CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF MAJOR VETERINARY CONSOLIDATORS

One good way to judge a corporate-owned veterinary practice is by the person who is leading the corporate consolidator or hospital group that owns and operates the practice. There are currently more than 70 corporate consolidators operating in the U.S. — REFER TO LIST BELOW.

Study conducted by CARE for Pets™ reveals that the majority of veterinary consolidators are led by non-veterinarians. It’s estimated that 1 out of every 3 general veterinary practices in the U.S. are now owned by corporate entities such as veterinary consolidators and hospital groups.

KEY FINDINGS:

  • The majority of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) that lead the major veterinary consolidators and hospital groups are non-veterinarians — this trend has rapidly accelerated over the last few years.
  • Many of the CEOs have extensive experience with corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and high growth companies.
  • Some of the executives were previously partners at private equity (PE) firms which raise funds and manage these monies to yield favorable returns for shareholders, typically with an investment horizon of between four and seven years.

The CEOs stated below include a link to their corresponding LINKEDIN Profile page which will provide additional details regarding their previous employment history. Our analysis reveals that several veterinary consolidator websites fail to disclose a complete job history of their executive leadership.

  1. Alliance Animal Health | Matthew Sussman (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  2. Altano Group | Dr. Victor Baltus (CEO) –LinkedIn
  3. American Veterinary Group | Craig Niebur (CEO) –LinkedIn
  4. AmeriVet Partners Management, Inc (AmeriVet) | Jason Heffelfinger (CEO) –LinkedIn
  5. Animal Dermatology Group, Inc. (ADG) | Steven Mrha (CEO) –LinkedIn
  6. Apollo Veterinary Medical Hospitals | Dr. Steve Whatley (CEO/FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  7. Associated Veterinary Partners (AVP) | Dzmitry Miranovich (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  8. Avanti Equine Veterinary Partners, LLC | Andrew Clark, DVM (CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  9. Banfield Pet Hospital | Mony Iyer (PRESIDENT) –LinkedIn
  10. Blue River PetCare (BRP) | Dan Blumenthal (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  11. BluePearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospital | Nicholas Nelson, DVM (PRESIDENT) –LinkedIn
  12. Bond Vet | Garrett Lewis (CEO) –LinkedIn
  13. Cara Veterinary | Dr. Peter Brown (PRESIDENT) –LinkedIn
  14. CareVet | Greg Siwak (CEO) –LinkedIn
  15. CityVet | David Boguslawski (PRESIDENT/CEO) –LinkedIn
  16. Community Veterinary Partners | Kevin Ruff (CEO) –LinkedIn
  17. Companion Pet Partners | Nicolas Laperriere (CEO) –LinkedIn
  18. Curo Pet Care | Jonas Pilkauskas (CHAIRMAN) –LinkedIn
  19. CVCA Cardiac Care for Pets | NOT DISPLAYED – PREVIOUS: Katie Brooks, LVT, CVPM (CEO) –LinkedIn
  20. Destination Pet | Dr. Jennifer Strickland Fowler (CEO) –LinkedIn
  21. Doppler Veterinary Network | Derrick Kraemer (CEO) –LinkedIn
  22. Easyvet | Tim Schoenfelder (CEO) –LinkedIn
  23. Encore Vet Group | Bo Iler (PRESIDENT/CEO) –LinkedIn
  24. Ethos Veterinary Health | Ames Prentiss (CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  25. EverVet Partners | Len Podolsky (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  26. Family Vet Group | Chase Michalek (PRESIDENT/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  27. Galaxy Vets | Dr. Ivan Zakharenkov (CEO) –LinkedIn
  28. GoodVets | Ryan Joseph (CEO) – LinkedIn Profile not available.
  29. Heart + Paw | Dave Lasus (CEO/COO) –LinkedIn
  30. Heartland Veterinary Partners | Greg DeAtkine (CEO) –LinkedIn
  31. Heritage Vet Partners | David Gnad (CEO) – LinkedIn Profile not available
  32. Hippo Veterinary Group | Dr. Bill Langhofer (CEO) –LinkedIn
  33. Innovetive Petcare | Mark Ziller (PRESIDENT/CEO) –LinkedIn
  34. Inspire Veterinary Partners | Kimball Carr (CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT/CEO) –LinkedIn
  35. Lakefield Veterinary Group | Mollie Hoff (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  36. Lovet Pet Health Care (AZPetVet) | Robert A. Fontana (CHAIRMAN/CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  37. MedVet | Dr. Linda Lehmkuhl (CEO) –LinkedIn
  38. Mission Veterinary Partners (MVP) | Michael Aubrey (CEO) –LinkedIn
  39. Modern Animal | Steven Eidelman (CEO/FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  40. My Pet’s Vet Group (MPVG) | Bob Singleton (CEO/FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  41. National Veterinary Associates (NVA) | Larry Allgaier (CEO) –LinkedIn
  42. Noah’s Animal Hospitals | Dr. Mike Thomas (PRESIDENT) –LinkedIn
  43. Northeast Veterinary Partners | Dr. David McGrath (CEO/FOUNDER) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  44. O’Brien Veterinary Group | Greg O’Brien (CEO) – LinkedIn Profile not available.
  45. Old Brown Dog | Joseph Marchell, DVM (CEO) –LinkedIn
  46. People, Pets & Vets | Chris Strong (CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  47. Pet Paradise | Alex Miller (PRESIDENT/CEO) –LinkedIn
  48. Pet Partners | Ted Sprinkle, DVM (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  49. Petfolk | CO-CEO/CO-FOUNDER: Audrey Wystrach, DVM –LinkedIn / Michael Wystrach –LinkedIn
  50. PetSmart Veterinary Services (PVS) | J.K. Symancyk (CEO/PRESIDENT) –LinkedIn
  51. PetVet Care Centers | Eric Enderle (CEO) –LinkedIn
  52. PetVet365 | Tommy Macdonald (CEO) –LinkedIn
  53. Pieper Veterinary | Tessa Olson, MBA (CEO) –LinkedIn
  54. Rarebreed Veterinary Partners | Dan Espinal (CEO) –LinkedIn
  55. SAGE Veterinary Centers | Gina Del Vecchio (CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  56. Small Door Veterinary | Florent Peyre (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) –LinkedIn
  57. Southern Veterinary Partners | Jay Price, DVM (CEO) –LinkedIn
  58. Suveto | Marc Nathan (CEO/CO-FOUNDER) – LinkedIn | CRUNCHBASE
  59. Thrive Pet Healthcare | Tad Stahel (CEO) –LinkedIn
  60. United Veterinary Care | Joseph M. Garcia (CEO) –LinkedIn
  61. Valley Veterinary Care | Wesley Godwin (CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  62. VCA | Patty Wu (PRESIDENT) –LinkedIn
  63. Veritas Veterinary Partners | Kenneth Gardner-Smith (CEO) –LinkedIn
  64. Vet’s Best Friend | Jeff Wilson (CEO) –LinkedIn | COMPANY ACQUIRED
  65. Vetco Total Care | Joel D. Anderson (CEO) –LinkedIn
  66. VetCor | Chris Strong (CEO) –LinkedIn
  67. Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) | Dr. David Bessler (CEO) –LinkedIn
  68. Veterinary Innovative Partners (VIP) | Chris Bishop (CEO) –LinkedIn
  69. Veterinary Practice Partners (VPP) | John McDonough (CEO) –LinkedIn
  70. Veterinary United | Thomas Bankstahl, DVM (CEO) –LinkedIn
  71. VetEvolve | Catherine Howell (INTERIM CEO) –LinkedIn
  72. VetnCare | Matthew J. Kirchner (CEO) –LinkedIn
  73. Vets Pets | Steve Thomas (PRESIDENT/CEO) –LinkedIn
  74. VIP Petcare | McCord Christensen (CEO/CHAIRMAN) –LinkedIn
  75. WellHaven Pet Health | Justin Scambray (CEO) –LinkedIn
  76. Western Veterinary Partners | Carollee Brinkman (CEO) –LinkedIn

RECENT NEWS:

Thrive Pet Healthcare appoints new Chief Executive Officer (5.25.23)
https://www.pets.care/news/2023/05/thrive-pet-healthcare-appoints-tad-stahel-as-ceo/

  • Thrive Pet Healthcare, a veterinary network of 400 primary, acute, and specialty hospitals, announced the appointment of Tad Stahel as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective June 12, 2023.

RELATED:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Targets Private Equity Company for Consolidating Veterinary Sector, Raising Costs (8.16.24)
https://www.pets.care/news/2024/08/senator-elizabeth-warren-targets-private-equity-company-for-consolidating-vet-care-raising-costs-for-pet-owners/

  • Corporate consolidation of veterinary care and an accompanying rise in prices represents a major issue for American consumers and a life and death issue for their pets — senators urged the FTC and Congress to take stronger action against consolidation in the veterinary care industry.

Will Corporations Own Everyone? (2.5.19)
https://www.vetpartners.com/practice_edge/will-corporations-own-everyone/
Refer to archive.org to access copy of article — no longer displayed on corporate consolidator’s website.

Written by Rich Lester – Founder & CEO of Veterinary Practice Partners (VPP)

  • Consolidation in the veterinary services market is driven by a number of factors including steady and stable growth that is recession-resistant, doctors with high student loan debt seeking better work/life balance, and an abundance of investment capital in a low interest rate environment for private equity firms to invest.
  • Valuations are good for practice owners that are nearing retirement — it is not good for younger DVMs that want to buy a practice.
  • The pace of consolidation will likely slow in 6-8 years because there are not enough private practices left to acquire.
  • The ‘end’ of consolidation starts to happen when the corporate consolidators start buying each other.
  • The market will likely see 5-7 longer term ‘survivors’ after the veterinary consolidators buy each other.