes in treating the whole patient, and in addition to traditional modalities, such as vaccines, radiology, ultrasound, dentistry, lab work and surgery, she also incorporates holistic practices, such as nutritional counseling, acupuncture, cold laser therapy, and stem cell therapy. 

When the time comes for a pet to cross the rainbow bridge, Dr. Atkinson firmly believes in offering end-of-life services in the comfort of a patient’s home, instead of on a cold, sterile exam table, and regularly travels to clients’ homes to help her patients pass with dignity. 

Dr. Atkinson lives in downtown Brooklyn. She has two wonderful, grown children—Justin, a biochemist, and Maddison, a film editor—as well as a bevy of 4 legged family members, including Maude, a 17-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Genvieve, a 15-year-old labradoodle, Whit, a 15-year-old domestic shorthair cat, Bear, a 6-year-old rottweiler, and Radames, a 1-year-old sphynx. In her spare time, she loves eating out, listening to live music, riding her bike, reading, and going on road trips with the clan, and is building a house on the top of a mountain in the Blue Smoke Mountains.

Dr. Nicole Dumas graduated as a doctor of veterinary medicine at the top 1% of her class from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. Since graduating, she has worked expanding her vast knowledge base in exotic animal care and companion animal care along with working closely with animal conservationists rehabilitating and rescuing injured and displaced wildlife. She was integral in saving several protected and endangered species that were illegally brought into Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2017, Dr. Dumas migrated to New York where she married her college sweetheart and fast tracked her path to become accredited and licensed to work in the United States. Dr. Dumas worked as an associate in Staten Island, and as an acting medical director at a busy two doctor hospital in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn prior to starting this journey to open H.E.A.L with Dr. Atkinson and Jonathan Alvarado. Dr. Dumas is looking forward to practicing in the hospital facility, but will be doing house calls as well. She will continue to expand her exotic practice, and surgical prowess and is dedicated to ensuring high quality, comprehensive, cutting edge medicine for her patients and the community.

Dr. Dumas has two adorable critters, a vivacious rescued American Bulldog, named Jake from Statefarm and a cuddly, boisterous hooded rat named Felix Rattus Beans. She also has pets in Trinidad where she is from, a Rottweiler named Mitzi and an adopted stray cat named Sir Oliver Nibbles.