The Vet Industry Crisis: A Corporate Problem, a People-First Solution

The Vet Industry Crisis: A Corporate Problem, a People-First Solution

There is a crisis in veterinary medicine right now.

Burnout. Depression. Compassion fatigue. Suicide. The numbers in our profession are staggering and they are getting worse. The shortage was real before 2019 and COVID only poured fuel on it. Sheer overwhelm, toxic work environments, and worker exploitation turned a staffing problem into a full blown mental health crisis. And now, the current recession is pushing our already collapsing industry off a cliff.

The people profiting off this? They are not losing sleep.

Corporate consolidation and private equity have spent years buying up independent practices and squeezing them for profit. Rising costs of inflation, predatory pharmaceutical pricing, and PE-backed takeovers have driven this profession to the brink. The expectation to hit revenue targets while pet owners are skipping care because they cannot afford it is not just tone-deaf. It is unethical. It is unsustainable. And frankly it is short-sighted.

Record breaking profits are at odds with ethical medical care. Human, veterinary, or otherwise. We cannot allow an industry that literally involves life and death to rest on the ethical consideration of billionaires.

Dogs are dying. Pet owners are going bankrupt. Vet staff are being abused. And veterinarians are killing themselves under the crushing weight of demands, expectations, and financial blame they never signed up for. Meanwhile the candy company is getting rich off all of it.

We have two choices.

We can allow the continued exploitation of healthcare workers for the wealthiest 0.1% of society to profit infinitely -- while simultaneously pricing the average person out of pet companionship. Or we can create a movement. Doctor-owned. Independent. People-first. And we can drive non-DVM entities out of veterinary hospital ownership for good.

I vote for the latter.

I believe that with kind-hearted, compassionate veterinarians at the helm of these hospitals, we create a ripple effect for good throughout their communities. When ethical independent small businesses are the cornerstone of local veterinary medicine, prices stay affordable. Scientific community trust is fostered. The veterinary-client-patient relationship is honored and strengthened instead of monetized. Staff actually stay long-term and the profession starts to heal.

Pet parents and vet staff agree. We want corporations out of our healthcare spaces. And we want it now.

The window for change is closing with every passing year. Corporate consolidation moves fast and independent practices are disappearing. But here is what I know. You do not have to wait on legislation. You do not have to hope the industry fixes itself. You can opt out of the broken system right now and build something better.

You don't have to keep working for a system that is misaligned with your values.

If you are a burned out associate vet who still believes in what this profession is supposed to be -- private practice ownership is your way out. Not someday. Now. It is your fastest path from burnout to autonomy, from misaligned to all-in, from dreading Monday to actually loving your career again.

Buy It is my step-by-step program for veterinary practice acquisition. I walk you through the whole thing -- finding the right practice, financing it without a pile of cash upfront, and building the systems so you come out the other side with a clinic that runs the way you always believed it should. For a full guide into vet practice ownership, this is where you start.  Buy It: A step-by-step guide to veterinary practice acquisition. 

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About Dr. Carlee Tucker | Veterinary Practice Rising

Carlee Tucker, DVM is a mixed animal practice owner in rural Kansas and the founder of Veterinary Practice Rising. She teaches burned-out associate DVMs how to buy an ethical, people-first veterinary practice with no MBA and no down payment through The People-First Healthcare Method.

FREE Practice Match-Up List and The People-First Healthcare Method: Buy It  linktr.ee/dr.carleetucker

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