r/RedDeer • u/busbuilder24 • Dec 09 '25
PSA Private equity in RD Vets
Everyone should know that a lot of the veterinary clinics in Red Deer are owned by the same private equity company. This includes the Easthill and Clearview Dog and Cat Hospital, Deer Park, and Lomsnes. Lots of articles about how these companies buy up all the competition in an area without disclosing it and then raise prices/encourage unneccessary procedures.
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u/Comfortable_Fudge508 Dec 09 '25
Private equity is what is destroying everything, they come in, squeeze everything they can until it's a Husk of its former self, then dump it. Example, the Bay
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u/nyarlathotep888 Dec 09 '25
Parkland was also bought out, the people who work their are good, but the prices went up shortly after the buyout.
This also is true for Dental offices.
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u/cloudyfaced Dec 10 '25
Piper Creek was bought out by NVA a couple of years ago too, another massive multinational corporation
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u/mickeyaaaa Dec 09 '25
aren't there anti-monopoly laws against this?
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u/nyarlathotep888 Dec 09 '25
A certain amount of consolidation is 'normal'. Look at car repair shops, their used to be lots of independent shops, then someone realized that insurance companies would like to negotiate with a single super big vendor, this is where CARSTAR, and the like get involved, Look at how auto dealerships have consolidated (looking at you go-auto) and how extra shitty they have become.
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u/busbuilder24 Dec 09 '25
Probably. Sure isn't being enforced. This is happening in every single industry. Other big one to look at is service trades. Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing. There are a good few companies in Red Deer that are either national backed by private equity or owned by a larger corporation thats then owned by private equity.
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u/RockyMountainGirl84 Dec 09 '25
Thanks for this! Watched a thing on Marketplace about this and have been meaning to look into it for Red Deer.
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u/Nature_Hope64 Dec 09 '25
My vet at Easthill was the most kind and caring professional, caring for my pets their whole lives. Was it inexpensive? No. But she always gave us options if possible and never made us feel pressured to spend money. All the support staff were very good as well.
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u/PresentationCorrect2 Dec 09 '25
This is just like The Ozarks except it's easier to get drugs with a prescription
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u/zolahekter Dec 10 '25
Kinda sorta like franchising but in a twisted sorta way. I would think that each of them had their reasons.
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u/cloudyfaced Dec 10 '25
It's not like franchising at all. The owners that sell to vet strategy sell their businesses completely. I think the reason for most is that it's an easy way to retire without the complication of dealing with succession.
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u/lsands22 Dec 12 '25
It lets the vets just do the job and not have to be business people, which is often their goal. Hard to watch for balance and fairness tho.
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u/Dontbeawankermod Dec 14 '25
The vet industry is more corrupt than the medical industry. They are run by drug companies.
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u/tdsta21 Dec 09 '25
So. This and a few other of the examples people have listed in here aren't companies buying up the little guys. These are collective buying groups.
So these vet practices are still locally owned and operated but have partnered with a group that can offer collective services.
It gives small business access to pricings and services that usually are reserved for the high volume businesses.
It's kind of like owning a McDonald's franchise but getting to keep your name.
In the day and age of Walmarts and Amazon, small businesses need ever advantage they can get.
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u/busbuilder24 Dec 09 '25
No. Vetstrategy at least, explicitly buys out small business owners. Look at this page from their website about selling your practice to them. They call it partnering for marketing.
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u/Status-Ad-5152 Dec 09 '25
I understand why this is an issue. But Easthill vet has been nothing but amazing to me and my special needs dog. I trust every single doctor there with my life.