An enduring love of animals draws people to the veterinary industry, but financial constraints and lack of work-life balance also drive them away. Whether your passion brings you to an exam room, an ER, the front desk, or an office, you deserve proper compensation for your hard work.
Many veterinarians are practice owners and work hard to build their businesses, but don’t get the kind of deal they expect when looking to sell them. Over the past year, practice valuation multiples dropped from a generous 18-23x to 8-11x. Meanwhile, veterinary professionals who are employees often struggle to live up to work demands — and building a balanced life often becomes a far-fetched proposition. Galaxy Vets brings solutions to these problems with a long-term sustainable strategy.
A WIN-WIN SCENARIO
Galaxy Vets is a veterinary healthcare system that aspires to democratize wealth in veterinary medicine, and bring ownership back to veterinary professionals in a manner that creates a win-win scenario. It leverages an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) to provide equity and a retirement benefit at no cost to all its employees — veterinarians, technicians, assistants, administrative staff, and even relief workers.
Galaxy Vets aims to create hubs in dense areas that will include general practices with a specialty and emergency hospital in the center, enhanced by membership-driven telehealth services and a network of retail diagnostic centers. By augmenting brick-and-mortar hospitals with telehealth, they aim to change the entire veterinary healthcare delivery model to improve access to care and fight burnout in veterinary teams.
According to recent VIS research, around 50 veterinary consolidators, mostly private-equity-backed, currently operate in the U.S., acquiring veterinary practices and hiring veterinary professionals. However, they are not the same as Galaxy Vets. Founded and run by veterinarians, Galaxy Vets focuses on giving veterinary professionals a stake in growth and providing improved work conditions by eliminating key causes of burnout.
TWO MAIN PATHS
Galaxy Vets offers two main paths by which you can become a part of their veterinary healthcare system.
- Practice owners can partner with Galaxy Vets and continue growing their hospitals with rollover equity in the entire system. Their staff will also receive equity in the entire organization. Galaxy Vets offers a part-cash, part-equity roll-over mechanism designed to outperform any valuation offered by other buyers. They are looking for like-minded practice owners interested in staying with the company and driving innovations together.
- Veterinary professionals can join any Galaxy Vets hospital with the opportunity to participate in the group’s ownership and build wealth as their shares appreciate over time.
As Galaxy Vets’ purpose is to eliminate burnout in the industry, they take a systemic approach to employee satisfaction and well-being.
Benefits for practice owners
- You’ll keep your business in the hands of veterinarians who prioritize employee well-being.
- You’ll have an ownership stake in the entire veterinary healthcare system and continue growing your wealth.
- Your team will be rewarded with equity in the whole organization.
Benefits for employees
- You become an equity shareholder in the entire healthcare system and accumulate a significant and free retirement benefit starting with working as few as 20 hours per week.
- No non-competes, a generous PTO policy, and CE and licensure allowances with a focus on continuous improvement.
- Ongoing feedback loops ensure employee satisfaction and autonomy with a strong focus on burnout prevention.
- You can build a meaningful career while enjoying a healthy work-life balance. Galaxy Vets plans to provide options for remote work in telehealth to ensure flexibility and task variety.
AUTHOR PROFILE
IVC Journal is a division of Redstone Media Group. Innovation is the key to veterinarians staying competitive and being able to provide their clients with the absolute best care possible. IVC Journal delivers the most up to date and compelling information available by bridging the gap between the traditional worlds of allopathic and integrative veterinary care.
