{"id":5505,"date":"2019-06-01T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/?p=5505"},"modified":"2022-05-17T20:01:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T20:01:00","slug":"independents-still-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarybusiness.com\/independents-still-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Independents Still Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Supported by big investors, consolidators have gobbled up a couple of thousand veterinary practices. NVA, for example, owns more than 600, VetCor over 300, and relative newcomers Southern Veterinary Partners and Compassion-First come in at 79 and 35, respectively. The head counts likely will be higher by the time you read this.<\/p>\n

Hearing that your friend, an independent practice owner, sold to a consolidator might make you think that everyone is doing it. Not so.<\/p>\n

John Volk<\/a> of Brakke Consulting estimates that 14 to 15% of U.S. veterinary practices are corporately owned. Matthew Salois, Ph.D., chief economist at the American Veterinary Medical Association<\/a>, says the number is even lower: 10 to 12%. The discrepancy arises from the lack of a nationwide hospital census, something the AVMA is working to complete. The current thinking is the United States has somewhere between 28,000 and 33,000 veterinary clinics.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d you respond, \u201cbut what will the market look like when the consolidators and large groups have had their fill?\u201d I\u2019m glad you asked, because I surveyed a few people who know a lot more about the subject than I do.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what three of them had to say:<\/p>\n