Owning a vet clinic without veterinarian experience is more common than you think. In fact, 15 states officially legalized non-veterinarians owning vet practices, including Florida, Colorado, and California. Although these states allow non-veterinarians to own vet clinics, they have strict guidelines the business owner must follow. You can still buy into a vet clinic in states prohibiting non-veterinarian ownership by splitting the business into two LLCs (limited liability companies).
While non-veterinarian practice ownership is legal in some states, provided a licensed veterinarian makes decisions related to medical care, other states prevent non-veterinarians from owning a clinic. The opposition to non-veterinarian ownership arises from a legitimate concern over animal welfare.
Based on a philosophical reason: states’ veterinary boards are against non-veterinarians owning vet practices for the simple fear of medical decisions being made by someone without the professional skills or license to make those decisions. However, to circumnavigate such fears, veterinary practice partners (including both veterinarians and non-veterinarians) should develop a framework of what constitutes medical decisions.
If state laws are clear, it is easier to find a way through the legal quagmire. However, where the state laws are on the fence, things can be a lot more complicated. In some cases, the rules may not be enforced but that is subject to the veterinary board’s predication. Small animal hospitals typically generate a profit of 10% to 15%, while specialty and emergency practices often earn 15% to 25%. The higher the profit, the more valuable the practice will be at selling time.
These corporations run like any other business, with a board of directors, shareholders, managers and an appointed clinical lead vet in each practice. A company will approach the owner of a veterinary clinic and offer to buy the practice – thereby taking over the business side of things but still allowing the practice to function as a veterinary surgery. They will go on to buy other veterinary practices and so create a ‘group’ of surgeries across the country, which can include both first opinion and referral centres.
The pros of a corporate veterinary practice: Money. The average owner of a veterinary practice earns approximately $282,000 per year. Therefore, it is clear that the average owner makes approximately $200,000 more than the average associate.
Does Texas require veterinary technicians to be licensed?