Burnout? Blame corporate. Back orders? Corporate. Inflation? Corporate. Slow internet? You guessed it: corporate. Let’s be honest. The corporate-versus-independent debate is getting stale. And frankly, it misses the point. The truth? There are good corporate veterinary practices and not-so-good ones. The same goes for the independents. What separates the thriving from the barely surviving isn’t who owns the hospital. It’s who leads it. Ownership isn’t the problem. Leadership is.
Let’s stop pointing fingers and start focusing on what drives hospital success. The answer: strong, local, boots-on-the-ground leadership.
Difference-Makers
Those of us who have worked in multilocation environments know the story all too well. One hospital has it all — a gorgeous facility, top-tier equipment, generous pay, substantial fringe benefits, you name it — and still underperforms. Down the road, another hospital is outdated, underresourced, and booming. What’s the difference? You already know: local leadership.
Cardiff University research involving veterinarians from corporate and independent practices backs it up. Turns out the most significant variable in team experience isn’t the policy in place but how it’s implemented. And who implements policy? Local leaders.
Even within the same company, you can find hospitals with wildly different cultures, morale, and performance — all because of who’s at the helm.
Veterinary medicine is more complex than ever. Post-COVID challenges, growing client demands, increasing regulation, and changing team expectations all require capable, confident leadership. Maybe only second to vision, leadership is the most crucial ingredient in long-term success.
The Dyad Model
Over on the human side of health care, leadership has evolved. The dyad model is the standard. It pairs a medical leader with a nonclinical administrator (think chief medical officer and CEO or chief of staff and practice manager).
That model works. It marries clinical insight with operational know-how. Compassion with competence. Medicine with management. It’s a smart way to run any hospital — human or animal.
In our profession, we’ve seen a healthy trend among progressive corporate practices to include veterinary professionals in the C-suite and at the board of directors level. We all win when the voice of the clinic floor is heard at the top.
In Defense of Corporate Practice
Here’s an unpopular opinion: Corporate practices aren’t the enemy. Let’s do a quick, back-of-the-envelope, non-peer-reviewed case study.
Back in the early 1990s, corporate practices accounted for about 1% of veterinary revenue. Today? They touch over half of every veterinary dollar.
In the 1990s, veterinarians worked five-plus days a week, got maybe 10 days of paid time off, and spent about 250 days a year on the clinic floor. Health benefits? Optional. New grad pay? Around $95,000 (inflation-adjusted). Burnout, mental health, and scheduling flexibility? Not on the radar.
Now? Four-day workweeks are the norm. PTO averages 20-plus days. Clinic floor time is about 192 days a year, nearly two months less than a generation ago. Medical benefits are standard. New grads start at around $125,000. Flexibility and personal well-being programs are expected, not nice-to-haves.
We work fewer days, get paid more, and enjoy better benefits than ever before. Did corporate practices have a hand in driving these changes? You be the judge. Are corporate practices the scapegoats for many of the challenges our profession faces? You decide.
The Case for Local Leadership
No matter who owns the veterinary practice, strong local leadership is the difference-maker. Yes, clinical excellence is essential. But leadership is what brings it all together and keeps it from falling apart. Practice managers, chiefs of staff, and hospital owners are the culture carriers. They shape the day-to-day. They engage, support, and challenge their teams to be at their best. They build trust with clients, and they drive the results that matter. Healthy pets. Happy clients. Engaged teams. Successful practices.
Here’s why it matters:
- Team morale and employee retention depend on local leaders. Our profession faces genuine challenges, including burnout, compassion fatigue, and high turnover. A strong local leader supports team members, listens, recognizes signs of distress, and creates a safe workplace. The old saying remains true: People don’t quit their job; they quit their boss.
- Operational success depends on local leaders. They manage change, look beyond the day-to-day, communicate effectively, set priorities, and keep things moving forward.
- Financial performance depends on local leaders. They track KPIs, optimize scheduling, boost efficiency, and keep the lights on.
- Client experience depends on local leaders. Pet owners don’t care who owns the practice. Instead, they care about how they’re treated. Local leaders set the tone for client communication, team accountability, and service expectations.
Teach, Don’t Toss
Here’s the problem: We ask local practice leaders to lead without ever teaching them how. We hand them the keys and say, “Good luck!” That’s not fair to them or to their teams.
Leaders are not born as leaders. Leadership can be learned through mentorship, formal training, CE, books, podcasts, and trial and error. But it doesn’t happen by accident. Good leadership is intentional.
Kudos to our veterinary schools for starting to get it. Many now include professional skills, such as communication, teamwork, and interprofessional training, in the curriculum. Even dual DVM/MBA programs are gaining traction.
Are you a new graduate? Find mentors. Say “yes” to leadership opportunities. An independent practice owner? Seek out guidance. Build your skills. A corporate doctor? Take advantage of the leadership programs your company offers. Many are excellent and underutilized.
Here’s the reality: The clock is ticking. Veterinary medicine is aging. Boomers are retiring fast. In our U.S. profession, about 2,000 veterinarians retire annually. Many of them are leaders. The need for new leaders is clear.
We’re in a leadership talent crunch. Without developing and empowering the next generation of leaders, the system cracks. The good news? Leadership can be taught. We just need to prioritize it.
Enough With the Either-Or
Corporate versus independent. Wall Street versus Main Street. Mercenaries versus missionaries. Shareholders versus stakeholders. Head versus heart. Us versus them. Private practice good. Corporate practice bad.
Enough already. It’s not that simple. Let’s move on.
Veterinary professionals working in either independent or corporate practices want the same things:
- To be fulfilled professionally.
- To enjoy their work and those they work with.
- To make a difference in the lives of patients and clients.
In this increasingly polarized world, we can agree on the power of pets. Pets connect us all.
Our future isn’t about who signs our paychecks. It’s about who shows up for their team, their clients, and their patients. It’s about pairing scrubs and stethoscopes with business attire and spreadsheets. It’s about collaboration over division.
Let’s empower and invest in strong local leaders. When we do, everything else falls into place. And the future of veterinary medicine? It’s not just bright, it’s also brilliant.
QUOTABLE
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
— Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and political activist