Who owns your vet?

The facts
The Chicagoland Companion Animal Hospitals are a few of over 730 veterinary practices owned by a veterinary consolidation company, SVP, whose major investor is the private equity firm, Shore Capital Partners. Private equity firms and megacorporations are not buying up veterinary practices because they care about animals. They are buying hundreds of veterinary practices because they know that they can exploit the love people have for their pets for profits. These clinics employ a maximum profit for minimum effort model of veterinary care that inflicts suffering on their communities. They don't have to provide quality care because there are few consequences. As an article titled "Private Equity is Killing Your Pets" in "The Nation" puts it: "[Private equity] firms are tremendously successful at avoiding legal consequences for their actions, a problem compounded in the veterinary industry, where clients can recover little, if anything, for the death of their pets. This encourages a certain callousness toward workers and customers, as firms know that little will happen to them if something goes wrong. Private equity firms can profit even when their companies decline, their customers suffer, and your pets die."
Corporate and private equity-owned vet clinics fraudulently present themselves as local, community vets.
Megacorp vets
Companion Animal Hospitals are not required to disclose their ownership, so they purposefully withhold this information from their clients and present themselves as local, community vets. They are well aware that disclosing their ownership would rightfully deter pet owners from choosing their facility to care for their pets. The research shows that megacorp vets:
evaluate veterinarians by revenue per appointment, not outcomes, which encourages upselling while limiting appointment time. “It can appear you’re getting community-oriented care when there’s actually this set of big-box incentives underlying [the clinic] that comes from their private equity owners.”
drive up prices by reducing competition in the area. “In some cases, private equity firms and other corporations buy community clinics from the veterinarians who own them for two, five or even 10 times their value. Then the firms roll them up into a larger chain of clinics that can corner a regional market.”
offer worse care and poorer outcomes. “A study found serious medical errors occur more frequently after private equity buys the hospital.”
Pet owners deserve to have all the facts in order to make informed choices about their veterinary clinic.
A better option
My experience at Companion Animal Hospital of Norridge was so traumatic that I became an advocate against the corporatization of veterinary care. When I moved to the Norridge area, I established my pets at Companion, believing it was a community vet. I became increasingly concerned about the care my pets received, as I had to reintroduce them to their unprepared care teams at every appointment. Over two years and $10,000 later, I watched in horror as they flopped my beloved pet over on a cold table then cruelly and roughly euthanized him like it was an inconvenience in their day. Companion refused to answer my questions and concerns about my pet’s care. No one at Companion took accountability for their mistake when they gave me his memorial paw print with my name printed on it instead of his.
At my new, locally owned vet, the staff is responsive to questions and concerns because they work for their clients and patients, not a megacorporation. They are prepared for appointments and accountable to their clients. My veterinarian greets his patients by name. He is a partner in their care, familiar with their medical histories, and can treat them safely. I would pay any price for this incredible care, but it's half or even a third of what I paid for poor quality care at Companion of Norridge. I know that every dollar I spend at my local vet stays in the community instead of lining the pockets of megacorporations that will use it to buy more clinics, drive up prices, and exploit customers.
Privately owned vets offer personalized care at a lower cost, and your money stays in the community.
The megacorporation Companion Animal Hospitals include:
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Norridge
4321 N Harlem Ave, Norridge, IL 60706
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Oak Park
6530 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60707
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River North
749 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654
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Skokie
5225 Golf Rd, Skokie, IL 60077
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Mount Prospect
5225 Golf Rd, Skokie, IL 60077