Veterinary Practice Partners Becomes the First Veterinary Partnership Community

The Veterinary Partnership Community (VPC) is a new kind of organization in veterinary medicine that links co-ownership by doctors and practice managers with a united community of hospitals connected by a shared mission, values, and culture

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Veterinary Practice Partners (VPP) announced that it is the profession’s first Veterinary Partnership Community (VPC). A VPC is a new kind of organization in veterinary medicine, bringing together true partnership and co-ownership with community and culture to drive better care for clients and their pets and more fulfillment for doctors and veterinary leaders. VPP made the announcement on October 16 at its annual Homecoming meeting of doctor partners, practice managers, technicians, hospital staff, and home team members in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A VPC is a group of veterinary hospitals whose doctors and practice managers hold real co-ownership in the practices they lead, each with its own local identity, and connected to a larger community by a shared mission, values, and culture. In a VPC, the doctor, and increasingly the practice manager, owns a meaningful piece of the hospital, sets the standard of medicine, and makes the decisions that shape the practice, with the support of a central home team. A VPC is not a corporate aggregator or consolidator but a vehicle to preserve the heart of veterinary medicine and provide the best model for the practice of medicine at scale.

The community side of the model seeks to create a peer network that facilitates the sharing of best practices, offers career mentorship, and helps build confidence, retention and resilience among veterinary professionals. Doctors, practice managers, and team members meet in person through community events, trainings, and advisory groups, and they grow together as clinicians, operators, and leaders. This gives practice owners not only peer support on the challenging and rewarding path of business ownership and clinical leadership but also the opportunity to learn and benefit from a broader set of experiences than they would see in their own hospitals.

VPP partners with more than 330 doctor co-owners at more than 200 veterinary hospitals across 35 states, and the community includes more than 700 doctors and more than 3,600 team members. The path to ownership looks different for every doctor, so VPP has built multiple routes to ownership: Doctors can work with VPP to open a new hospital, buy into an existing VPP practice, or partner with VPP to purchase a hospital.

Dr. Audra O’Keefe is one of the doctor partners who have built a hospital through this model. She graduated from veterinary school in 2018 and began her career in emergency medicine before serving as a medical director for a corporate aggregator. Wanting to build a practice of her own, she partnered with VPP to open Dogwood Trails Animal Hospital in Bentonville, Arkansas, a new market for Veterinary Practice Partners with no existing client base. Since opening in fall 2024, the hospital has grown to approximately 3,000 clients.

“I didn’t want another job. I wanted to build something and own a hospital I could be proud of,” said Dr. O’Keefe. “I knew there had to be a path to real ownership. VPP gave me the opportunity to build and own Dogwood Trails while surrounding me with the support and community to make it successful. I can focus on medicine, my team, and my family without carrying every part of running a business by myself. I’m incredibly proud to be part of a Veterinary Partnership Community, and I’m excited to show the next generation of veterinarians that meaningful ownership isn’t just possible, it’s the future of our profession. VPP is leading the way.”

About Veterinary Practice Partners

Veterinary Practice Partners (VPP) is a Veterinary Partnership Community (VPC) built upon preserving true co-ownership. This organization puts veterinary professionals first, providing industry-leading support, strategies, and resources, while promoting clinical autonomy and celebrating the distinct identity, culture, and legacy of each hospital in its partnership network. Learn more at vetpracticepartners.com.