Burnout? Blame corporate. Back orders? Corporate. Inflation? Corporate. Slow internet? You guessed it: corporate. Let\u2019s 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\u2019t who owns the hospital. It\u2019s who leads it. Ownership isn\u2019t the problem. Leadership is.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s stop pointing fingers and start focusing on what drives hospital success. The answer: strong, local, boots-on-the-ground leadership.<\/p>\n
Those of us who have worked in multilocation environments know the story all too well. One hospital has it all \u2014 a gorgeous facility, top-tier equipment, generous pay, substantial fringe benefits, you name it \u2014 and still underperforms. Down the road, another hospital is outdated, underresourced, and booming. What\u2019s the difference? You already know: local leadership.<\/p>\n
Cardiff University research involving veterinarians from corporate and independent practices backs it up. Turns out the most significant variable in team experience isn\u2019t the policy in place but how it\u2019s implemented. And who implements policy? Local leaders.<\/p>\n
Even within the same company, you can find hospitals with wildly different cultures, morale, and performance \u2014 all because of who\u2019s at the helm.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
That model works. It marries clinical insight with operational know-how. Compassion with competence. Medicine with management. It\u2019s a smart way to run any hospital \u2014 human or animal.<\/p>\n
In our profession, we\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an unpopular opinion: Corporate practices aren\u2019t the enemy. Let\u2019s do a quick, back-of-the-envelope, non-peer-reviewed case study.<\/p>\n
Back in the early 1990s, corporate practices accounted for about 1% of veterinary revenue. Today? They touch over half of every veterinary dollar.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
No matter who owns the veterinary practice, strong local leadership is the difference-maker. Yes, clinical excellence is essential.<\/a> 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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why it matters:<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the problem: We ask local practice leaders to lead without ever teaching them how. We hand them the keys and say, \u201cGood luck!\u201d That\u2019s not fair to them or to their teams.<\/p>\n Leaders are not born as leaders. Leadership can be learned through mentorship, formal training, CE, books, podcasts, and trial and error. But it doesn\u2019t happen by accident. Good leadership is intentional.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Are you a new graduate? Find mentors. Say \u201cyes\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n We\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Enough already. It\u2019s not that simple. Let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n Veterinary professionals working in either independent or corporate practices want the same things:<\/p>\n In this increasingly polarized world, we can agree on the power of pets. Pets connect us all.<\/p>\n Our future isn\u2019t about who signs our paychecks. It\u2019s about who shows up for their team, their clients, and their patients. It\u2019s about pairing scrubs and stethoscopes with business attire and spreadsheets. It\u2019s about collaboration over division.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s empower and invest in strong local leaders. When we do, everything else falls into place. And the future of veterinary medicine? It\u2019s not just bright, it\u2019s also brilliant.<\/p>\n \u201cThe function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and political activist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The folks running the show, not the logo on the door, make a veterinary clinic shine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":79060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-february-march-2026","column-creative-disruption","clinical_topics-practice-management"],"acf":{"hide_sidebar":false,"hide_sidebar_ad":false,"hide_all_ads":false},"yoast_head":"\n\n
Teach, Don\u2019t Toss<\/h3>\n
Enough With the Either-Or<\/h3>\n
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\nQUOTABLE<\/span><\/h3>\n