You made this video right around the time I retired from Hills after 34 years. The main reason I decided was watching the shift to corporate vet medicine. Not only how staff were treated but also seeing vets told what their protocols would be and what products they would push. I loved sharing nutritional info on prescription diets with doctors and their staff, even showing Hills superiority over Purina and RC in most cases, but when Mars now owned the clinic and brought in RC, it didn’t matter which diet was superior. Which one made the most money! I know there are wonderful veterinarians working in corporate hospitals but I will only trust my pups to an individually owned hospital where doctors make the choices, not corporate profiteers. I hope there will always be those clinics. It will be harder for them to compete, not getting the deals Mars gets, but they will always be in demand. I’m grateful I enjoyed the good old days of the veterinary profession!
Our privately owned practice owner refused to sell to corporate. He was approached multiple times instead he sold his practice to our team and became an ESOP. Amazing concept. We are all owners now. We are all literally invested in the success of 1st Pet Veterinary Centers. We have kept our voice and it is the most amazing opportunity as individuals and the service has stayed top of the class.
I'm so thankful my boss refuses to go corporate. She has been approached numerous times, but has declined each and every time. She has a good working relationship with several specialists that work for practices that have gone corporate and their horror stories only reinforce her stance on staying private. She wholeheartedly agrees that things are going to boil over at these corporate practices, especially with the added stress of the shortage of veterinary professionals. I regularly question my desire to go to vet school. I love the field, but often worry about it's future. Thanks for another educational video.
We need to put a wall between patient and investor. Veterinary hospitals and their private equity investors are proving that the private equity investor needs to STAY OUT. Their primary interest is not the best patient care they can make money on (which already happens without their meddling), it's just maximizing profit at the expense of everything else. This has proven to harm the patient, the pet, the workers, and the integrity of the hospital. This is one area that I think absolutely needs a government blocking private investment. There's lives and humane treatment and dignity at stake.
Of the 14 veterinary practices in our county, 11 are now owned by one of the corporate entities you mention. I just sold my practice (I’ve owned it for 34 years) to one of my associate practitioners because my husband and I decided we’d burn the place down before we let a chain have it. We were offered a lot over market value by several chains, so I understand why it happens so much. But, we took a little less than market value in order for our associate to qualify. It was a decision we were happy to make, because we know she’ll carry on our practice philosophy. I cannot imagine letting Mars dictate how my practice runs in the future.
@@TraciWatson-x6c It already did. We sold the practice to an associate who started as a volunteer when she was fifteen. It was always the plan for her to buy the practice when we retired, and she did.
Years ago, in RI, law was only Veterinarians could own and operate Veterinary practices. Once VCA came in, it set the stage for non-Vet entities to buy up practices. I miss the old days and am now glad I am a retired CVT. I saw my friends in VCA practices and they later all moved out of their fields entirely, Vet Techs, Receptionists and kennel personnel. I feel badly for those who entered any level of Vet Med in the 21st century.
It’s the same in the UK. In 2013, 85% of clinics were independent. Ten years later, after allowing non vets to own, it’s 45% and the profession is in crisis.
Thank you for putting this much-needed video out there. As a pet owner for 30+ years, I have watched many local practices get sold to larger conglomerates and it's NEVER to the benefit of either the staff or the pets. In our metro area, we had only one ER/specialty clinic for many years. Then, in the mid 00s one opened up out on the periphery (likely due to less costly real-estate) - they were great but quite far out for true emergencies. Then a third opened in a sort of "mid-town" area that was easily accessible. They were wonderful - if you had a pet that was admitted in ER and needed additional care, they had their own internal medicine DEPARTMENT that your pet would "transfer" to, not unlike being admitted to the hospital from the ER for a person. The internal medicine day rate was slightly less than the ER rates, great for pets who were improving but maybe needed another day or two on IV fluids. They essentially had a day rate and an after hours rate. The vets were very approachable and willing to work with you. Then Blue Pearl came along and I watched as the quality of care and staffing decline as costs went up. No more internal medicine department, just one Board Certified internal medicine vet that came on certain days. It has been a steady decline since then. Thankfully, several of the vets who once worked at Blue Pearl broke off and opened their own critical care office. Make no mistake - private equity firms WILL make money on vet practices whether they continue to prosper or they fail. They do not understand veterinary practice, they do not care about staff burnout and they definitely do not care about animals. This is the nature of private equity - they exist SOLELY to make money for shareholders, NOT to improve any business (see this article: www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/6/21024740/private-equity-taylor-swift-toys-r-us-elizabeth-warren). Vets absolutely should be opening their own practices, but now they have an added onus of competing with PE firms to take over practices where the owner may be retiring or getting out of the profession, just like regular folk are now competing with PE to buy a roof over their head. It's happening in human health care as well - PE buying up hospitals, failing to pay bills, failing to pay staff and then closing the hospital - often in already underserved areas. Too many people are unaware of the impact - it needs to be shouted from the rooftops. This has to be stopped.
The biggest struggle I noticed working for a corporate hospital was how out of touch the regional leadership was with our hospital and what we needed, as they showed up maybe 3 times a year and spent 2 days with us. They were also out of touch with the area of the country we were located (Heartland/Midwest) and how much things should cost here. We were priced like the coasts and that was a big issue for a lot of pet owners. We tried explaining several times that we needed to stop increasing prices and adjust where costs were, but it didn’t seem to really sink in.
Vet student here. Personally, i’m not sure about practice ownership. I lament the idea of going through so much school and gaining clinical knowledge just to end up spending a good portion of my time running a business. Though part of me really wants to own a clinic so I can create my own culture and values. I’m concerned and appalled by the veterinary field sometimes. The number of people I know who have been full on screamed at by bosses/management/doctors is astounding. I had a great first experience in vet med with a private small animal clinic where staff ALWAYS left on time, were treated with emotional intelligence, and the culture was overall very positive. I hope one day to either create that culture or work for someone who has created it and help support a hospital i believe in.
Banfield ruined my local vet practice (left 4 years ago). The other local Banfields had scary reviews (had a wellness plan and could have gone for free but opted not to when dog got sick). I agree with your statements and fear the same in human medicine. I pray for my dog’s last Neuro resident who was going to a VCA hospital (she had to based on her residency - a practice I knew about thanks to one of your previous vids…). You ARE right about people and their pets and changing values!
As a former Mars employee, you’re so disposable. I dumped 7 years into the ER/Specialty hospital I worked at(including being a supervisor for a year and a half) and when I said I was leaving there was no even question as to why or asking how they could keep me. Just was replaced.
I can relate 100%, I didn't work directly for Mars but under the same umbrella basically. I've been a lvt for 15+ years, I did gp for about 1 year then to a large mult location (private) gp/emergency/specialty referral hospital. Worked ER then moved to surgery, still doing a lot of ER while our location started to grow adding specialty departments/Dr's, eventually I was surgey supervisor (as title, but I managed the specialty departments and staff) helped with intern and resident and tech student programs and care/maintenance equipment like dealing with all their special toys fluro, ct, mri, scopes, u/s, soecility chemo stuff etc when they needed new stuff/repairs. I didn't get a goodbye our new hospital director wanted me to stay (I knew him since he came thru as intern and resident lol but he has a special position at MARS now that I don't think I can or should discuss, but honestly probably can't even explain well, it hurts my head more than acid base bld wk/math and biochem combined lol. But there was always the attitude of your replaceable, that was before they 'merged' with them (compassion first, northern American vets, mars) and after I left I moved to another state was working at another referral center, didn't stay long but for personal reasons, that clinic I found out recently is also under that umbrella and then I moved again atcually back home where I had never worked vet med. I found out shortly after I started the too had just joined under that same umbrella.... I will say there are a lot of pros and cons that I can see. The biggest difference between them is that they all run things the way they want still, each place has its own culture and own good and bad qualities. I will say that with being under this umbrella there are a lot more things that area available to stuff, including education opportunities for higher learned and skills and getting newer better equipment for more higher standard medicine. But there are done falls too...I don't think we are going to get away from the staffing issues anytime soon, and I think it's still going to get worse and not better. And now the 'umbrella' doesn't truley care about overworking, understaffed and increasing prices. But they try to make you think they do by having new options for mental health services and such (wish I do greatly appreciated as one who use to stress to staff about burnout and compassion fatigue) and have known many that suffer or struggle with substance abuse or other sometimes weird addictions, and even suicide and attempted suicide I truly don't know my overall feelings because I see the benefits and love the ideas of where some of it is going (maybe cause I was a simple technician that was brought to a lot of meetings, and there for some of things happening now that we're just ideas then, I guess like watching a child grow) but I also see it's effects on staff and overall buildings atmospher/community of the company. But again there are positives and negatives I see. My area alone as with many others I'm sure are dealing with staff issues, we don't have all the specialists, my place is only er right now, the other hospital only has a handful of board cert.. Dr's and the other er doesn't even have enough staff to be open 24hrs anymore. I can say also that as a lvt that also deals with a bunch of health problem myself, job security isn't as easy anymore and is the cause of some issues. This was a great video with helpful inform and I don't mind discussing more. (Just it's super early in the am and I work O/N er and am struggling to keep my eyes open atm lol) so I guess I'll leave it there for now, and apologies for spelling and grammar cause I don't feel like proof reading lol
I've done it all three ways- worked as a tech for a private single vet clinic, then for a large VCA clinic that was later bought by Mars. In my experience I didn't see much change after the Mars takeover. The biggest influence in the quality of my work environment came from the philosophy of vets themselves. The private owner had a thing about avoiding or reducing sedation whenever possible. I think she was cutting corners because she was stretching herself thin running a rescue from her clinic, but not sure. I got more injuries and scary close calls working there. My VCA location was very safety conscious. I felt better taken care of there, and I think the patients got better care too. I'm retired now but my biggest piece of toxic work advice would be: Don't add to it with gossip! You can't control who you work with, but you can refuse to participate when the bad-mouthing starts up. I felt so blessed to work with veterinarians who understood this and encouraged a professional atmosphere.
Having spent ten months "in hell" working as a practice medical director for VCA in the late 90s I can say my experience is that particular company was horribly managed. I met my boss, the regional medical director, once in ten months and that meeting was only 20 minutes long. What I found was when meeting with other VCA doctors was there was an amazing variability from practice to practice in equipment, on site management and culture. Todd Tams was a great leader as far as expressing a vision for the company but had very little ability to see that vision become reality. In my case I butted heads with both my practice manager and the district manager and they forced me out. Within six months of getting rid of me, the practice had no doctors remaining as my two colleagues also left the practice. One of our local practices sold to VCA a few years back and after the sale one of the previous owners left after just six months because she could not take the culture.
@@DVMCellini She was very hesitant to say specifics. I think a lot had to do with top down management approach imposing changes she was uncomfortable implementing. She is both an amazing veterinarian and an amazing person; so I don't think it was any petty or insignificant
💯 I totally agree with you, and I just started two vet practices in the past year, much to the chagrin of the local independent clinic (hmm..). I think I’m too much of a small fry for any corp to take an interest. Yes, it’s hard, but it’s doable, and my first was actually mobile so I needed almost nothing investment wise. Start small, go from there! The 1st time in 20 years of practice that I’m actually happy 😃
I work for Australias biggest corporate company. I hated them at first when they bought out the private practice I worked for in 2009. They have actually improved so much over the years and have worked on paying us better and are good with continued education etc. The vet industry really feels like it’s on a slippery slope atm. Not enough vets and nurses, burnout, people leaving, too many pets to treat … it does concern me for the future …
I am a recent animal owner. I noticed very quickly that it takes soo long to get animals care. I learned through two experiences that the big box store will not help my and my pet when something does come up. So I stopped going there to buy food and shots. I get everything from a local privately owned vet who makes time for us. It’s funny because everything was cheaper as well at the private place. I really feel a squeeze with all the big stores and big animal hospitals.
Can I just say I love you for these videos and voicing for us veterinary technicians that love helping animals and being allowed to give quality care . Thank you thank you for this!! You make me feel less defeated , less crazy and not completely invisible or a total Zero!! 🐾🐾❤️❤️🐾🐾
My vet tech friends who work for corporate practices like it for the benefits that the privately owned practice cannot afford to provide. I am happy to work for a privately owned practice and am glad I left before the last place went corporate. I believe the same thing will slowly happen in human medicine. We already see it with corporate dental chains and specialty services (dialysis, etc) so the rest can't be too far behind.
Very pertinent view of where Veterinary Medicine is going today. I owned my own vet practice for 45 years. I sold to my associate veterinarian after 5 years employment. Less than 2% of new graduates can afford to buy a practice often because of large student loan debt. Our profession is a service profession that should have our client needs in mind not just making money. I have had numerous 20 + year employees during my career. Many times I would counsel them to treat clients as they would expect to be treated in their position. Many new practice owners get buried in debt buying just to much equipment, to much overhead. Developing a client base , a caring practice , doing the basics well , one can succeed in private practice ownership
I bet it would have enjoyed working with you :) I tell staff all the time, that weither its clients or other staff, treat others how you wish to be treated and remember they are usually not made at you personally (well when it's client issues lol) they are usually upset about the situation and we are here to help them and thier pets the best we can (the staff thing.... well that's what you get when 90% or more of the staff are female lol 😆)
I’ll never work for corporate again, even as a now relief vet. I realize it’s a business either way but corporate is so hyper focused on money that they lose sight of the mental health of their employees and the level of compassion that makes being a veterinarian such a wonderful thing. Great video as always, thank you!
I think the argument is not about whether corporate practices are a good/bad thing, rather the individuals that run them. There are plenty of well-run corporate practices as well as toxic private practices. I think it's up to us veterinary professionals to lead the way towards well-run practices. I believe we have the power to do so, regardless of whether it is a private or corporate practice. Talking about toxic workplaces and calling them out with articles is a step in the right direction
i believe, the internet is helping people stay away from toxic workplaces: glassdoor (there must be other ones too): anonymous reports...horrible stories that either ex employees or even current employees write as a warning to all !! Not just for vet clinics, toxic workplaces are everywhere !
Corporate practices want money. The animal’s care is secondary or tertiary. Same as corporations buying hospitals. They don’t give a rip about the community, about the patients except as errors might lead to lawsuits. There are quotas. That does not work in medicine. It’s inhumane-but they love the money so that’s the end of it.
Thank you for making this video. I was aware of a corporate takeover in the early 2000 when our news gave a segment on this one particular chain charging outrageous prices to clients. He was not a local vet but one that just blew in with starting 3 clinics. I’m a senior citizen.now,I’ve had parrots since the early 90’s and ran a rescue. Had rabbits I had neutered and Guinea pigs along with 8 spay house dogs non over 17 lbs. so I no vets and vet bills. And your right people started paying for treatments that use to be done in vet training hospitals with equipment now in vets offices. My pets are all over 12 except my Guinea pig. I just paid $400 for treatment then had to have him put down. He had mouth deformities and an ongoing upper respiratory infection he was just 1. I limited the treatments as soon as I went in. For vets are charging up to and over $700 for treat and tests and meds only to have Guinea pig die just days after. They have to make their quota for the day/ week. I go in and say. I will not spend over this what can you offer me. Since I’ve moved and retired out of my previous state I only have 2 parakeets 2 cockatiels 1 cat 2 dogs and another young Guinea pig. After my last one passed. This is what clients now have to do if they don’t want to be charged thousands in keeping a pet alive. We have reached our bottom dollar. I accept that I will have my animal put down as I did my Guinea pig 2 weeks ago without going into debt or into what ifs. It’s a tough call but I can’t afford any more cats or dogs when these are gone. Corporations are the ruin of our country. Thank you for this UA-cam. 👍🌟🥰
It’s very difficult for new grads financially to be able to buy a practice, even after 5-10 years of working as an associate. Our student loans are just too much. And I went to my in-state school for undergrad and vet school. I’d love to own my own practice and be my own boss and practice medicine and treat my staff in a way that feels ethical to me, but that may not be a reality that I can live.
Have you actually looked at the numbers? The practice itself should cash flow enough to pay for itself and your student loans. Many practice owners are desperate to sell. A local practice closed down after trying to sell for 4 years, and that was a good practice with high demand. Now all the rest of us are having to cope with desperate clients needing a vet, and there just aren't enough. You might even be able to still buy the practice. Fort Bragg, CA. There are many opportunities like this that are under the radar if you don't insist on living in an urban/suburban area. I was in your shoes 14+ years ago when I bought my practice. Good luck! Make sure to check the numbers first!
Just start a new clinic! I went in with almost no money and rubbish credit, I got lucky bc the landlords accepted my application by using my house as collateral, but I’m 7 months in and starting to break even.. you can relief some days to keep afloat 🙂
I’ve worked for privately owned practices, corporate practices, and ones that have been bought out. I had bad experiences with buy outs, but it was due to the staff’s reaction to change. The changes weren’t dramatic, but augmented work flow enough to cause disgruntlement with veterans of the practice. Both corporate and private practices can be wonderful or completely mismanaged to the point of toxicity. If clients had a choice, most people would opt to see a private owner/operator of a practice because it seems more wholesome and personal. The thought of a large anonymous corporate entity gobbling up vet hospitals and turning it’s staff into drones is what we all fear. It’s not to say that either prospect is necessarily the norm. I think you point out a few over arching ideas in this video: 1) Burgeoning corporate control of an industry that pushes out private practitioners. 2) How does corporate culture impact the staff working under such a huge entity that has difficulty adjusting it’s model to various economic and social demographics…and 3) Is it good for the patients?
100% agree, people hate change especially when they have been there forever, they always have done things a certain way .... that's why I shall see how things move forward at my place cause I've gone thru it all before and I see the little changes that are tolerated right now but they haven't started to rock the boat yet, this is them testing the waters to see how things are handled
We own our own small clinic here in NZ. Its been tough but good , till us BOTH vets get Covid now after 4 years avoiding it. Dam. Hence why I'm binge watching your videos. I hate whats happening. Gone is the 'service' too. Am hearing so many stories, people cant afford and its the pets thats will suffer sadly by not being take to the vets. It must be worse with you!
Dr. Cellini, this is a great topic and I wish I had time to share all I have learned from my experiences with a corporate Practice. I have worked in veterinary hospitals for at least 40 yrs. and as a veterinarian for the past 28 yrs. (UC Davis 1994). I was employed as a Chief of Staff at VetSmart, then Banfield for 20 years and had a highly successful hospital within that model, receiving national Awards for New Pets and Clients. In my experience, part of the reason why corporations have entered into the veterinary profession is as you said, people are willing to pursue greater and more specialized care for their furry family members as the attitudes of pet owners have changed through the decades and corporations are looking to improve profits. Unfortunately, because of the financial burden upon graduation, older practitioners or specialty referral hospitals can no longer count on a new Associate coming in and building equity to take over that practice in 10+ yrs. They needed an exit strategy. I believe that many venture capitalists and equity seekers do not really understand what they are buying in the veterinary profession. There will come a time when they (and their shareholders) will need to see a ROI. I cannot imagine as in the example you used where they might pay $100 M for a buyout of a practice grossing $10 M and patiently wait to get their investment back. Equity returns for stocks, etc. might be 6-10% on average. Even a very efficiently managed veterinary hospital might be putting 20% to the bottom, so for the $10 M hospital that’s $2 M annually. It’s going to take a long time to recover that $100 M expense. Even worse, as many are aware, with an increase in wages, they are also going to expect to see an increase in production. In my hospital, and I’m sure yours as well, many of us are at our threshold of productivity without inviting errors or ruining our good standing with the pet loving community.
Full heartedly agree, now with the practice I'm at (similar to my first large hospital, it was 'private' but run like corporate) they are a large network already and now are also under the am even larger umbrella. I already am seeing the little changes starting that other staff might not be noticing, and I don't think they realize the days of giving stuff and services away for free and not monitoring stock even closer to find all those tiny bleeding holes the tighten the belt to increase profit and doing things to increase revenue. I feel like a lot will have quite the awakening when the new standards start to trickle down.
All that great vet care and the price of it completely priced me out of owning another pet on my Social Security income. I know about insurance, but do you know how much it costs when your pet gets old?
Excellent video. Thank you! Former Vet Tech here. The corporate media campaigns have been carefully cultivating the whole notion of "pets as family" and "fur babies" for over 20 years through multiple avenues. Many pet industry corporate personnel also sit on the boards of major non-profit pet concerns, which can and do also steer consumers toward corporate ideas of "standards" of care. What is also overlooked by many is that the two major global corporate owners (Mars and Nestle/Purina PetCare) also have the top shares not only in Veterinary practices in North America, Europe, and around the world, but in the pet industry in general. Nestle's pharmaceutical share is even larger than their pet food share. It's easy for them to say on their bags of food "recommended by Veterinarians" (even if the ingredients in the food may be questionable) , and the increasing use of pharmaceuticals off-label for pets is worrisome. So the prize isn't necessarily the actual return on investment in the Veterinary practice itself, but all the returns from all the "practice-adjacent" concerns, i.e. pet foods, specialty pet foods, testing laboratories, insurance, pet medications, etc.
Corporate is a plague on our profession, despite being the inevitable future. Leadership from afar is not true leadership and can't substitute for a practicing owner on site. There is no comparison.
It's the same with human hospitals. I was recently admitted for a short stay. I'd say 90-95% of the nurses and aids did not speak clear English. Wheelchairs are now these metal very uncomfortable monstrosities, and blood pressure cuffs are now scatchy plastic. Bed had a 4-inch hard as rock mattress. My favorite doctor left the system (HCA) because they cut his salary. He was head of resident training at the hospital. The very same thing is happening in vet and human medicine. It is all about corporate profits and cutting costs wherever possible regardless of employees and patient care.
This is an important topic in vet med. I’d like to first point out that to my knowledge practice valuation is usually based on operating margin (basically profit) not gross revenue. So a practice with 10 million in gross revenue would be worth somewhere around 6-10x their profit (not revenue). I think part of the reason so many practices are corporate owned is that veterinarians by and large don’t receive the experience and skills to run a business in their DVM education. So more business education within our vet schools would help that.
Friends who reluctantly sold their small animal practice to a corporation had no option. No vets wanted to buy this successful practice in a great community. Too much work. Hours are too demanding. Younger vets won’t do it.
I have always wanted to open a private practice after getting enough experience, now I want to open a multi-specialty hospital with an ER and find a fantastic team of doctors and techs to create a good working environment and actually do things big scale but the right way!!
When I finished vet school in Quebec, no one but veterinarians could own a veterinary practice. Corporate medicine was not legal. I guess lobbies got involved and now VCA and their emulators are now present in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. To be continued...
I worked for a really good practice..the owner sold to a corporate vet who had other clinics in ny and nj...I worked for only a few more months...they moved in their own people and pushed out some that worked there for years..I hated that they made me push vaccines and procedures, that I disagreed with with some pets..they offered a gift card to which ever tech sold the most vaccines..basically pitting us against eachother, a staff that was almost family..it was all about money..I understand it's a business but I had to lie to clients..the clients trusted me..nope not going to do that so you can make money...that ended my 25+ years as an LVT....
Now I know why my small vet clinic/hospital went to shit so fast! I recently learned all the "new changes" were becuase they were bought by Blue Pearl not too long ago. I feel stuck using them because they're still the cheapest ER in my city!
My understanding is working for a corporate vet office the DVMs get paid less (smaller piece of the pie) thus making it more stressful. Especially if the DVM still has student loans to pay off. I’m just starting out as a VA and right now since I don’t have much experience, I’m applying to wherever I can and hope they can take me for face value. Love your videos Dr Cellini. They’re educational and informative. The topics you cover are relatable.
I work for a Mars owned hospital in the UK and it's depressing how it is changing since takeover. Profits are king and people are treated as disposable.
This hits home. I was working for a local veterinarian ( Destin , Florida) that was beloved by the community as much as by his associates and employees . It was 18 + years I worked there until he retired and instead of selling the clinic to one of his associates, he took a larger payday from SOUTHERN VETERINARY PARTNERS. I retired myself shortly thereafter and moved out of state. Lots of the old crew was either fired or they fled like I did. He had a heck of a team and there was hardly EVER any turnover. It’s sad that it had to end this way….he lost lots of clients as the word leaked out that this small clinic had been taken over by a mega corporation. The clinic itself still bares the old “ mom and pop “ cliche interior….but nothing could be further from the truth. But on the bright side. Had he not sold, I wouldn’t have retired 🤣 Moved to Vegas and living my best life now 🤟
I think my vet is privately owned but you can never be sure. I absolutely try to avoid the clearly corperate vets. Plus the horror stories I've heard of people not being able to get help when their pet has an emergency and being told they should have planned ahead. I might have to drop my pet off for the day but they try to get him in where they can if emergencies come up. And if I call them they will generally help out without an appointment if its feasible
I too feel it is becoming a turning point in the Veterinary field. With new technicians only lasting 3-5 years where who will be running clinics in 10 years? Revolving greenhorn technicians? I think there is more than one thing that needs to change and I believe with the influx of animals in homes along with the in clinic issues, mobile is the way for technicians and DVMs to go. I started working as a vet tech in the community over 3 years ago and now run my own in home vet tech pet care service, have been "unemployed" for almost 2 years and make so much more money than I did before and still have plenty of time to spend with my family. With more technicians taking their skills out to the community it can increase the knowledge of pet owners in the community, pet owner compliance and retention, and decrease the amount of over-worked and burnt-out technicians. This should also decrease the amount of non-serious or emergency visits to the clinic to see the DVM and therefore decrease the overbooked load of clinics and hospitals and stress placed upon those facilities.
I would just love to not have clients come in at 1am for thier ear infection or anal gland abscess, then get made at me for their 4-6hr weight asking when they will be seen next as they watch very critically ill/bloody/seizing or doa's being rushed by and screaming crying owners as they tap they tap their foot and again ask when will they be seen cause fluffy is very uncomfortable (but I guess that will always be a thing lol)
With the veterinary shortage, finding a person will to even buy in and be a partner is a major challenge. Add in the mix of someone wanting a partnership but also fitting the practice culture, and many of us are left unable to find a retirement plan.
I worked for VCA as a kennel tech. They made us leave for a 3 hour coorperate party that wasnt a party just us sitting down to watch the founders talk about how great they were. 🤮 Left that job because my joints broke down and that is how I found out I have a connective tissue disorder.
Oh no! All our parties were real ones thankfully. Though there was that one time we were forced to watch a dog training demonstration from a really out of date "professional." Hope your joints feel better! I left because my head broke down faster than my body.
I’ve worked from private to corporate veterinary hospitals, the only true good things with working corporate was the large hospital discounts for your pets (75% off for full time employees) and the simplicity of their EMR. Other than that, it’s shitty. Working corporate I felt like a damn sales person than a technician, pimping out their puppy/adult/senior/dental packages to every client that came in. All because the manager wanted us to hit a quota each day and essentially it being a way to keep one of us employees from being laid off, like if you were getting the most clients to sign up you were safe from losing your job. It was sickening.
Being a sales person is the last thing one should have to do when in the field of any medicine. It's hazardous for the clients and their trust in the practice. That said, I think it should be the AVMA which should chime in with a few policies that discourage this practice. But looks like the lobbying will get them too.
You can bet that when huge companies buy smaller ones, that two things are going to happen. 1. Quality will decrease and 2. Prices will increase. You can bank on it.
What I don’t understand is why when a practice goes corporate, the clinics have to change which distributors they buy from. Clinics aren’t being visited or called on and the clinics can’t shop around for better prices.
Dr. C, a correction, it’s 10 to 12 times EBITDA, not gross revenue. It was as high as 17 times but a mini crash occurred when three up and comers were not able to recapitalize earlier this year. However, myself and several of my friends are in the same boat: our associates who were brought on with the intention of buying, have decided they do not want to be owners! I just had my first offer, I wish it were ten times gross.
Yeah I actually knew that (I have a close friend who is a VC and explained it to me) but for purposes of the video I kind of just summarized it as a “gross” to make it easy. I’m planning on making another video getting into the details more.
I personally worked for Banfield for 4 years. I worked for an amazing hospital that ended up having a wonderful practice manager. I always felt cared for they really fought for balance. I loved how they had up to date equipment and to run labs. Makes it so easy that we can run most test in house versus sending them out. It made doing our job so much easier. I personally never worked for a private practice but my experience with corporate has thankfully been good. I understand some do not experience that though. It's a good topic to bring to the light though!
For 27 out of my 33 years of practice I have been a practice owner. I am a late boomer (if I was born 30 days later I would be considered Gen X) A lot of my vet school classmates aspired to be practice owners. I think that metric has changed. Most young veterinarians have no desire to be owners. They are trained as and desire to be clinicians and clinicians only. Add in the level of debt most younger veterinarians are servicing and it is not only not a tract most veterinarians desires but is actually not a financial possibility in most cases
Yeah I don't know how most people can start a practice nowadays. I guess you'd have to work as an associate for a number of years and then try but even then, with student loans, it might be impossible.
The reality is also that practice valuations are so inflated, due to what large corporations can afford to shell out for a practice. A private buyer just can’t compete on price in a way that financially makes sense for them to take the risk, and the owner/seller understandably wants the biggest payout they can get for retirement.
@@DVMCellini the challenge is for young vets, your best bet is often a startup, but that’s very risky - only feasible if you have a very supportive spouse with a very good income. You’re not going to be able to compete on price for “turn-key” practices - that’s what investment firms will shell out top dollar for. That leaves buying a “no-low” practice that is essentially taking on a liability (bad investment) or doing a startup. If you’re going to try a startup, you need to be lucky enough to find an up-and-coming area that is underserved or have a completely novel service/model for that area. …you also need a lot of luck.
@@DVMCellini I sadly know a vet that is working/owning/running a private practice but he sadly didn't choose to at least not now and possibly not ever. He was just an associate maybe thinking of taking over in the future... but the owner had different plans, and suddenly said well either you take it or im selling everything. He's trying very hard, I think he's doing a great job but he is totally stressed out and over worked and I just learned he recently had a minor stroke at work even too. He's to young to be having that yet
It's certainly an interesting topic. Coming from a European country where corporization isn't a problem in vet med and the majority of places are privately owned I have a contrasting opinion. Privately owned practices have their major downfalls like pay isn't the best (since everything is coming out of your boss' pockets, they will think twice before even considering better pay for you), cutting corners on the basics that only people working in the clinic will know about (like reusing soaker pads if they're aren't "that" bad, resuing iv tubing, not changing needles when filling up and giving injections etc), to major problems, for example, skimping on a scavenger system in an NRC or not investing in lead walls for their Xray room. So yeah... I am really curious what work culture and basics like these look like in corporate clinics since my experience in private practices is kind of meh at best.
I have used both. I prefer private VETS due to the lack of compassion. I was also told that they have a quota or financial quota’s to fulfill. I was shamed to believe that I was a bad person because I would not put my dog through chemotherapy for 2 months to get maybe 4 months of life. Gross vs Grossing?🙏❤️
I'm so sorry, it truly sadness me to hear that. I feel it is not our place to tell to you what you should do. We are here to provide you with best care we can and to give you as much information as possible so you can make an informed discussion on what you think is the best option for your situation/thoughts/beliefs/wishes for your pet so they can get the best care and treatment we can provide for the both of you.
As someone who currently works at a once great clinic that is literally crumbling in front of me, I don't know if it's comforting or scary knowing this is happening everywhere.
Wow the last time I checked pet insurance, it was completely out of my range. But I just checked it and I may be able to afford it? That will take further action on my part to see if it sounds too good to be true. I am shocked I saw the quotes I did . My vet does run his own little practice. He is a country vet, and he does try to keep prices low. And he knows me , for many years now. I see you do pet consultations for Neurological problems. I lost my big dog last year due to a stroke, he didn't have the tests available there for strokes. I have to wonder if you could have advised him? I know there are 2 types of strokes. This was a big strong active dog of 9 years very healthy. It broke my heart. I will look in to pet insurance more. A minimal amount over the long run would give me peace of mind, and when something like this happens, my dog wouldn't have to die. After nursing numerous people through strokes , some having 3 strokes, to still lead good lives for 20 more years. I know in my heart my dog did not have to die. I took her home when, he said he could do nothing without a test. She was still getting around, getting outside to go potty. But a week later she had a worse stroke . I just feel in my heart she many years left. If I could have afforded it.
Damn, it’s like this is happening in every industry from housing to shopping, but vet care. Wow. What a niche way to squeeze yet more money out of the desperate and unsuspecting public 💔
@@DVMCellini I think we all know why. They do not want all the people who have had their pet slaughtered when they could have been saved because of money to post the truth. I pray vets with real hearts keep coming out of the schools and not all become greedy profiteers at the expense of our beloved pets who have no voice. God bless you and all who labor in relative anonymity in service to the Lord's creatures.
A $6400.00 dental bill for my 15 year old cat has "come to my notice" this month. We ain't in Kansas anymore, Toto. And . . . those who make the cat food own the majority of cat dental palaces? Consumer signals go off, no?
So why don't the employees chip in and buy the practices? Maybe not the big chains, but the smaller practices which are also being sold to corporations.
"Owning more of what we do" (as veterinary practitioners) is NOT the only solution 😆I don't know how you're getting fooled into these fables. We can have laws in place that put product over maximizing profit, that put the patient over shareholders. A veterinary practitioner or hospital can make a great living and lots of money by providing the best service and care they can, and they already do... and then we can keep the investors away, because they ruin the product and harm the patients. People over profit!!!
Big biz and vet practice is a bad pairing. They don't understand that I'm not made of money even though I spend plenty there. Feel like a 2nd class customer. However the facility, techs and doctors are very good.
I believe I have ptsd after 5 months of veterinary hospitals. VCA, MedVet and Blue Pearl all where neglect in the care of our pup. They have no reason to fear repercussion as they are none. They are free to malpractice at will. Our dog died 5 months to the day of Blue Pearl, the beginning of the nightmare. It was also his first birthday. The Tx A&M Teaching Hospital seemed to cover up for them since most of the DVMs are their alumni. Even though we recorded everything, nobody cares. Blue Pearl black listed us after we complained to their customer care line.
Having worked for private practices, university, and 2 different corporates I have to say, not all corporates are the same. And privately owned practices are by far the ones that pay their (techs at least) the worst. Or have the worst benefits too. I also experienced the “work from hell” in a private practice and partly in a corporate shared ownership practice. I currently work at a specialty clinic owned by a corporate and have to say the work environment and care from regional manager downstream is one of the best I have seen. I understand the concern from it all becoming a monopoly (which I believe is more focused on Mars corporation). But I think the bad work environment can happen in any practice (privately owned or not) and it’s unfortunately very predominant in veterinary medicine. From my experience, at least.
I had a VCA vet with no small animal training, emergency training, or apparent experience in a marketed emergency vet clinic misdiagnose respiratory distress from heart failure, with years of cardiologist records in front of her. My dog died pretty terribly because of a corporate vet who couldn’t recognize a common emergency and who told us to wait for treatment. Corporate veterinarian practices are sometimes dangerous, because they are relying on being too big to get sued. They don’t seem to realize that poor public opinion of places like VCA will mean that people who can afford anything more than basic care will avoid them. I would consider it morally wrong to trust a VCA vet, after that experience. I think that’s a common sentiment for pet owners.
I started tech work in 1982, so I speak from experience. One disagreement: I work for Banfield, and getting pet owners to spring for major medical is just as hard, if not a little harder, than in 1982. The reason? Pet Wellness Plans. Owners somehow manage to convince themselves that a wellness plan *should* cover everything, they usually refer to the wellness plan as "insurance." Getting them to OK tooth extraction during a dental is, well, like pulling teeth!
Is it normal when a clinic is bought by a corporation to not tell the clientst? When the clinic I work at was bought a year ago there was no announcement to the clients. most still assume that the clinic is owned by one of the doctors.
Well I have worked at 3 places like this, not a single one told clients. The name never changed, our polyics didn't really change, so to the clients we a till practice the same as we always have
My clinic was sold to MVP in October, one of the main reasons was the owner wanted to retire and had been looking for someone non corporate and there wasn’t interest
MVP is another corporation that buys vet clinics but basically helps with buying power to get discounts like the big corporations but let's every practice continue to practice medicine as they want including staffing, protocols, etc unless the practice asks MVP for help. Clinics that are purchased don't have a name change so clients don't even know there has been a change in ownership.
Hmmmmm I’m absolutely shocked that you didn’t mention the fact that veterinarians at these corporate clinics are getting paid commissions/bonuses. There’s also a growing trend of vet techs and assistants getting bonuses. IMO no medical professional should be paid based on how much they sell. It will always affects patient care. I saw absolutely disgusting behavior in an er I worked in.
It's unfortunate to witness so many veterinarians selling their businesses to corporate entities. I recently heard that corporations are offering substantial bonuses to entice veterinary medicine students into working for them - diminishing autonomy and leaving little incentive to start one's own practice. What actions could be taken to encourage vet students towards entrepreneurship, but being mindful of how these same successful entrepreneurs might eventually sell out as well? Let's turn the tables and have corporations owned by veterinarians who hire MBAs as their employees instead of the opposite.
Would unionizing or veterinary co-operatives have an impact re: burnout? Anyone with experience in either? I don't hear it talked about often enough in Canada, but I'm excited to see the progress NVPU makes in the coming years. As veterinary medicine is quickly commodified I don't see better ways out. Between real-estate and educational costs, today's vet school grads will not be opening their own practices anytime soon.
Does anyone know how to find a decent vet, who is not using some script written by corporate bean counters? Please, my cat lost 1/3 of her weight in the last month. I don't think she has much time left. And the vets we go to aren't going to help her. (Northern NJ)
Here in Italy, we are having the AniCura chain of clinics and hospitals, and I've heard some colleagues that you are beaing paid a little bit more, and they make you an ''full-time enployee (meaning with a work contract)'', rather that a professional with a VAT. I've also heard clients that they don't like the idea of big hospitals everywhere, because they lack the ''..emotional connection between the client and the doctor''. somethimes a client doesn't even see the doctors when entering a big clinic or hospital
Anicura is here in Denmark too. I don't like it, it feels icky to me, and I am afraid that they will exploit their workers. Fortunately, I have a good vet with her own practice.
I feel sorry for the animals. My husband and I rescue animals.We are down to only one and would love to rescue more but won’t because of this very article.
I've been going to a free-standing Banfield clinic (not inside a PetSmart) since 2014. I saw the same vet for about 5 years who worked wonders with my anxious AmStaff and got him to a point we could take him off muzzle protocol. After she left, it's been like a rotating door of vets. I've had great visits with many of them across my 4 dogs but it seems like I can only get about 3-4 visits before they're gone and I have to start over again. I've stuck with Banfield because the wellness plans and office hours are convenient, but I've gotten to the point that I need more continuity for my aging pets. I'm switching to a local vet with a mobile practice and I'm excited to build a relationship with her. Also I had no idea Banfield was owned by the same company as Royal Canin. 🤔 I guess the lobby full of RC products should have been a clue. I'm fairly confident that my pup does need the RC diet that he's on, but it seems a little suspicious.
Depends on the diet cause I'm assuming its a soecial diet, my place is under the same umbrella as Banfield and i guess royal canin too.....we have royal canin but mainly use more hills and they all have similar products hills use to more of a pet favorite (at it better) then purina's diets seemed to be preferred now royal canins seem more prefered.... honestly this I think will always be more of the Dr's preference of brand and likely will change depending on what type of diet is needed.
Super interesting video! I don't like this development at all. It has begun here in Denmark as well and I don't trust it. This kind of capitalism usually hurts people, imo.
The background music on this video is extremely distracting. Please either turn it down or leave it out altogether. On the topic of corporatization of veterinary medicine, this is why I won't own another dog. My now deceased dog was my first dog and will also be my last. When I adopted her back in 2011, this trend of corporations buying up vet practices hadn't progressed as far yet. There were still family-owned practices. Nowadays, all you can find is corporation-owned animal hospitals. The prices have skyrocketed and the level of care for the animals is mediocre at best. Whenever I took my dog to the vet, I always felt like she was treated as an afterthought. They were more interested in getting my money than providing medical care to my dog. The service was also impersonal. At the end of my dog's life, staff still had to ask her name eventhough we came in regularly. Also, staff turnover was high. Every month there were different vets and different vet techs. Horrible experience. Everything Big Corp touches turns into a disaster and becomes profit (greed) driven. It won't be until family-owned practices pop up again that I might consider adopting another dog. But I can't see that happening.
These corporate buyouts are "hell" for the pet owners!! Service has suffered tremendously, and prices have spiked! Congratulations, you vets have joined the ranks of the typical human physician, i.e., you've become money grubbers first, doctors second!! So, so SAD!!
I have a distain for doctors and vets. They feed on your emotions and fears to fill their pockets. It's not about wanting to save lives. It's about using your love, fears and misfortunes for enrich themselves. Many times bankrupting you with little to no increase in life expectancy. When is the last time you heard about a cure that didn't just suddenly disappear into obscurity? It's all about controlling a problem through expensive monthly medications. Profit has become the main goal. Cures are only profitable for a while. But putting your loved ones on expensive monthly meds means extending you or your pet's life is based on your ability to pay.
I didn’t go through 4 years of arduous schooling and 1 year of a rotating internship to feed on your emotions, I did it to help animals and make a difference in people’s lives. Sounds like you need to seek out some help for your “emotions and fears.” Also. Owning a pet is not a right, it’s a privilege. If you can’t afford to care for one properly, don’t get one.
@@brycegolsen6123 I don't have pets. I have four legged family members. But for example. I went to the local vet today for because one of my family members had an ear infection. Blood tests came to 220. With that and ear drops the bill came to $375. Out right theft for a 45 minute visit. On the other hand I have 6 years of schooling and have to take multiple courses each and every year to keep my technical certifications. I repair electronics at the macroscopic level, But I charge $75 to $115 for a repair. one third the price of brick and mortar shops and I do repairs that only a handful of people can do. I want to help people that can't afford $750 for a new motherboard or mainboard for their electronics. I have medical professionals that mail their equipment from many different States. It was never about getting rich. It has always been about providing repairs the average person could never afford. The wealthy clients know they are not my main focus. Many though give me tips far greater than the cost of the repair and have even donated equipment. Donated equipment comes in and I repair and give away to those in need or strip for parts so someone else won't have to pay for a new part. I love what I do. I'm not in love with the money. When a vet or doctor is willing to let an animal or person suffer or die because the owner or human patient can't afford the costs. The love of money is clearly stronger than the love for wanting to help others. I'm guessing the material items you enjoy in life would prove my point. I could be living the, so called, good life. But I prefer my modest home and old car. I also prefer spending my lowly profits on buying more and more repair equipment so I can do even more to help others. So take your 5 years of dedication to making yourself wealthy and keep pretending it was all about helping and not the money. I'll keep working the way I do until my C3/C4/C5 cervical spine compressions finally make it impossible. Because no doctor will charge less than what it would cost for a new car to fix. The medical industry has gotten to the point of having too many fingers in the pie. So I understand some of the large costs. But purely private practices are hard to find. As far as Vets. It doesn't seem to matter if they are private or not. Just like dentists. I've brought in many injured stray animals to vets. Only to have to keep them comfortable while they died because the vet wanted to hundreds of dollars just to try and save them. If I can't fix your device I charge nothing for trying. But I guess only the rich should have four legged family members . Poor people can be just as loving and spoil their four legged family members as rich people. Giving them love, affection and a feeling of being wanted. Typical that a greedy person in a profession of care would state that only people that can afford their services deserve to have a four legged family member in their lives. You prove why I despise your kind of person. Wanting to be seen as a loving and kind saint while demanding gold for your sainthood. Disgusting!!!!!
You made this video right around the time I retired from Hills after 34 years. The main reason I decided was watching the shift to corporate vet medicine. Not only how staff were treated but also seeing vets told what their protocols would be and what products they would push. I loved sharing nutritional info on prescription diets with doctors and their staff, even showing Hills superiority over Purina and RC in most cases, but when Mars now owned the clinic and brought in RC, it didn’t matter which diet was superior. Which one made the most money! I know there are wonderful veterinarians working in corporate hospitals but I will only trust my pups to an individually owned hospital where doctors make the choices, not corporate profiteers. I hope there will always be those clinics. It will be harder for them to compete, not getting the deals Mars gets, but they will always be in demand. I’m grateful I enjoyed the good old days of the veterinary profession!
Good comment
Hills is no different from any other food and shouldnt need a prescription at all and has always been a scam IMO
Our privately owned practice owner refused to sell to corporate. He was approached multiple times instead he sold his practice to our team and became an ESOP. Amazing concept. We are all owners now. We are all literally invested in the success of 1st Pet Veterinary Centers. We have kept our voice and it is the most amazing opportunity as individuals and the service has stayed top of the class.
That’s great
I'm so thankful my boss refuses to go corporate. She has been approached numerous times, but has declined each and every time. She has a good working relationship with several specialists that work for practices that have gone corporate and their horror stories only reinforce her stance on staying private. She wholeheartedly agrees that things are going to boil over at these corporate practices, especially with the added stress of the shortage of veterinary professionals. I regularly question my desire to go to vet school. I love the field, but often worry about it's future. Thanks for another educational video.
We need to put a wall between patient and investor. Veterinary hospitals and their private equity investors are proving that the private equity investor needs to STAY OUT. Their primary interest is not the best patient care they can make money on (which already happens without their meddling), it's just maximizing profit at the expense of everything else. This has proven to harm the patient, the pet, the workers, and the integrity of the hospital. This is one area that I think absolutely needs a government blocking private investment. There's lives and humane treatment and dignity at stake.
Of the 14 veterinary practices in our county, 11 are now owned by one of the corporate entities you mention. I just sold my practice (I’ve owned it for 34 years) to one of my associate practitioners because my husband and I decided we’d burn the place down before we let a chain have it.
We were offered a lot over market value by several chains, so I understand why it happens so much. But, we took a little less than market value in order for our associate to qualify. It was a decision we were happy to make, because we know she’ll carry on our practice philosophy. I cannot imagine letting Mars dictate how my practice runs in the future.
😢. It’s not going to go that way.
@@TraciWatson-x6c It already did. We sold the practice to an associate who started as a volunteer when she was fifteen. It was always the plan for her to buy the practice when we retired, and she did.
Years ago, in RI, law was only Veterinarians could own and operate Veterinary practices. Once VCA came in, it set the stage for non-Vet entities to buy up practices. I miss the old days and am now glad I am a retired CVT. I saw my friends in VCA practices and they later all moved out of their fields entirely, Vet Techs, Receptionists and kennel personnel. I feel badly for those who entered any level of Vet Med in the 21st century.
It’s the same in the UK. In 2013, 85% of clinics were independent. Ten years later, after allowing non vets to own, it’s 45% and the profession is in crisis.
Thank you for putting this much-needed video out there. As a pet owner for 30+ years, I have watched many local practices get sold to larger conglomerates and it's NEVER to the benefit of either the staff or the pets. In our metro area, we had only one ER/specialty clinic for many years. Then, in the mid 00s one opened up out on the periphery (likely due to less costly real-estate) - they were great but quite far out for true emergencies. Then a third opened in a sort of "mid-town" area that was easily accessible. They were wonderful - if you had a pet that was admitted in ER and needed additional care, they had their own internal medicine DEPARTMENT that your pet would "transfer" to, not unlike being admitted to the hospital from the ER for a person. The internal medicine day rate was slightly less than the ER rates, great for pets who were improving but maybe needed another day or two on IV fluids. They essentially had a day rate and an after hours rate. The vets were very approachable and willing to work with you. Then Blue Pearl came along and I watched as the quality of care and staffing decline as costs went up. No more internal medicine department, just one Board Certified internal medicine vet that came on certain days. It has been a steady decline since then. Thankfully, several of the vets who once worked at Blue Pearl broke off and opened their own critical care office.
Make no mistake - private equity firms WILL make money on vet practices whether they continue to prosper or they fail. They do not understand veterinary practice, they do not care about staff burnout and they definitely do not care about animals. This is the nature of private equity - they exist SOLELY to make money for shareholders, NOT to improve any business (see this article: www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/6/21024740/private-equity-taylor-swift-toys-r-us-elizabeth-warren).
Vets absolutely should be opening their own practices, but now they have an added onus of competing with PE firms to take over practices where the owner may be retiring or getting out of the profession, just like regular folk are now competing with PE to buy a roof over their head. It's happening in human health care as well - PE buying up hospitals, failing to pay bills, failing to pay staff and then closing the hospital - often in already underserved areas. Too many people are unaware of the impact - it needs to be shouted from the rooftops. This has to be stopped.
The biggest struggle I noticed working for a corporate hospital was how out of touch the regional leadership was with our hospital and what we needed, as they showed up maybe 3 times a year and spent 2 days with us. They were also out of touch with the area of the country we were located (Heartland/Midwest) and how much things should cost here. We were priced like the coasts and that was a big issue for a lot of pet owners. We tried explaining several times that we needed to stop increasing prices and adjust where costs were, but it didn’t seem to really sink in.
Vet student here. Personally, i’m not sure about practice ownership. I lament the idea of going through so much school and gaining clinical knowledge just to end up spending a good portion of my time running a business. Though part of me really wants to own a clinic so I can create my own culture and values. I’m concerned and appalled by the veterinary field sometimes. The number of people I know who have been full on screamed at by bosses/management/doctors is astounding. I had a great first experience in vet med with a private small animal clinic where staff ALWAYS left on time, were treated with emotional intelligence, and the culture was overall very positive. I hope one day to either create that culture or work for someone who has created it and help support a hospital i believe in.
Banfield ruined my local vet practice (left 4 years ago). The other local Banfields had scary reviews (had a wellness plan and could have gone for free but opted not to when dog got sick). I agree with your statements and fear the same in human medicine. I pray for my dog’s last Neuro resident who was going to a VCA hospital (she had to based on her residency - a practice I knew about thanks to one of your previous vids…). You ARE right about people and their pets and changing values!
As a former Mars employee, you’re so disposable. I dumped 7 years into the ER/Specialty hospital I worked at(including being a supervisor for a year and a half) and when I said I was leaving there was no even question as to why or asking how they could keep me. Just was replaced.
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I can relate 100%, I didn't work directly for Mars but under the same umbrella basically. I've been a lvt for 15+ years, I did gp for about 1 year then to a large mult location (private) gp/emergency/specialty referral hospital. Worked ER then moved to surgery, still doing a lot of ER while our location started to grow adding specialty departments/Dr's, eventually I was surgey supervisor (as title, but I managed the specialty departments and staff) helped with intern and resident and tech student programs and care/maintenance equipment like dealing with all their special toys fluro, ct, mri, scopes, u/s, soecility chemo stuff etc when they needed new stuff/repairs. I didn't get a goodbye our new hospital director wanted me to stay (I knew him since he came thru as intern and resident lol but he has a special position at MARS now that I don't think I can or should discuss, but honestly probably can't even explain well, it hurts my head more than acid base bld wk/math and biochem combined lol.
But there was always the attitude of your replaceable, that was before they 'merged' with them (compassion first, northern American vets, mars) and after I left I moved to another state was working at another referral center, didn't stay long but for personal reasons, that clinic I found out recently is also under that umbrella and then I moved again atcually back home where I had never worked vet med. I found out shortly after I started the too had just joined under that same umbrella....
I will say there are a lot of pros and cons that I can see. The biggest difference between them is that they all run things the way they want still, each place has its own culture and own good and bad qualities. I will say that with being under this umbrella there are a lot more things that area available to stuff, including education opportunities for higher learned and skills and getting newer better equipment for more higher standard medicine. But there are done falls too...I don't think we are going to get away from the staffing issues anytime soon, and I think it's still going to get worse and not better. And now the 'umbrella' doesn't truley care about overworking, understaffed and increasing prices. But they try to make you think they do by having new options for mental health services and such (wish I do greatly appreciated as one who use to stress to staff about burnout and compassion fatigue) and have known many that suffer or struggle with substance abuse or other sometimes weird addictions, and even suicide and attempted suicide
I truly don't know my overall feelings because I see the benefits and love the ideas of where some of it is going (maybe cause I was a simple technician that was brought to a lot of meetings, and there for some of things happening now that we're just ideas then, I guess like watching a child grow) but I also see it's effects on staff and overall buildings atmospher/community of the company. But again there are positives and negatives I see. My area alone as with many others I'm sure are dealing with staff issues, we don't have all the specialists, my place is only er right now, the other hospital only has a handful of board cert.. Dr's and the other er doesn't even have enough staff to be open 24hrs anymore.
I can say also that as a lvt that also deals with a bunch of health problem myself, job security isn't as easy anymore and is the cause of some issues. This was a great video with helpful inform and I don't mind discussing more. (Just it's super early in the am and I work O/N er and am struggling to keep my eyes open atm lol) so I guess I'll leave it there for now, and apologies for spelling and grammar cause I don't feel like proof reading lol
The only thing more disposable than employees at blue pearl are the pets who are killed more times than saved. Money is the only God they know.
I've done it all three ways- worked as a tech for a private single vet clinic, then for a large VCA clinic that was later bought by Mars. In my experience I didn't see much change after the Mars takeover. The biggest influence in the quality of my work environment came from the philosophy of vets themselves. The private owner had a thing about avoiding or reducing sedation whenever possible. I think she was cutting corners because she was stretching herself thin running a rescue from her clinic, but not sure. I got more injuries and scary close calls working there. My VCA location was very safety conscious. I felt better taken care of there, and I think the patients got better care too.
I'm retired now but my biggest piece of toxic work advice would be: Don't add to it with gossip! You can't control who you work with, but you can refuse to participate when the bad-mouthing starts up. I felt so blessed to work with veterinarians who understood this and encouraged a professional atmosphere.
Thank you so much for sharing truth! I’ve been a vet nurse for 35 years . I love my job and very glad I work for a private owned hospital. 👍🏽☺️
Having spent ten months "in hell" working as a practice medical director for VCA in the late 90s I can say my experience is that particular company was horribly managed. I met my boss, the regional medical director, once in ten months and that meeting was only 20 minutes long. What I found was when meeting with other VCA doctors was there was an amazing variability from practice to practice in equipment, on site management and culture. Todd Tams was a great leader as far as expressing a vision for the company but had very little ability to see that vision become reality. In my case I butted heads with both my practice manager and the district manager and they forced me out. Within six months of getting rid of me, the practice had no doctors remaining as my two colleagues also left the practice. One of our local practices sold to VCA a few years back and after the sale one of the previous owners left after just six months because she could not take the culture.
What specifically changed in regards to the culture, after VCA took over?
@@DVMCellini She was very hesitant to say specifics. I think a lot had to do with top down management approach imposing changes she was uncomfortable implementing. She is both an amazing veterinarian and an amazing person; so I don't think it was any petty or insignificant
💯 I totally agree with you, and I just started two vet practices in the past year, much to the chagrin of the local independent clinic (hmm..). I think I’m too much of a small fry for any corp to take an interest. Yes, it’s hard, but it’s doable, and my first was actually mobile so I needed almost nothing investment wise. Start small, go from there! The 1st time in 20 years of practice that I’m actually happy 😃
I work for Australias biggest corporate company. I hated them at first when they bought out the private practice I worked for in 2009. They have actually improved so much over the years and have worked on paying us better and are good with continued education etc. The vet industry really feels like it’s on a slippery slope atm. Not enough vets and nurses, burnout, people leaving, too many pets to treat … it does concern me for the future …
I am a recent animal owner. I noticed very quickly that it takes soo long to get animals care. I learned through two experiences that the big box store will not help my and my pet when something does come up. So I stopped going there to buy food and shots. I get everything from a local privately owned vet who makes time for us. It’s funny because everything was cheaper as well at the private place. I really feel a squeeze with all the big stores and big animal hospitals.
Can I just say I love you for these videos and voicing for us veterinary technicians that love helping animals and being allowed to give quality care . Thank you thank you for this!! You make me feel less defeated , less crazy and not completely invisible or a total Zero!! 🐾🐾❤️❤️🐾🐾
My vet tech friends who work for corporate practices like it for the benefits that the privately owned practice cannot afford to provide. I am happy to work for a privately owned practice and am glad I left before the last place went corporate. I believe the same thing will slowly happen in human medicine. We already see it with corporate dental chains and specialty services (dialysis, etc) so the rest can't be too far behind.
Honey, it started happening in human medicine 40 years ago and has been growing ever since.
Really important and respect to you for covering it.
Very pertinent view of where Veterinary Medicine is going today. I owned my own vet practice for 45 years. I sold to my associate veterinarian after 5 years employment. Less than 2% of new graduates can afford to buy a practice often because of large student loan debt. Our profession is a service profession that should have our client needs in mind not just making money. I have had numerous 20 + year employees during my career. Many times I would counsel them to treat clients as they would expect to be treated in their position. Many new practice owners get buried in debt buying just to much equipment, to much overhead. Developing a client base , a caring practice , doing the basics well , one can succeed in private practice ownership
I bet it would have enjoyed working with you :) I tell staff all the time, that weither its clients or other staff, treat others how you wish to be treated and remember they are usually not made at you personally (well when it's client issues lol) they are usually upset about the situation and we are here to help them and thier pets the best we can (the staff thing.... well that's what you get when 90% or more of the staff are female lol 😆)
I’ll never work for corporate again, even as a now relief vet. I realize it’s a business either way but corporate is so hyper focused on money that they lose sight of the mental health of their employees and the level of compassion that makes being a veterinarian such a wonderful thing. Great video as always, thank you!
I think the argument is not about whether corporate practices are a good/bad thing, rather the individuals that run them. There are plenty of well-run corporate practices as well as toxic private practices. I think it's up to us veterinary professionals to lead the way towards well-run practices. I believe we have the power to do so, regardless of whether it is a private or corporate practice. Talking about toxic workplaces and calling them out with articles is a step in the right direction
i believe, the internet is helping people stay away from toxic workplaces: glassdoor (there must be other ones too): anonymous reports...horrible stories that either ex employees or even current employees write as a warning to all !! Not just for vet clinics, toxic workplaces are everywhere !
Corporate practices want money. The animal’s care is secondary or tertiary. Same as corporations buying hospitals. They don’t give a rip about the community, about the patients except as errors might lead to lawsuits.
There are quotas. That does not work in medicine. It’s inhumane-but they love the money so that’s the end of it.
Thank you for making this video. I was aware of a corporate takeover in the early 2000 when our news gave a segment on this one particular chain charging outrageous prices to clients. He was not a local vet but one that just blew in with starting 3 clinics. I’m a senior citizen.now,I’ve had parrots since the early 90’s and ran a rescue. Had rabbits I had neutered and Guinea pigs along with 8 spay house dogs non over 17 lbs. so I no vets and vet bills. And your right people started paying for treatments that use to be done in vet training hospitals with equipment now in vets offices. My pets are all over 12 except my Guinea pig. I just paid $400 for treatment then had to have him put down. He had mouth deformities and an ongoing upper respiratory infection he was just 1. I limited the treatments as soon as I went in. For vets are charging up to and over $700 for treat and tests and meds only to have Guinea pig die just days after. They have to make their quota for the day/ week. I go in and say. I will not spend over this what can you offer me. Since I’ve moved and retired out of my previous state I only have 2 parakeets 2 cockatiels 1 cat 2 dogs and another young Guinea pig. After my last one passed. This is what clients now have to do if they don’t want to be charged thousands in keeping a pet alive. We have reached our bottom dollar. I accept that I will have my animal put down as I did my Guinea pig 2 weeks ago without going into debt or into what ifs. It’s a tough call but I can’t afford any more cats or dogs when these are gone. Corporations are the ruin of our country. Thank you for this UA-cam. 👍🌟🥰
It’s very difficult for new grads financially to be able to buy a practice, even after 5-10 years of working as an associate. Our student loans are just too much. And I went to my in-state school for undergrad and vet school. I’d love to own my own practice and be my own boss and practice medicine and treat my staff in a way that feels ethical to me, but that may not be a reality that I can live.
Have you actually looked at the numbers? The practice itself should cash flow enough to pay for itself and your student loans. Many practice owners are desperate to sell. A local practice closed down after trying to sell for 4 years, and that was a good practice with high demand. Now all the rest of us are having to cope with desperate clients needing a vet, and there just aren't enough. You might even be able to still buy the practice. Fort Bragg, CA. There are many opportunities like this that are under the radar if you don't insist on living in an urban/suburban area. I was in your shoes 14+ years ago when I bought my practice.
Good luck! Make sure to check the numbers first!
Just start a new clinic! I went in with almost no money and rubbish credit, I got lucky bc the landlords accepted my application by using my house as collateral, but I’m 7 months in and starting to break even.. you can relief some days to keep afloat 🙂
I wish we could appeal to Vet Physicians to stop selling their practices. Corporate veterinary medicine is HORRIFIC.
Great thoughts on this prickly topic. Independent owner of a small animal clinic in Australia here.
I’ve worked for privately owned practices, corporate practices, and ones that have been bought out. I had bad experiences with buy outs, but it was due to the staff’s reaction to change. The changes weren’t dramatic, but augmented work flow enough to cause disgruntlement with veterans of the practice. Both corporate and private practices can be wonderful or completely mismanaged to the point of toxicity. If clients had a choice, most people would opt to see a private owner/operator of a practice because it seems more wholesome and personal. The thought of a large anonymous corporate entity gobbling up vet hospitals and turning it’s staff into drones is what we all fear. It’s not to say that either prospect is necessarily the norm. I think you point out a few over arching ideas in this video: 1) Burgeoning corporate control of an industry that pushes out private practitioners. 2) How does corporate culture impact the staff working under such a huge entity that has difficulty adjusting it’s model to various economic and social demographics…and 3) Is it good for the patients?
100% agree, people hate change especially when they have been there forever, they always have done things a certain way .... that's why I shall see how things move forward at my place cause I've gone thru it all before and I see the little changes that are tolerated right now but they haven't started to rock the boat yet, this is them testing the waters to see how things are handled
We own our own small clinic here in NZ. Its been tough but good , till us BOTH vets get Covid now after 4 years avoiding it. Dam. Hence why I'm binge watching your videos. I hate whats happening. Gone is the 'service' too. Am hearing so many stories, people cant afford and its the pets thats will suffer sadly by not being take to the vets. It must be worse with you!
You are talking about all the right things sir! As a Chicago vet tech, I appreciate it!
Also, great intro animation!
Glad you liked it!
I am a veterinarian who worked for awhile in a VCA vet hospital. It was a terrible experience. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
They charge the most and I've been told pay their techs in my area the least.
Dr. Cellini, this is a great topic and I wish I had time to share all I have learned from my experiences with a corporate Practice. I have worked in veterinary hospitals for at least 40 yrs. and as a veterinarian for the past 28 yrs. (UC Davis 1994). I was employed as a Chief of Staff at VetSmart, then Banfield for 20 years and had a highly successful hospital within that model, receiving national Awards for New Pets and Clients. In my experience, part of the reason why corporations have entered into the veterinary profession is as you said, people are willing to pursue greater and more specialized care for their furry family members as the attitudes of pet owners have changed through the decades and corporations are looking to improve profits. Unfortunately, because of the financial burden upon graduation, older practitioners or specialty referral hospitals can no longer count on a new Associate coming in and building equity to take over that practice in 10+ yrs. They needed an exit strategy. I believe that many venture capitalists and equity seekers do not really understand what they are buying in the veterinary profession. There will come a time when they (and their shareholders) will need to see a ROI. I cannot imagine as in the example you used where they might pay $100 M for a buyout of a practice grossing $10 M and patiently wait to get their investment back. Equity returns for stocks, etc. might be 6-10% on average. Even a very efficiently managed veterinary hospital might be putting 20% to the bottom, so for the $10 M hospital that’s $2 M annually. It’s going to take a long time to recover that $100 M expense. Even worse, as many are aware, with an increase in wages, they are also going to expect to see an increase in production. In my hospital, and I’m sure yours as well, many of us are at our threshold of productivity without inviting errors or ruining our good standing with the pet loving community.
Full heartedly agree, now with the practice I'm at (similar to my first large hospital, it was 'private' but run like corporate) they are a large network already and now are also under the am even larger umbrella. I already am seeing the little changes starting that other staff might not be noticing, and I don't think they realize the days of giving stuff and services away for free and not monitoring stock even closer to find all those tiny bleeding holes the tighten the belt to increase profit and doing things to increase revenue. I feel like a lot will have quite the awakening when the new standards start to trickle down.
All that great vet care and the price of it completely priced me out of owning another pet on my Social Security income. I know about insurance, but do you know how much it costs when your pet gets old?
Excellent video. Thank you! Former Vet Tech here.
The corporate media campaigns have been carefully cultivating the whole notion of "pets as family" and "fur babies" for over 20 years through multiple avenues. Many pet industry corporate personnel also sit on the boards of major non-profit pet concerns, which can and do also steer consumers toward corporate ideas of "standards" of care.
What is also overlooked by many is that the two major global corporate owners (Mars and Nestle/Purina PetCare) also have the top shares not only in Veterinary practices in North America, Europe, and around the world, but in the pet industry in general. Nestle's pharmaceutical share is even larger than their pet food share. It's easy for them to say on their bags of food "recommended by Veterinarians" (even if the ingredients in the food may be questionable) , and the increasing use of pharmaceuticals off-label for pets is worrisome.
So the prize isn't necessarily the actual return on investment in the Veterinary practice itself, but all the returns from all the "practice-adjacent" concerns, i.e. pet foods, specialty pet foods, testing laboratories, insurance, pet medications, etc.
Corporate is a plague on our profession, despite being the inevitable future. Leadership from afar is not true leadership and can't substitute for a practicing owner on site. There is no comparison.
It's the same with human hospitals. I was recently admitted for a short stay. I'd say 90-95% of the nurses and aids did not speak clear English. Wheelchairs are now these metal very uncomfortable monstrosities, and blood pressure cuffs are now scatchy plastic. Bed had a 4-inch hard as rock mattress. My favorite doctor left the system (HCA) because they cut his salary. He was head of resident training at the hospital. The very same thing is happening in vet and human medicine. It is all about corporate profits and cutting costs wherever possible regardless of employees and patient care.
Great video as an aspiring practice owner, thank you for making it.
This is an important topic in vet med. I’d like to first point out that to my knowledge practice valuation is usually based on operating margin (basically profit) not gross revenue. So a practice with 10 million in gross revenue would be worth somewhere around 6-10x their profit (not revenue). I think part of the reason so many practices are corporate owned is that veterinarians by and large don’t receive the experience and skills to run a business in their DVM education. So more business education within our vet schools would help that.
I don't think they get much, and those that truly know they need more go back for business and management
Friends who reluctantly sold their small animal practice to a corporation had no option. No vets wanted to buy this successful practice in a great community. Too much work. Hours are too demanding. Younger vets won’t do it.
I have always wanted to open a private practice after getting enough experience, now I want to open a multi-specialty hospital with an ER and find a fantastic team of doctors and techs to create a good working environment and actually do things big scale but the right way!!
When I finished vet school in Quebec, no one but veterinarians could own a veterinary practice. Corporate medicine was not legal. I guess lobbies got involved and now VCA and their emulators are now present in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. To be continued...
It's ridiculous. As long as the CEO's a vet, they're good to go. LMAO
As Klaus Schwab said, 'you will own nothing and be happy'.
I worked for a really good practice..the owner sold to a corporate vet who had other clinics in ny and nj...I worked for only a few more months...they moved in their own people and pushed out some that worked there for years..I hated that they made me push vaccines and procedures, that I disagreed with with some pets..they offered a gift card to which ever tech sold the most vaccines..basically pitting us against eachother, a staff that was almost family..it was all about money..I understand it's a business but I had to lie to clients..the clients trusted me..nope not going to do that so you can make money...that ended my 25+ years as an LVT....
Now I know why my small vet clinic/hospital went to shit so fast! I recently learned all the "new changes" were becuase they were bought by Blue Pearl not too long ago. I feel stuck using them because they're still the cheapest ER in my city!
My understanding is working for a corporate vet office the DVMs get paid less (smaller piece of the pie) thus making it more stressful. Especially if the DVM still has student loans to pay off. I’m just starting out as a VA and right now since I don’t have much experience, I’m applying to wherever I can and hope they can take me for face value. Love your videos Dr Cellini. They’re educational and informative. The topics you cover are relatable.
thanks! i'm honestly not sure if vets get paid more with corporate or not. my experience has been all over the place.
I work for a Mars owned hospital in the UK and it's depressing how it is changing since takeover. Profits are king and people are treated as disposable.
This hits home.
I was working for a local veterinarian ( Destin , Florida) that was beloved by the community as much as by his associates and employees . It was 18 + years I worked there until he retired and instead of selling the clinic to one of his associates, he took a larger payday from SOUTHERN VETERINARY PARTNERS.
I retired myself shortly thereafter and moved out of state. Lots of the old crew was either fired or they fled like I did.
He had a heck of a team and there was hardly EVER any turnover. It’s sad that it had to end this way….he lost lots of clients as the word leaked out that this small clinic had been taken over by a mega corporation. The clinic itself still bares the old “ mom and pop “ cliche interior….but nothing could be further from the truth.
But on the bright side. Had he not sold, I wouldn’t have retired 🤣 Moved to Vegas and living my best life now 🤟
I think my vet is privately owned but you can never be sure. I absolutely try to avoid the clearly corperate vets. Plus the horror stories I've heard of people not being able to get help when their pet has an emergency and being told they should have planned ahead. I might have to drop my pet off for the day but they try to get him in where they can if emergencies come up. And if I call them they will generally help out without an appointment if its feasible
I too feel it is becoming a turning point in the Veterinary field. With new technicians only lasting 3-5 years where who will be running clinics in 10 years? Revolving greenhorn technicians?
I think there is more than one thing that needs to change and I believe with the influx of animals in homes along with the in clinic issues, mobile is the way for technicians and DVMs to go.
I started working as a vet tech in the community over 3 years ago and now run my own in home vet tech pet care service, have been "unemployed" for almost 2 years and make so much more money than I did before and still have plenty of time to spend with my family.
With more technicians taking their skills out to the community it can increase the knowledge of pet owners in the community, pet owner compliance and retention, and decrease the amount of over-worked and burnt-out technicians. This should also decrease the amount of non-serious or emergency visits to the clinic to see the DVM and therefore decrease the overbooked load of clinics and hospitals and stress placed upon those facilities.
I would just love to not have clients come in at 1am for thier ear infection or anal gland abscess, then get made at me for their 4-6hr weight asking when they will be seen next as they watch very critically ill/bloody/seizing or doa's being rushed by and screaming crying owners as they tap they tap their foot and again ask when will they be seen cause fluffy is very uncomfortable (but I guess that will always be a thing lol)
Thank you for this video and your constant honesty. Love you and bro..❤
With the veterinary shortage, finding a person will to even buy in and be a partner is a major challenge. Add in the mix of someone wanting a partnership but also fitting the practice culture, and many of us are left unable to find a retirement plan.
I worked for VCA as a kennel tech. They made us leave for a 3 hour coorperate party that wasnt a party just us sitting down to watch the founders talk about how great they were. 🤮 Left that job because my joints broke down and that is how I found out I have a connective tissue disorder.
Oh no! All our parties were real ones thankfully. Though there was that one time we were forced to watch a dog training demonstration from a really out of date "professional." Hope your joints feel better! I left because my head broke down faster than my body.
I’ve worked from private to corporate veterinary hospitals, the only true good things with working corporate was the large hospital discounts for your pets (75% off for full time employees) and the simplicity of their EMR. Other than that, it’s shitty. Working corporate I felt like a damn sales person than a technician, pimping out their puppy/adult/senior/dental packages to every client that came in. All because the manager wanted us to hit a quota each day and essentially it being a way to keep one of us employees from being laid off, like if you were getting the most clients to sign up you were safe from losing your job. It was sickening.
Being a sales person is the last thing one should have to do when in the field of any medicine. It's hazardous for the clients and their trust in the practice. That said, I think it should be the AVMA which should chime in with a few policies that discourage this practice. But looks like the lobbying will get them too.
You can bet that when huge companies buy smaller ones, that two things are going to happen. 1. Quality will decrease and 2. Prices will increase. You can bank on it.
As a pet owner I find this very disturbing.
My situation exactly. We work hard to keep the attitude positive, but the pressure to produce numbers makes this very difficult.
Excellent topic for a video! Interesting (or insert alternative adjective here) trend in the field
What I don’t understand is why when a practice goes corporate, the clinics have to change which distributors they buy from. Clinics aren’t being visited or called on and the clinics can’t shop around for better prices.
Dr. C, a correction, it’s 10 to 12 times EBITDA, not gross revenue. It was as high as 17 times but a mini crash occurred when three up and comers were not able to recapitalize earlier this year. However, myself and several of my friends are in the same boat: our associates who were brought on with the intention of buying, have decided they do not want to be owners! I just had my first offer, I wish it were ten times gross.
Yeah I actually knew that (I have a close friend who is a VC and explained it to me) but for purposes of the video I kind of just summarized it as a “gross” to make it easy. I’m planning on making another video getting into the details more.
I personally worked for Banfield for 4 years. I worked for an amazing hospital that ended up having a wonderful practice manager. I always felt cared for they really fought for balance.
I loved how they had up to date equipment and to run labs. Makes it so easy that we can run most test in house versus sending them out. It made doing our job so much easier. I personally never worked for a private practice but my experience with corporate has thankfully been good. I understand some do not experience that though. It's a good topic to bring to the light though!
For 27 out of my 33 years of practice I have been a practice owner. I am a late boomer (if I was born 30 days later I would be considered Gen X) A lot of my vet school classmates aspired to be practice owners. I think that metric has changed. Most young veterinarians have no desire to be owners. They are trained as and desire to be clinicians and clinicians only. Add in the level of debt most younger veterinarians are servicing and it is not only not a tract most veterinarians desires but is actually not a financial possibility in most cases
Yeah I don't know how most people can start a practice nowadays. I guess you'd have to work as an associate for a number of years and then try but even then, with student loans, it might be impossible.
The reality is also that practice valuations are so inflated, due to what large corporations can afford to shell out for a practice. A private buyer just can’t compete on price in a way that financially makes sense for them to take the risk, and the owner/seller understandably wants the biggest payout they can get for retirement.
@@DVMCellini the challenge is for young vets, your best bet is often a startup, but that’s very risky - only feasible if you have a very supportive spouse with a very good income. You’re not going to be able to compete on price for “turn-key” practices - that’s what investment firms will shell out top dollar for. That leaves buying a “no-low” practice that is essentially taking on a liability (bad investment) or doing a startup.
If you’re going to try a startup, you need to be lucky enough to find an up-and-coming area that is underserved or have a completely novel service/model for that area. …you also need a lot of luck.
@@DVMCellini I sadly know a vet that is working/owning/running a private practice but he sadly didn't choose to at least not now and possibly not ever. He was just an associate maybe thinking of taking over in the future... but the owner had different plans, and suddenly said well either you take it or im selling everything. He's trying very hard, I think he's doing a great job but he is totally stressed out and over worked and I just learned he recently had a minor stroke at work even too. He's to young to be having that yet
It's certainly an interesting topic. Coming from a European country where corporization isn't a problem in vet med and the majority of places are privately owned I have a contrasting opinion. Privately owned practices have their major downfalls like pay isn't the best (since everything is coming out of your boss' pockets, they will think twice before even considering better pay for you), cutting corners on the basics that only people working in the clinic will know about (like reusing soaker pads if they're aren't "that" bad, resuing iv tubing, not changing needles when filling up and giving injections etc), to major problems, for example, skimping on a scavenger system in an NRC or not investing in lead walls for their Xray room. So yeah... I am really curious what work culture and basics like these look like in corporate clinics since my experience in private practices is kind of meh at best.
I have used both. I prefer private VETS due to the lack of compassion. I was also told that they have a quota or financial quota’s to fulfill. I was shamed to believe that I was a bad person because I would not put my dog through chemotherapy for 2 months to get maybe 4 months of life.
Gross vs Grossing?🙏❤️
I'm so sorry, it truly sadness me to hear that. I feel it is not our place to tell to you what you should do. We are here to provide you with best care we can and to give you as much information as possible so you can make an informed discussion on what you think is the best option for your situation/thoughts/beliefs/wishes for your pet so they can get the best care and treatment we can provide for the both of you.
Maybe unionizing is the answer….
Good info...but during the last recession, our practice suffered a lot.
As someone who currently works at a once great clinic that is literally crumbling in front of me, I don't know if it's comforting or scary knowing this is happening everywhere.
Another great topic! 👍 Thank you!
Wow the last time I checked pet insurance, it was completely out of my range. But I just checked it and I may be able to afford it? That will take further action on my part to see if it sounds too good to be true. I am shocked I saw the quotes I did . My vet does run his own little practice. He is a country vet, and he does try to keep prices low. And he knows me , for many years now.
I see you do pet consultations for Neurological problems. I lost my big dog last year due to a stroke, he didn't have the tests available there for strokes. I have to wonder if you could have advised him? I know there are 2 types of strokes. This was a big strong active dog of 9 years very healthy. It broke my heart. I will look in to pet insurance more. A minimal amount over the long run would give me peace of mind, and when something like this happens, my dog wouldn't have to die. After nursing numerous people through strokes , some having 3 strokes, to still lead good lives for 20 more years. I know in my heart my dog did not have to die. I took her home when, he said he could do nothing without a test. She was still getting around, getting outside to go potty. But a week later she had a worse stroke . I just feel in my heart she many years left. If I could have afforded it.
Be aware that pet insurance goes up every year and the older your dog is and the more likely to get sick, the less affordable it becomes.
I work for Mars banf. Yup I ages with all of it
Damn, it’s like this is happening in every industry from housing to shopping, but vet care. Wow. What a niche way to squeeze yet more money out of the desperate and unsuspecting public 💔
I agree with you one hundred percent .
This truly sucks! It has definetly impacted individuals and shelters.
I noticed all comments to any YT post by Blue Pearl are turned off. All of them. Wonder why?
It’s not me. Not sure boss
@@DVMCellini I think we all know why. They do not want all the people who have had their pet slaughtered when they could have been saved because of money to post the truth. I pray vets with real hearts keep coming out of the schools and not all become greedy profiteers at the expense of our beloved pets who have no voice. God bless you and all who labor in relative anonymity in service to the Lord's creatures.
A $6400.00 dental bill for my 15 year old cat has "come to my notice" this month. We ain't in Kansas anymore, Toto. And . . . those who make the cat food own the majority of cat dental palaces? Consumer signals go off, no?
So why don't the employees chip in and buy the practices? Maybe not the big chains, but the smaller practices which are also being sold to corporations.
"Owning more of what we do" (as veterinary practitioners) is NOT the only solution 😆I don't know how you're getting fooled into these fables. We can have laws in place that put product over maximizing profit, that put the patient over shareholders. A veterinary practitioner or hospital can make a great living and lots of money by providing the best service and care they can, and they already do... and then we can keep the investors away, because they ruin the product and harm the patients. People over profit!!!
Big biz and vet practice is a bad pairing. They don't understand that I'm not made of money even though I spend plenty there. Feel like a 2nd class customer. However the facility, techs and doctors are very good.
I believe I have ptsd after 5 months of veterinary hospitals. VCA, MedVet and Blue Pearl all where neglect in the care of our pup. They have no reason to fear repercussion as they are none. They are free to malpractice at will. Our dog died 5 months to the day of Blue Pearl, the beginning of the nightmare. It was also his first birthday. The Tx A&M Teaching Hospital seemed to cover up for them since most of the DVMs are their alumni. Even though we recorded everything, nobody cares.
Blue Pearl black listed us after we complained to their customer care line.
My pets are family and I refuse to leave them in the care of a corporation. I don't do it "to" myself why would I do it to my fur babies
Having worked for private practices, university, and 2 different corporates I have to say, not all corporates are the same. And privately owned practices are by far the ones that pay their (techs at least) the worst. Or have the worst benefits too. I also experienced the “work from hell” in a private practice and partly in a corporate shared ownership practice. I currently work at a specialty clinic owned by a corporate and have to say the work environment and care from regional manager downstream is one of the best I have seen.
I understand the concern from it all becoming a monopoly (which I believe is more focused on Mars corporation). But I think the bad work environment can happen in any practice (privately owned or not) and it’s unfortunately very predominant in veterinary medicine. From my experience, at least.
I had a VCA vet with no small animal training, emergency training, or apparent experience in a marketed emergency vet clinic misdiagnose respiratory distress from heart failure, with years of cardiologist records in front of her. My dog died pretty terribly because of a corporate vet who couldn’t recognize a common emergency and who told us to wait for treatment.
Corporate veterinarian practices are sometimes dangerous, because they are relying on being too big to get sued. They don’t seem to realize that poor public opinion of places like VCA will mean that people who can afford anything more than basic care will avoid them.
I would consider it morally wrong to trust a VCA vet, after that experience. I think that’s a common sentiment for pet owners.
Sounds a little like the Walmart effect on a community.
I started tech work in 1982, so I speak from experience. One disagreement: I work for Banfield, and getting pet owners to spring for major medical is just as hard, if not a little harder, than in 1982. The reason? Pet Wellness Plans. Owners somehow manage to convince themselves that a wellness plan *should* cover everything, they usually refer to the wellness plan as "insurance." Getting them to OK tooth extraction during a dental is, well, like pulling teeth!
True and they come in to emergency and say they have insurance with Banfield and we have to explain its a plan they use there, it's not insurance
Is it normal when a clinic is bought by a corporation to not tell the clientst? When the clinic I work at was bought a year ago there was no announcement to the clients. most still assume that the clinic is owned by one of the doctors.
Well I have worked at 3 places like this, not a single one told clients. The name never changed, our polyics didn't really change, so to the clients we a till practice the same as we always have
My clinic was sold to MVP in October, one of the main reasons was the owner wanted to retire and had been looking for someone non corporate and there wasn’t interest
What is MVP???
MVP is another corporation that buys vet clinics but basically helps with buying power to get discounts like the big corporations but let's every practice continue to practice medicine as they want including staffing, protocols, etc unless the practice asks MVP for help. Clinics that are purchased don't have a name change so clients don't even know there has been a change in ownership.
Hmmmmm I’m absolutely shocked that you didn’t mention the fact that veterinarians at these corporate clinics are getting paid commissions/bonuses. There’s also a growing trend of vet techs and assistants getting bonuses. IMO no medical professional should be paid based on how much they sell. It will always affects patient care. I saw absolutely disgusting behavior in an er I worked in.
It's unfortunate to witness so many veterinarians selling their businesses to corporate entities. I recently heard that corporations are offering substantial bonuses to entice veterinary medicine students into working for them - diminishing autonomy and leaving little incentive to start one's own practice. What actions could be taken to encourage vet students towards entrepreneurship, but being mindful of how these same successful entrepreneurs might eventually sell out as well? Let's turn the tables and have corporations owned by veterinarians who hire MBAs as their employees instead of the opposite.
Would unionizing or veterinary co-operatives have an impact re: burnout? Anyone with experience in either?
I don't hear it talked about often enough in Canada, but I'm excited to see the progress NVPU makes in the coming years.
As veterinary medicine is quickly commodified I don't see better ways out. Between real-estate and educational costs, today's vet school grads will not be opening their own practices anytime soon.
I’m not sure if unionizing is the answer but I can see it happening for sure.
Does anyone know how to find a decent vet, who is not using some script written by corporate bean counters? Please, my cat lost 1/3 of her weight in the last month. I don't think she has much time left. And the vets we go to aren't going to help her. (Northern NJ)
Here in Italy, we are having the AniCura chain of clinics and hospitals, and I've heard some colleagues that you are beaing paid a little bit more, and they make you an ''full-time enployee (meaning with a work contract)'', rather that a professional with a VAT. I've also heard clients that they don't like the idea of big hospitals everywhere, because they lack the ''..emotional connection between the client and the doctor''. somethimes a client doesn't even see the doctors when entering a big clinic or hospital
anicura, which is a part of Mars, btw...
Anicura is here in Denmark too.
I don't like it, it feels icky to me, and I am afraid that they will exploit their workers. Fortunately, I have a good vet with her own practice.
Will vets be able to compete with corporations in the future, by opening their own practices from scratch?
No but they can at least reap the benefits of owning what they do.
I feel sorry for the animals. My husband and I rescue animals.We are down to only one and would love to rescue more but won’t because of this very article.
I've been going to a free-standing Banfield clinic (not inside a PetSmart) since 2014. I saw the same vet for about 5 years who worked wonders with my anxious AmStaff and got him to a point we could take him off muzzle protocol.
After she left, it's been like a rotating door of vets. I've had great visits with many of them across my 4 dogs but it seems like I can only get about 3-4 visits before they're gone and I have to start over again.
I've stuck with Banfield because the wellness plans and office hours are convenient, but I've gotten to the point that I need more continuity for my aging pets. I'm switching to a local vet with a mobile practice and I'm excited to build a relationship with her.
Also I had no idea Banfield was owned by the same company as Royal Canin. 🤔 I guess the lobby full of RC products should have been a clue. I'm fairly confident that my pup does need the RC diet that he's on, but it seems a little suspicious.
Depends on the diet cause I'm assuming its a soecial diet, my place is under the same umbrella as Banfield and i guess royal canin too.....we have royal canin but mainly use more hills and they all have similar products hills use to more of a pet favorite (at it better) then purina's diets seemed to be preferred now royal canins seem more prefered.... honestly this I think will always be more of the Dr's preference of brand and likely will change depending on what type of diet is needed.
You get a like 30 secs into the video for the Constantine reference.
you willl liiiiiiiiiivvvvee
Super interesting video! I don't like this development at all. It has begun here in Denmark as well and I don't trust it. This kind of capitalism usually hurts people, imo.
There’s no way it’s 10x gross revenue. 10x EBITDA maybe
Yeah yeah I know I was trying to not introduce a term like that because I’d have to sit and define it and bog down the video.
THANKS FOR CALLING ME OUT
Yeah I sadly would have had NOOOOO idea what he was taking about lol 😆 but it is stuff that I know I should be trying to learn
The background music on this video is extremely distracting. Please either turn it down or leave it out altogether. On the topic of corporatization of veterinary medicine, this is why I won't own another dog. My now deceased dog was my first dog and will also be my last. When I adopted her back in 2011, this trend of corporations buying up vet practices hadn't progressed as far yet. There were still family-owned practices. Nowadays, all you can find is corporation-owned animal hospitals. The prices have skyrocketed and the level of care for the animals is mediocre at best. Whenever I took my dog to the vet, I always felt like she was treated as an afterthought. They were more interested in getting my money than providing medical care to my dog. The service was also impersonal. At the end of my dog's life, staff still had to ask her name eventhough we came in regularly. Also, staff turnover was high. Every month there were different vets and different vet techs. Horrible experience. Everything Big Corp touches turns into a disaster and becomes profit (greed) driven. It won't be until family-owned practices pop up again that I might consider adopting another dog. But I can't see that happening.
These corporate buyouts are "hell" for the pet owners!! Service has suffered tremendously, and prices have spiked! Congratulations, you vets have joined the ranks of the typical human physician, i.e., you've become money grubbers first, doctors second!! So, so SAD!!
I have a distain for doctors and vets. They feed on your emotions and fears to fill their pockets. It's not about wanting to save lives. It's about using your love, fears and misfortunes for enrich themselves. Many times bankrupting you with little to no increase in life expectancy. When is the last time you heard about a cure that didn't just suddenly disappear into obscurity? It's all about controlling a problem through expensive monthly medications. Profit has become the main goal. Cures are only profitable for a while. But putting your loved ones on expensive monthly meds means extending you or your pet's life is based on your ability to pay.
I didn’t go through 4 years of arduous schooling and 1 year of a rotating internship to feed on your emotions, I did it to help animals and make a difference in people’s lives. Sounds like you need to seek out some help for your “emotions and fears.”
Also. Owning a pet is not a right, it’s a privilege. If you can’t afford to care for one properly, don’t get one.
@@brycegolsen6123 I don't have pets. I have four legged family members. But for example. I went to the local vet today for because one of my family members had an ear infection. Blood tests came to 220. With that and ear drops the bill came to $375. Out right theft for a 45 minute visit. On the other hand I have 6 years of schooling and have to take multiple courses each and every year to keep my technical certifications. I repair electronics at the macroscopic level, But I charge $75 to $115 for a repair. one third the price of brick and mortar shops and I do repairs that only a handful of people can do. I want to help people that can't afford $750 for a new motherboard or mainboard for their electronics. I have medical professionals that mail their equipment from many different States. It was never about getting rich. It has always been about providing repairs the average person could never afford. The wealthy clients know they are not my main focus. Many though give me tips far greater than the cost of the repair and have even donated equipment. Donated equipment comes in and I repair and give away to those in need or strip for parts so someone else won't have to pay for a new part. I love what I do. I'm not in love with the money. When a vet or doctor is willing to let an animal or person suffer or die because the owner or human patient can't afford the costs. The love of money is clearly stronger than the love for wanting to help others. I'm guessing the material items you enjoy in life would prove my point. I could be living the, so called, good life. But I prefer my modest home and old car. I also prefer spending my lowly profits on buying more and more repair equipment so I can do even more to help others. So take your 5 years of dedication to making yourself wealthy and keep pretending it was all about helping and not the money. I'll keep working the way I do until my C3/C4/C5 cervical spine compressions finally make it impossible. Because no doctor will charge less than what it would cost for a new car to fix. The medical industry has gotten to the point of having too many fingers in the pie. So I understand some of the large costs. But purely private practices are hard to find. As far as Vets. It doesn't seem to matter if they are private or not. Just like dentists. I've brought in many injured stray animals to vets. Only to have to keep them comfortable while they died because the vet wanted to hundreds of dollars just to try and save them. If I can't fix your device I charge nothing for trying. But I guess only the rich should have four legged family members . Poor people can be just as loving and spoil their four legged family members as rich people. Giving them love, affection and a feeling of being wanted. Typical that a greedy person in a profession of care would state that only people that can afford their services deserve to have a four legged family member in their lives. You prove why I despise your kind of person. Wanting to be seen as a loving and kind saint while demanding gold for your sainthood. Disgusting!!!!!
@@paying-for-freedom ain't nobody working for free just because you feel entitled
@@chrisr.6638 Oh isn't that sweet. You care about my feelings. love you too sweetie.
solution: educate the public, expose every corporate practice, new doctors need to stop working for corporate,