As a little girl growing up in Middletown, Delaware, Dr. Berkeridge knew she wanted to be a veterinarian and care for pets in her own hospital. The FFA program at Middletown High School was an excellent experience in learning the multiple aspects of animal care and prepared her for the Animal Science Program at the University of Delaware.

While at University of Delaware, Jessica worked at the Biotech Institute conducting research on anaerobic bacteria, fed and milked cows on the farm, and ran events for the College of Agricultural Science, graduating cum laude with honors. Each year, the State of Delaware awards two student scholarships to attend veterinary schools and Jessica won both awards in 2006, selecting to attend the University of Georgia. She is a 2010 graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine and proudly moved back to Delaware to practice medicine. Throughout her career, she has worked at a private practice, emergency care and at the corporate level, all the while planning her own hospital.

Summit Bridge Veterinary Hospital is her dream, a reality made possible by sharing the ownership with her family. Husband Stephen, parents Dave and Kelli, brother Scott and of course her son, Evan planned and oversaw the construction of SBVH which is now open for business. Jessica loves dogs and owns three- a mix breed named Kayla, a chocolate lab named Poppyseed, and a pit bull named Cheyla. Cheyla’s Rescue Foundation, operated in partnership with Summit Bridge Veterinary Hospital, is named after Cheyla, her loving rescued pit bull.

Dr. James Graves graduated from the University of Georgia in 2019. He started working in veterinary medicine after moving back into the Delaware area and decided to join the Summit Bridge family in March 2021. We are happy that Dr. Graves is on our team!

Dr. Zhang graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2017. She spent a lot of her spare time volunteering for spay and neuter events and being the infamous 'crazy bunny lady' by her classmates. She has been interested in exotic companion animals since her undergraduate days at University of Maryland College Park. Since graduating from PennVet, she started working at a small animal practice that also saw exotics, including ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, chinchillas, and reptiles.

She met her husband playing volleyball at her time at Penn and compromised between his family in Philadelphia and her family in Gaithersburg, MD by moving to Delaware. She has three furbabies all pictured: Paninya (the three-legged sassy Corgi), Harold (the tuxedo handsome man), and Rinny Rin (the sweetest little grey tabby). While her bunnies are no longer with her, JaeJae, DaeDae, and Yuki will always have a special place in her heart.

Sara is planning to join the SBVH family in July 2021. We are excited to have her with us.

Sara knew she wanted to be a veterinarian from a young age. In high school, she started working at a veterinary hospital as a kennel assistant and eventually worked her way up to a veterinary assistant. She then pursued pre-veterinary medicine at the University of Delaware. While there, she held a number of jobs including an internship with cooperative extension, milking cows, and performed research in a molecular genetics lab. She thoroughly enjoyed research which led her to obtain a master’s degree in her lab at UD before applying to veterinary school. Sara then pursued her veterinary degree at the University of Pennsylvania (PennVet). At PennVet she was passionately involved in extracurriculars and performed research in the pathology department. Sara’s love for Delaware caused her to move back and become part of the amazing team at Summit Bridge Veterinary Hospital.

In her spare time, Sara enjoys reading and has been an avid salsa dancer for nearly six years; she teaches classes at various places in Delaware and Philadelphia. She is pictured here with her 12 year old cat Nicholas and her dog Helen, who recently passed away. Her other pets include her new rescue Jimbo, who is a great Pyrenees/lab mix and her other cat Carlton who was a blood donor at PennVet.