Meet Our Team

Dr. Hess graduated from NAU summa cum laude with BS degrees in zoology and chemistry. He then went to UC Davis for his DVM. He practiced for two years in Vacaville with his first mentor, Warren Myers, VMD. In 1982, he went full-time with Peter Morse, DVM at SVH.

Dr. Hess views SVH as a technologically advanced hospital with highly skilled doctors and support staff. More than the tools to practice high-quality medicine, our compassionate, committed, and professional team is the core of our being. We are extremely proud of our work for all the pets and their caregivers in our community.

Dr. Mara Bleviss has been an associate Veterinarian at SVH since 1986. She received her DVM from UC Davis. She married in 1992 to Michael Edwards and has 3 adult children: Nathan, Hannah, and Jacob. Her professional interests include internal medicine/critical care, soft tissue surgery, and rabbit medicine/surgery. Her hobbies include cooking, gardening, traveling, hiking, and any event with family. She currently has 2 rescue dogs, 4 cats, 1 noisy bird, and a fish.

Dr. Shelley Flowers joined SVH in June 1996 after graduating from UC Davis Veterinary School. She grew up in San Diego with a family that always had a variety of pets. Her interest in animals began at a very young age. It was fostered by having many animal-related activities in the area, including a variety of nature-related classes during the summers at the Natural History Museum and visiting the Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and Sea World. Her father grew up on a ranch in southeastern San Diego County, and many times during the summers, the family would go back and visit family friends on their ranches. Dr. Flowers attended UC Riverside and obtained a B.S. in Biology in 1991, then attended UC Davis, receiving her DVM in 1996. As a veterinarian, she is there to help families keep their pets as healthy and happy as possible. It is a blessing to be with a family each step of their pet’s life.

Dr. Flowers is married to Eric, who loves car rides, listening to music, and flying. Currently, she has two pets. Sundae was adopted from Silverado after she had been abandoned. She recently celebrated her 16th birthday. She is a feisty, long, hair torti cat with a tortitude! Luckily, she has mellowed with age, but she will still give a good bite or kick if she is not happy about something. And then there is Gage, our 3-year-old Doberman, who is very full of life and always into mischief. Her hobbies include going for walks, enjoying car rides, chasing squirrels out of the yard, picking up couch cushions and carrying them around the house, eating cat toys, and pulling the stuffing out of the furniture when you are not looking. In her free time, Dr. Flowers enjoys reading, genealogy research, gardening, and hiking.

Dr. Juliana Rockwood has been practicing at SVH since 2009. Growing up in Napa, Dr. Rockwood knew from a young age that she wanted to one day become a veterinarian. Her interest in veterinary medicine first brought her to Silverado Veterinary Hospital while in high school, where she worked as a kennel assistant and later a veterinary technician. After graduating from Napa High School in 1997, she attended Cornell University in New York, receiving a BA in Biology in 2001.

Dr. Rockwood went on to receive MS and DVM degrees from Colorado State University, graduating in 2008. Immediately after graduation, she completed a one-year rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the Sacramento Veterinary Referral Center before rejoining the team at SVH. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and spending time with her family, which includes her husband, Chris, son Matthew, born in 2011, daughter Maya, born in 2014, two cats, and an old mutt named Sam.

Dr. Caitlin Underhill grew up in Napa, and since a young age, she has always had a passion for animals. After graduating from Napa High School she attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science. Dr. Underhill then finished out her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian by attending Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she graduated in 2017.

That same summer, she married her high school sweetheart and began practicing as a full-time veterinarian at Silverado. She traveled back from Mississippi with two new companions, her beloved dogs, Blue and Tracker. One of her most memorable animal experiences was traveling to Costa Rica and Nicaragua to participate in local spay/neuter and wellness clinics to educate and control the animal population. She continues to enjoy giving back to the community she grew up in and has been frequently spotted at local vaccination and wellness clinics. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, playing with her pups, and spending time with her friends and family.

Dr. Renee Michell is from a small town on the Big Island of Hawaii called Waikoloa and had the desire to become a veterinarian at a very young age. After graduating from Kealakehe High School in 2008, she moved to Oklahoma, where she attended Oklahoma City University on a women’s wrestling scholarship. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Oklahoma City University in 2012. While studying there, she met her husband, Hieu. Dr. Michell then attended Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she received her DVM in 2017. After graduation, she moved back to Oklahoma to be with her husband and worked with small animal general practices, emergency hospitals, and shelter medicine for 3 years. Dr. Michell then received the opportunity to move to Napa to work alongside one of her best friends from vet school, Dr. Underhill, and joined the SVH team in February 2020. Dr. Michell resides in Napa with her husband, a CPA for Crimson Wine Group, along with their dog, Mama Bear, and two cats, Kabuki and Baby Cat. When not at work, she enjoys Pure Barre, running with her husband and dog, and discovering the variety of local organic food that Napa has to offer.

HOSPITAL MANAGER, RVT

Kirsten started her journey at SVH in 2012. She has worked her way through various roles in veterinary medicine from kennel technician to RVT. The most recent accomplishment is becoming the hospital manager she is today. During her employment, she attended and graduated from UC Davis with her Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science and soon after passed the state boards to become a RVT. Kirsten’s level of dedication is only rivaled by her level of
investment in the veterinary field.

In her free time Kirsten enjoys raising service dogs, hiking, and watching musicals.

Amy has been working at SVH as a receptionist since 2007. She was born & raised in Benicia and now lives in the beautiful Napa Valley. Among spending time with her cats & loving chihuahua, she enjoys gardening, traveling, & spending time with friends & family.