Pros
The corporate-level events have great food and drinks. Corporate rates on cost of goods are pretty good but don’t plan on passing those savings on to the clients.
Cons
Management above the hospital manager and medical director is disorganized, support is woefully inadequate, pay is well under average, and the ideal candidate to replace anywhere in the management spectrum is a middle-aged white man with an MBA and no veterinary industry experience. All of my DIrector of Ops stated they got the job because they were friends with someone before NVA, and none lasted more than a year or had a positive impact: our division was a top performer when run by the raised-from-the-ranks regional managers in the interim. “Join us, stay you” is very attractive to sellers but not truthful at all once the sale takes place. Trust evaporates quickly, and I have yet to meet a seller or a JV partner that is happy with the decision to become an NVA clinic. Ops expects you to pay your medical staff less than the local burger chain or retail cashier but wonders why recruitment/hiring/retention is poor. New ADVMs are set up to fail with promises of big $$ but no discussion on what it actually takes to earn it. Incumbent DVMs are left out to dry. Clients quickly notice the turnover and lack of experience, the price hikes, the loss of same day service due to staffing shortages, and their trust in us dwindles. I don’t blame them: I’m not happy with my own pets’ care, and I work here!