The Los Angeles Veterinary Center opened it's doors in May of 2017. It was originally a for-profit small animal general practice. The clinic was converted to a full 501(c)(3) in subsequent years to address many of the growing challenges that the veterinary general practice community currently faces. Some of these challenges include:
(1) The lack of a non-profit model for veterinary community clinics in a market saturated with corporate clinics within the greater Los Angeles area.
(2) The growing disparity between the ability of practitioners to offer high quality veterinary medical options and clients' ability to afford those options.
(3) The relative disappearance of knowledgeable/skillful general practitioners within the larger corporate model.
(4) The growing focus of "production", as opposed to positive case outcome, in providing medical care options.
(5) The growing burden of student loan debt on incoming doctors, further perpetuating the "production" focus of veterinary medical practice.
The Affordable Pet Care Group of Los Angeles is a 501(c)(3) organization that works directly within the Los Angeles Veterinary Center. The mission of the Affordable Pet Care Group of Los Angeles is to improve the veterinary community as a whole, from within, thereby making pet care more accessible and affordable. The goals of the group are:
(1) To provide affordable, high quality veterinary care in underserved areas within the greater Los Angeles area. There is currently a clinic in Boyle Heights, and one is under construction in Jefferson Park.
(2) To work alongside other groups, such as AlignCare, Downtown Dog Rescue, and Better Together Forever, among others, to help subsidize a heavily discounted action plan for individual pet health needs to qualifying low-income and homeless clients.
(3) To give general practitioners and staff appropriate training in diagnosing and in treating patients within the financial means of clients, by focusing on the patient's needs as a whole.
(4) To reduce unnecessary animal suffering by providing an option outside of euthanasia when specialty level care cannot be afforded by the client, and when prognosis is acceptable.
(5) To provide a favorable work environment for veterinarians and staff.
(6) To improve the standard of living for veterinarians and staff by decreasing the burden of student loan debt for doctors through public service loan forgiveness, by increasing historically low industry wages for technicians and support staff, and by providing above average benefits packages for all employees.
The concept behind starting the non-profit and incorporating it within the Los Angeles Veterinary Center was to provide an official, perpetuating non-profit model of practice within an existing financially successful practice that already incorporated the goals, values, and vision of the non-profit. The goal of the practice is to be self-sustaining, entirely funded by donations through the very people that it serves within the community.
The efforts of the Los Angeles Veterinary Center and the Affordable Pet Care Group of Los Angeles have resulted in significant discounts for the community throughout the years, both within and outside the scope of qualifying subsidized programs through AlignCare, Downtown Dog Rescue, Better Together Forever, and others.
-2017: 324 transactions, resulting in $52,400.29 in discounted services.
-2018: 1201 transactions, resulting in $171,821.52 in discounted services.
-2019: 1630 transactions, resulting in $210,689.59 in discounted services.
-2020: 1654 transactions, resulting in $167,012.48 in discounted services.
-2021: 1898 transactions, resulting in $168,590.28 in discounted services.
-2022: 2613 transactions, resulting in $214,224.00 in discounted services.
Additional information can also be found at www.laveterinarycenter.com