Beyond the Business: Supporting Veterinary Teams Through Practice Ownership Transitions

By Kendall Johnson

Veterinary practice ownership has changed significantly over the past several decades. Corporate involvement in veterinary medicine began in 1987, when Veterinary Centers of America Inc. purchased its first independently owned clinic, and consolidation has continued to grow since then. Today, approximately 126,000 veterinarians practice in the United States, with about 75,000 working in private practice (Kogan & Rishniw, 2023). As more independent practice owners retire or choose to sell, and fewer veterinarians enter or remain on the path of practice ownership, the number of independently owned veterinary practices may continue to decline. 

The growth of corporate veterinary medicine is not driven by commercial interest alone. Increasing financial and operational pressures have made independent practice ownership more challenging, while corporate and private equity ownership can provide administrative support, operational efficiencies, and access to greater financial resources (Draper, 2025). At the same time, practice ownership remains appealing to many veterinarians, particularly because of the autonomy, job satisfaction, and leadership opportunities it can provide (Kogan & Rishniw, 2023). For newer veterinarians, however, the financial and administrative demands of ownership can make that path more difficult. In a 2024 survey of veterinary students, those who were not interested in practice ownership most frequently cited the responsibilities of ownership, administrative tasks, and legal and liability responsibilities as deterrents (Compton et al., 2026). 

These competing pressures mean that practice ownership and decisions about when and how to transition out of ownership can be complicated. Whether a practice is passed to another veterinarian, sold to a corporate group, or transitioned through another arrangement, a change in ownership is more than a financial transaction. It can fundamentally change the experience of work for the owner, the veterinary team, and the broader practice community. 

Practice Transitions: Supporting the People Behind the Practice

Practice ownership transitions are becoming increasingly common as practice owners retire, younger veterinarians pursue different career paths, and corporate ownership continues to expand (Draper, 2025). While much of the conversation focuses on finances, contracts, and operations, one important piece often receives less attention: the people. A practice is also a community and workplace, and ownership can be deeply connected to professional identity and autonomy. The effects of a practice ownership transition can extend well beyond the owner, and often impact the well-being of staff, clients, and the broader community. Whether a clinic is sold to another veterinarian or a corporate group, acknowledging the human side of transition can help veterinary teams adapt more successfully and protect well-being.  

For an owner who has spent years or decades building a practice, the practice may not only be intertwined with their professional identity, but their relationships with clients and colleagues and sense of community. Because of this, selling can involve more than just handing over a business, it also means letting go of something that has been a major part of one’s life. There may be further uncertainty regarding what comes next professionally, whether they remain involved with the practice, and how the practice will change after the transition. Some owners may expect to remain involved after the sale, but those expectations may not always align with the reality after ownership changes. A new owner may make changes to staffing, policies, clinical practices, or culture that leave the former owner feeling increasingly disconnected from the practice they built, leading to feelings of loss, displacement, grief, or a diminished sense of purpose. For some veterinarians, these losses can carry significant mental health consequences. Veterinary medicine already has a well-documented burden of mental health challenges, and a major disruption to one’s professional identity, community, or sense of purpose can compound existing vulnerabilities (Oginska et al., 2025). While an individual outcome can never be attributed to a single circumstance, stories from veterinarians who have experienced difficult transitions underscore why the emotional well-being of practice owners deserves attention alongside the financial and logistical aspects of a sale. 

For employees, the transition can bring a different but equally significant set of uncertainties. Changes in ownership may raise questions about job security, benefits, workload, scheduling, management, clinical autonomy, workplace culture, and expectations around productivity. Even when an employee’s position remains unchanged, uncertainty about what may change can create stress and affect their sense of stability within the workplace. A new owner may bring different management practices, policies, expectations, or approaches to patient care, while changes in staffing or leadership can alter established relationships and team dynamics. For employees who have invested years in a practice, these changes may also feel like a loss of the workplace and community they had come to know. At the same time, a transition can introduce new resources and opportunities, such as improved benefits, continuing education, wellness programs, mentorship, or more predictable workloads. The experience of a transition is therefore not necessarily positive or negative, but often a combination of both, emphasizing why making clear communication, realistic expectations, and opportunities for employees to voice concerns is particularly important. 

 

When Management Changes

A change in ownership can alter the experience of work in ways that bring both benefits and challenges. Research comparing corporate and independent practices has found that veterinarians in corporate settings may have greater access to benefits and resources such as insurance, mental wellness programs, wellness apps, continuing education, and VIN membership (Kogan & Rishniw, 2023). Corporate hospitals may also offer more predictable hours, manageable workloads, mentoring, and opportunities to move between hospitals within an organization. At the same time, veterinarians in corporate practices have reported greater pressure to generate revenue and see more clients, less influence over practice management and medical policies, difficulty communicating concerns to upper management, slower approval processes, and concerns about profit becoming an overriding focus. Veterinarians in private practice, meanwhile, have reported greater satisfaction with aspects such as feeling known as an individual by upper management, hospital culture, mentorship, and the ability to dismiss difficult or abusive clients (Kogan & Rishniw, 2023). 

These differences do not mean that one ownership model is inherently better for well-being than another, but illustrate how changes in organizational structure can shape workplace culture, autonomy, relationships, workload, and access to resources. The effects of a transition may also take time to become apparent. Organizations may underestimate the difficulty of major change or unintentionally create unrealistic expectations about what the transition will look like. When employees’ experiences do not match what they were promised, disappointment and a sense of shock can emerge after the transition is complete (Lim, 2014). A practice may appear to be functioning well immediately after a sale while challenges with culture, communication, workload, or job satisfaction develop months or even years later (Steinbach, 2025). For this reason, support and communication need to continue well beyond the closing of a sale. 

 

Protecting Well-Being

At its core, a successful practice transition should protect the well-being of the people who make the practice function. Major organizational changes can compound existing stress by adding uncertainty, disrupting relationships, and altering workloads, responsibilities, and expectations. When burnout and job dissatisfaction go unaddressed, the consequences can extend beyond an individual’s well-being, contributing to reduced clinical hours, career or specialty changes, early retirement, or leaving the profession altogether (Oginska et al., 2025). Practices may also experience turnover, absenteeism, lost productivity, reduced patient capacity, disrupted teams, and loss of institutional knowledge. Because of this, supporting well-being during a transition is a crucial part of maintaining a healthy workplace. 

One important component of a supportive workplace is psychological safety: an environment where people can ask questions, raise concerns, admit mistakes, ask for help, share information, and give and receive feedback without fear of judgment or retaliation. In veterinary medicine, psychological safety is associated with better communication, collaboration, job satisfaction, professional growth, and lower intentions to leave, with supervisor feedback playing an especially important role in this relationship (Oginska et al., 2025). During a practice transition, maintaining psychological safety can help employees navigate uncertainty while preserving their sense of trust, connection, and belonging within the workplace. 

 

What Can Leaders Do?

Leaders can support well-being and psychological safety by making communication an ongoing part of the transition rather than a one-time announcement. Explain what is changing, what is staying the same, and what remains uncertain, while giving employees meaningful opportunities to ask questions and raise concerns. Follow up on the concerns that are raised so employees can see that their feedback is being heard and taken seriously. Regular check-ins can help leaders identify changes in workload, staffing, morale, and signs of burnout before they become larger problems. Preserving opportunities for connection, collaboration, mentorship, and peer support can also help maintain the sense of community that makes a practice meaningful to its employees. Most importantly, leaders should recognize that completing a sale does not mean the transition is over. Continued support, realistic expectations, and willingness to adjust when problems emerge can help protect well-being throughout the longer process of organizational change. 

Leaders can also use established resources to build and maintain a mentally healthy workplace before, during, and after a transition. Programs such as CLEAR Blueprint, a practice certification program by NOMV designed to foster mentally healthy work environments in the veterinary field, can provide leaders with a framework for intentionally evaluating workplace culture and strengthening the systems that support employee well-being. An analysis of internal data from clinics participating in CLEAR Blueprint shows that certified clinics have consistently scored higher when evaluating workplace well-being, with categories including emotional balance, peer relations, energy levels, and client relations. These findings suggest that structured attention to workplace well-being may extend beyond individual wellness initiatives to influence broader aspects of the employee and practice experience.  Incorporating this type of structured approach can also help ensure that psychological safety and mental health remain priorities as leadership, policies, and organizational structures change. 

 

Conclusion

Practice transitions are an increasingly important part of a changing veterinary profession, but the success of a transition cannot be measured solely by whether the business remains financially or operationally viable. A practice is also a workplace, a community, and a source of professional identity for the people who have built their careers there. Changes in ownership can bring new opportunities and resources, but they can also create uncertainty, disrupt relationships, and affect the well-being of both owners and employees. 

Approaching a transition with the people involved in mind can help practices navigate these challenges more successfully. Clear communication, realistic expectations, psychological safety, and ongoing attention to well-being can make a meaningful difference before, during, and long after a change in ownership. A practice transition may begin with a change in ownership, but its success ultimately depends on how well the people within the practice are supported through that change. 

 

References

Compton, L., Vroegindewey, G., & Wisnieski, L. (2026). Practice ownership aspirations among veterinary students and recent graduates are influenced by autonomy, perceived responsibility, and career interests. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 1(aop), 1-6. 

Draper, D. (2025). Paws. Profits, and Private Equity: Veterinary Medicine in the Age of Corporate Consolidation. Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law, 26(2), 2. 

Kogan, L. R., & Rishniw, M. (2023). Differences in perceptions and satisfaction exist among veterinarians employed at corporate versus privately owned veterinary clinics. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 261(12), 1838-1846. 

Lim, K. K. (2014). Impact of hospital mergers on staff job satisfaction: a quantitative study. Human Resources for Health, 12(1), 70. 

Oginska, O., McArthur, M., Zadow, A., Gibson, N., & Cake, M. (2026). A cross‐sectional study exploring associations between psychological safety, employee turnover intention and feedback skills in veterinary organisations. Veterinary Record. 

Steinbach, S. (2025). The corporatization of veterinary medicine and its impact on independent practices. Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, 4(3), 405-423.