Corporate Greed (Part 11): When “privately owned” doesn’t mean what you think it means (#476)

Where care meets capital. A handshake across opaque glass.

In veterinary medicine, ownership has long implied responsibility.

To call a hospital privately owned once meant that veterinarians - those directly accountable to patients and clients - owned and governed their own workplaces.

The phrase carried a sense of professional integrity and continuity. Clients could trust that decisions about their pets were guided by clinicians, not by external investors.

Today, the meaning of those words has shifted.

To illustrate this point, I will draw on a matter of ownership that came across my desk a few days ago.

A New Name on the Landscape

In 2023, a new brand appeared in the veterinary sector in Australia and New Zealand: The Sterling Veterinary Group (SVG).

The SVG website introduced a collective of specialist and emergency hospitals - Queensland Veterinary Specialists (QVS), Pet Emergency, Veterinary Specialists Aotearoa (VSA), and Animal Emergency NZ - “united in their mission to deliver world-class care.”

At first glance, it looked like a collegial partnership of respected referral hospitals. Both QVS and VSA had earned reputations for excellence under veterinary leadership.

But behind the new name lies a structure that is less visible to the public.

According to public filings and Pemba Capital Partners’ own investment portfolio, SVG is backed by Pemba Capital Partners, a Sydney-based private equity firm specializing in healthcare and buy-and-build strategies.

Pemba lists QVS as a portfolio company (investment date July 2023) and describes Sterling Group as its animal-health platform. In New Zealand business records, Pemba’s acquisition vehicle Bailey Bidco NZ Ltd is noted as the controlling shareholder of VSA.

Yet visitors to the hospital websites will find only modest wording:

Australia’s longest established, privately owned 24/7 specialist hospital.

The first privately owned veterinary referral hospital in New Zealand,

and, hidden in the footer:

Part of The Sterling Veterinary Group.

There is no explicit reference to private equity ownership. The sites focus instead on clinical teams, facilities, and patient care.

Language, Perception, and Disclosure

This contrast highlights how language shapes perception.

Terms such as private and group sound benign, even comforting. To the average client, privately owned still suggests independence. In corporate practice, however, it may simply mean not publicly traded.

None of this implies wrongdoing. The hospitals continue to provide excellent care, and investment can bring resources, technology, and stability.

The issue is not ownership itself but the clarity with which ownership is communicated.

Transparency is fundamental to trust. If the beneficial owner of a hospital changes, clients and referring veterinarians should be able to discover that easily.

Without clear disclosure, assumptions persist, and trust can erode quietly.

The Public’s Right to Know

In human healthcare, hospital ownership and governance must be disclosed through regulatory filings.

Veterinary medicine lacks similar requirements. As a result, investors can acquire and consolidate practices under neutral-sounding brands, while clients remain unaware of who ultimately controls the business.

Whether that matters is a question for the profession. Some argue that financial backing is irrelevant if standards remain high. Others believe that ownership, and the incentives it creates, directly influence clinical priorities, pricing, and workplace culture.

At minimum, clarity enables informed choice. Clients should know whether a hospital is veterinarian-owned, corporately owned, or investor-backed.

It is not a question of ideology.

It is a question of trust.

A Framework for Honesty

Transparency could be achieved with a single sentence:

Queensland Veterinary Specialists is part of The Sterling Veterinary Group, which receives investment support from Pemba Capital Partners, a Sydney-based private-equity firm.

It’s as simple as that.

Such a statement would align marketing with reality. It would also distinguish those hospitals that remain independently owned by veterinarians, giving the public a clearer picture of the modern veterinary landscape.

Instead, the relationship between care and capital remains largely invisible.

The Wider Pattern

SVG is one example of a much broader trend. Across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America, and beyond, veterinary hospitals are being acquired and combined into investor-backed networks. These consolidations often bring capital and management expertise, but they also introduce layers of ownership that few clients can see.

Every acquisition that lacks open disclosure widens the information gap between the profession and the public.

Each unacknowledged merger makes it harder for pet owners to know whether the practice they choose is guided by professional autonomy or investor strategy.

Transparency is not a burden.

It is a professional obligation.

Reclaiming Language and Trust

If the profession wishes to preserve its integrity, it must reclaim the language that defines it.

Words like private, independent, and veterinarian-owned should mean exactly what they say. Regulators and professional associations could strengthen disclosure standards to make ownership structures clear to clients, staff, and referring veterinarians alike.

Trust does not require perfection - only honesty.

Veterinarians can deliver outstanding care within any ownership model, but clarity about who owns what ensures that trust rests on truth, not assumption.

Epilogue

The story of QVS, VSA, and SVG is not one of misconduct.

It is a story about visibility.

It illustrates how easily meaning can drift when familiar words are used in unfamiliar ways.

In the end, corporate influence in veterinary medicine is not solely measured by profit margins or acquisitions.

Sometimes corporate influence is measured by silence.

By what is left unsaid at the bottom of a website, where the name of the true owner quietly disappears.

It’s time for transparency in veterinary practice ownership.

It’s Time!

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