Pioneering NY Vet Hospital Shutters for First Time in 24 Year Run
Pay Cuts to Emergency Overnight Vets Cited For VCA-Owned Hospital Going Dark

Last weekend, Katonah Bedford Veterinary Center (“KBVC”) shut its doors for the first time since the hospital’s celebrated founding in 2001.

One of America’s first private 24/7 emergency and specialty veterinary “hybrid” hospitals –there is also a general practice – the practice shut down completely at 6 p.m. on Friday, August 1. for the first time in its 24-year run.

The closure was temporary and by Sunday morning, the hospital’s doors were open again.

But the hours going forward of the hospital — a unit of pet care powerhouse VCA Antech, itself a unit of the Mars candy conglomerate — remain uncertain. As this story was going to press, VCA’s head spokesman Joseph Campbell could not confirm if the storied 24/7 emergency hospital would be open and when. So: Why did the only 24/7 veterinary hospital less than ten minutes from the doorsteps of Martha Stewart, Nelson Peltz, George Soros, Ralph Lauren, Matt Damon, Glenn Close – the next closest veterinary ER is a sizable distance – shut its doors last weekend?

Callers to the hospital beginning Friday, August 1 at 6 p.m. were sent to a jarring recording: “The office is now closed. If this is an emergency, please hang up and drive to [VCA in Norwalk, CT]; or, please hold, and your call will be transferred [to VCA Norwalk].” The VCA location in Norwalk, Connecticut is approximately 40 minutes driving distance from Katonah Bedford Vet Center.

The hospital remained closed through Sunday morning of August 3, but appeared to be back on a 24-hour schedule by Monday, August 4, according to employees. However, despite the hospital returning to overnight hours, the hospital’s website now lists only weekday hours of operation: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm.

A Pioneer Practice

“There is a huge need for emergency and specialized services in our area,” Katonah Bedford Veterinary Clinic founder Dr. Alan Green told The New York Times in a 2001 profile which ran ahead of its widely anticipated opening. “Westchester is unique in the lack of such services,” he added.

24 years later in 2025, the NYC tri-state area is now saturated with emergency and specialty veterinary hospitals, but Dr. Green’s idea to have board-certified specialists in cardiology, internal medicine, oncology, orthopedic surgery, etc. with primary care under one roof with a 24-hour emergency service remains unique.

“I was told I could never incorporate a general practice and specialty/emergency facility under the same roof,” Dr. Green wrote in a 2019 email to TCR. “I’ll never forget what an amazing group of people we assembled to get KBVC off the ground,” he added.

Since VCA – which is owned by Mars, whose products range from M&M’s to Skittles to Royal Canin – acquired the hospital in 2011, many of the superstar specialists whom Dr. Green recruited have moved on, but several from the original, founding team remain at the hospital.

For months, according to the employees, Katonah Bedford has been pleading with VCA regional managers Joe Beck and Scott Shaw (both declined comment) to, in essence, fund the hospital. Katonah Bedford has even forgone daily maintenance staff, and, instead, according to the employees, administrative and even medical staff have taken it upon themselves to clean the bathroom.

VCA Responds

In a telephone interview, VCA spokesman Joseph Campbell said VCA is working to address Katonah’s overnight situation and that last weekend’s situation was the result of a national vet staffing shortage.

“Our top priority remains to ensure that our patients receive the highest standard of care and that our teams providing that care are well-supported,” Mr. Campbell later wrote with VCA president Patty Wu copied. “In terms of compensation, we regularly and carefully review our packages, with a view to market conditions that balance our commitment to providing care in a sustainable way across all our hospitals. We continue to work on ways that ensure reliable care coverage for the community, including actively recruiting for an ER doctor to join the Katonah Bedford team permanently.” He added, “It’s important to know that there is ongoing work underway to support the Katonah Bedford team and the pets they serve.”

Penny Pinching Emergency Overnight Vets – in Martha Stewart’s Backyard

According to two employees who asked not to be named, VCA regional managers Joe Beck and Dr. Scott Shaw directed Katonah Bedford to lower the per diem rate it could offer for the hospital’s overnight emergency shifts for veterinarians from starting at $300 down to $200.

VCA president Patty Wu did not respond to a specific request for comment regarding the hourly pay decrease for emergency doctors, but this pay decrease, according to the employees, is what caused Katonah Bedford Veterinary Center’s abrupt closure last weekend.

As this story was being reported, the employees told TCR the managers’ appeared more willing to support the hospital by allowing a return to higher per diem rates, but no individual has been able to confirm the status of the hospital’s emergency hours on the record. A job ad on the hospital’s website still advertised the pay rate at $200/hour, which is a $100 pay cut, according to hospital employees.

A Bedford Institution

In Bedford, NY, where boldfaced New Yorkers come to get away, dogs and horses live well; KBVC has been a town staple since its opening. The hospital is the closest 24/7 veterinary emergency service to a laundry list of power hitter residents by a sizable distance, where, according to public government data, the median property value is $1.13 million dollars as of 2023. The practice would seem to be more resilient in times of economic uncertainty, which makes the closure all the more surprising.

“Spent two hours with Francesca my french bulldog [at KBVC],” Martha Stewart wrote in a tweet in September 2009. “She has hurt herself and cannot walk. Great care.” Ms. Stewart may have had a different outcome if she had shown up at Katonah Bedford with her bulldog last weekend:

“I’ve relied on them for over 20 years,” says Michele Franklin, who, like Ms. Stewart, lives just minutes from KBVC and is passionate about her dogs.

Ms. Franklin says she has used the emergency room at the hospital twice in the past year, paying thousands of dollars on each invoice with two different dogs. Ms. Franklin also participates in the hospital’s wellness program, VCA Care Club, which allows clients to pay a monthly fee for unlimited wellness exams.

(Full Disclosure: This reporter’s Labrador, Nellie, who is thankfully insured by Trupanion, is, perhaps, KBVC’s most “frequent flyer” in the hospital’s celebrated history. Nellie also participates in VCA’s Care Club. )

“We have been going to Katonah Bedford Veterinary Center for almost 20 years,” pop singer Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 wrote in a Facebook post last December. “We can’t say enough about how much we love that hospital and how much we love the care they give. The techs and the desk staff are as amazing as the docs.”

Actor and Saturday Night Live legend Chevy Chase and wife Jayni are also longtime clients of the hospital. “If I needed emergency help for one of our pets, I would still head straight there,” Ms. Chase said in an email.“ I had no idea that they’ve been cutting back their hours. I’d be interested to learn why,” she added.

Former Employee: “They raised me…taught me everything I know….”

Alissa Larson is a former employee of KBVC, hired after the hospital was acquired by VCA. She is now an executive operations manager for veterinary practices not affiliated with VCA, but remains close with her former VCA colleagues. Asked why she thinks the hospital closed last weekend, Ms. Larson explained that the hospital is also likely facing increasingly stiffer competition and is seeing less business overnight.

“I think it’s sad,” Ms. Larson said. She added: “It’s worth it for them to invest in a solid doctor there…They need to put a Band- Aid on it…to save the long term, the longevity of the business and the reputation of the business because you’re also losing all the revenue you would have from surgeries that need to stay overnight. 
And some clients are not comfortable saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to pick up my pet at six, throw it in my car and drive it to [Veterinary Emergency Group]. People aren’t going to be comfortable with that. 
They’re just going to go to VEG off the bat.”

“They really taught me everything I know and gave me a foundation for what I’m doing now, and it’s just sad to see them in this situation….

As of this past weekend, Katonah Bedford was open again, and we’re told the reason was because the hospital director was able to leverage pay for overnight staffing by bringing in a board-certified specialist – a soft tissue surgeon – to compel VCA to pay for higher per diem rates to staff the hospital and keep the lights on.

But next weekend remains to be determined. We’re told, as this story was being reported, the managers were offering a new meeting with the doctors.

Ms. Larson says she was always proud of her old hospital for being “the one stop shop.” “People could come there, no matter what, walk through that door, whether it’s general practice, specialty, or emergency, they could get pretty much anything they needed there. And we could always help them. And they can’t really say that anymore.”

As of press time, VCA president Patty Wu had no comment in response to Ms. Larson’s statement.