Veterinary Practice Partners Ranks in the 99th Percentile for Doctor Partner Satisfaction for the Fourth Consecutive Year

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 10, 2026--

Veterinary Practice Partners (VPP), a national Veterinary Partnership Community (VPC), today announced that its doctor partner satisfaction score ranked in the 99th percentile nationally for the fourth consecutive year — and rose again year over year — in its most recent engagement and satisfaction survey, administered in July by Press Ganey, the healthcare industry's leading provider of patient and workforce experience measurement. VPP's results were benchmarked against Press Ganey's Ambulatory Care database, drawn from more than 84,000 respondents and 255 client organizations. VPP reached best-in-class four years ago and has scored higher every year since.

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Press Ganey measures the result as a six-item index covering whether respondents intend to stay over the short and long term; whether they would recommend the organization as a place to work and as a place to receive care; and their overall pride and satisfaction with the organization. A score at the top of that index reflects both satisfaction and commitment. VPP's doctor partners report that they intend to stay, and that they would recommend VPP to a fellow veterinarian looking for a place to practice as well as to a client seeking care.

What distinguishes this year's result is how many more voices sit behind it. VPP partners with over 330 doctor co-owners at more than 200 veterinary hospitals across 35 states, and the community now includes more than 700 doctors and more than 3,600 team members. As the community has grown, so has participation: the responding doctor partner panel expanded from 125 in 2023 to 248 in 2026. With more partners responding each year and progressively higher satisfaction and engagement scores, the results reflect VPP’s differentiated approach to care delivery and in building its community of veterinarians.

“Our mission is to keep veterinary medicine in the hands of veterinary professionals. Growth is easy to measure. Trust is the thing you can lose without noticing,” said Matt Auron, Chief Culture Officer of VPP. “We've added partners every year while staying focused on our mission, our values, and our beliefs. We honor the doctors and the identity each hospital has already built. Watching these results continually improve tells us that focus is paying off.”

VPP's approach centers on three pillars: being the partner of choice for practice owners, the employer of choice for veterinary professionals, and the provider of choice for clients and their pets. Rather than folding partner hospitals into a single corporate identity, VPP preserves the individual culture, legacy, and reputation each practice has built, while providing shared infrastructure, resources, and community across its network. The same model gives the next generation of veterinarians a way in. Doctors can build a new hospital together with VPP, buy into an existing VPP practice, or buy a practice with VPP, all through VPP's unique pathways to co-ownership.

About Veterinary Practice Partners

Veterinary Practice Partners (VPP) is a Veterinary Partnership Community (VPC) built upon preserving true co-ownership. This organization puts veterinary professionals first, providing industry-leading support, strategies, and resources, while promoting clinical autonomy and celebrating the distinct identity, culture, and legacy of each hospital in its partnership community. Learn more at vetpartners.com.

About Press Ganey

Founded in 1985, Press Ganey is the healthcare industry's leading provider of patient and workforce experience measurement, with a platform spanning patient experience, employee engagement, safety, and clinical quality analytics. More than 41,000 healthcare facilities rely on its data and benchmarks.

Independently measured by Press Ganey, VPP has improved on its engagement and satisfaction scores for four straight years

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An explosion near South Korea's heavily fortified border with North Korea injured three South Korean military officers on Monday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said the explosion occurred during an unspecified operation in the Demilitarized Zone, a border buffer zone separating the two nations that is commonly referred to as the DMZ.

The cause was not immediately clear, the ministry said.

South Korean officials did not say whether it was possible the explosion was caused by a land mine planted by North Korea, which has added mines, anti-tank barriers and other front line fortifications in recent months as relations between the war-divided rivals have sharply deteriorated.

Two of the officers were airlifted from the site by helicopter, while the third was transported by land before being airlifted, according to the ministry. The officers are being treated at a military hospital near the capital Seoul.

The DMZ, which is 248 kilometers (155 miles) long and 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide, is one of the world’s most heavily armed borders. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the border, which also is guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. The zone is a legacy of the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, which ended with an armistice but not a peace treaty.

There have been growing concerns in South Korea about increased activity by North Korean soldiers near the military demarcation line as the North strengthens its border defenses during prolonged tensions between the countries. The South Korean military has not officially confirmed media reports that North Korean soldiers crossed the MDL more than 20 times during front line operations in August alone.

The South’s military fired warning shots to repel some 10 North Korean soldiers who crossed the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the DMZ in April 2025. The North Korean soldiers retreated after the South broadcast audio warnings and fired the shots and there were no clashes. In June 2024, North Korean troops crossed the border three times, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent years has suspended virtually all cooperation and diplomacy with South Korea while declaring Seoul as his most hostile enemy during a stalemate in his larger nuclear negotiations with Washington.

North Korean mines in past years have occasionally washed down a swollen river into South Korea, killing or injuring civilians. In August 2015, land mine blasts maimed two South Korean soldiers and caused tensions between the two Koreas to flare.

FILE - South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)