I think most people would agree that with all of the changes that have come over the last 30 years (hello iPhone) veterinarians have seen more than most service based industries. The US veterinarian population has tipped to being primarily female and medications and therapies previously unimagined have become commonplace. You can now find a dermatologist, internist, surgeon and cardiologist for your pet in addition to the vet down the street.
Another startling event has taken place, which is the consolidation of veterinary practices. In 1990, 90% of veterinary practices were locally owned and independent whereas today 40% of all veterinarians are employed by some sort of multi-site corporation. With 17% of licensed vets in the US today working outside of clinical practice, that leaves 43% of vets in privately held clinics and hospitals.
The Impact of Corporate Ownership
So, why does this matter? Consolidation of practices can certainly bring some benefits like better buying power to lower the cost of medications and more resources for training young vets and support staff. It has some downsides, though, that the average pet owner may not be aware of.
At this point, the corporate groups buying and starting veterinary clinics have almost exclusively non-veterinary professionals as heads or majority stock holders. These groups have the same goal as any large business, to make money for their shareholders.
Don’t get me wrong, unless your local veterinary clinic is registered as a not-for-profit, making money is one of the goals. I can assure you though, making money is not the primary goal of any veterinarian (working in local or consolidated practice). If I may toot our collective horns, we all got into veterinary school which is significantly harder than medical and dental school with the same pre-requisites. However MDs, DOs, and dentists all earn more than veterinarians withsimilar lifestyle requirements once you are on the job. That is not to bash our human healthcare providers, but to emphasize that if we wanted to make a bunch of money, we could have.
When the practice is owned by non-veterinarians who are not onsite, it becomes easier to ignore the impacts of profit driven decisions. It is much easier to say no to a set of puppy eyes you never see.
In your local veterinary clinic, the image of Mittens and Fido sits in our mind alongside decisions on how to deal with tariffs and rising cost of living for our support staff. In a corporate owned practice, there is a legal duty to think about profit and money sent to shareholders above all else. Only a Certified B corp is allowed to have primary goals outside of shareholder profit and at this point only one group (Venture capital backed Small Door Vet) has made that transition.
Why Choosing Local Still Matters
If you want to understand more about the pressure driving corporatization of veterinary medicine and other industries, I can’t recommend the 2 part series from Freakonomics, “Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog?” enough.
The podcast’s host had a strange and upsetting experience at his longtime veterinary practice and dug to find they had been purchased by Thrive. Thrive is the private equity owned group that bought and subsequently shut down Spartanburg’s only pet emergency clinic.
Maybe we can’t stop the corporatization of veterinary medicine. Maybe we are doomed to it like the hospital chains of America. But if you want to be a small part of keeping the decisions that affect your pet’s care with people that have seen you, please consider a locally owned veterinary clinic like Pet’s Favorite Vet.
Looking for care? Book an appointment or call us at (864) 686-8583.
