Lindy Quick April 12, 2023
Dr. Jessica Heard is the Head of Operations at EverVet Partners. She is also a veterinarian! For decades, she’s practiced veterinary medicine at her owned practice, Severna Park Veterinary Hospital. Since joining the team at EverVet Partners, Dr. Heard has built a bridge between the clinic and the corporate office.
On a typical morning, you’ll likely find Dr. Jessica Heard driving to her veterinary practice in Maryland, listening to a podcast on a topic that stretches her perspective. Throughout the day, she’ll have positive interactions with her staff, treat several pets, converse with pet owners, virtually touch base with multiple partner hospitals and EverVet peers. The list goes on, and it’s all in vet med.
If it’s a really phenomenal day, Dr. Heard will have at least one kitten appointment on her schedule. Kitten appointments are her favorite.
Over her many years in practice, Dr. Heard began observing the state of the veterinary space, particularly scrappy in-house teams of associates and support staff. Dr. Heard saw a troubling trend of vet professionals burning out, being underpaid, and lacking resources. As a practice owner and dedicated veterinarian, she felt a call to action to help pave a better way for people working in vet med, to be supported in their essential roles.
This motivation led her to us at EverVet Partners, where Dr. Heard has been helping our partner hospitals soar to new heights. The veterinary field is, of course, concerned with pets. Interestingly though, and perhaps not talked about enough, is that pets inevitably come with people. And, Dr. Jessica Heard ensures we never lose sight of the humanity aspect of veterinary medicine.
Standing with one foot in clinic and one foot in corporate, Dr. Heard assures us at EverVet and our partner hospitals that “there’s enough money in the industry for the people in the hospitals to do well and for corporations to do well. We don’t need to pick between patient care and profits, they are not mutually exclusive.” With this perspective of doing good by all people, and having enough to go around, Dr. Heard sees every individual, hears every perspective, and acts to support in an impactful way that guarantees a win-win scenario.
Dr. Heard carries her gentle bedside manner from the veterinary exam room to the corporate office. Because Dr. Heard has a practice of her own, she understands what practices need and want from us as their partners. She understands that clinical services and patient care are not typically what is keeping practice owners up at night. More times than not, it’s related to human resources, costs, and operations. With this first-hand knowledge, she helps to deliver results to our partners that exceed their expectations.
Dr. Heard meets people where they are, and then tries to make their day better. She has an overwhelming capacity for compassion and an unwavering commitment to keeping an open perspective. She exemplifies this in the exam room when a pet is sick and the client is emotionally reactive. She exemplifies this in the office when she is advocating for staff members in need of hands-on mentorship.
In addition to her big heart, Dr. Heard has an affinity for logic problems. This empowers her to see all the little details that add up to make the big picture. She is a wizard at motivating teams, improving efficiency, and diagnosing complex health issues.
The EverVet Mantra is, ‘For Vets, By Vets’. We are fortunate to have Dr. Jessica Heard as Head of Operations – an individual who embodies this mantra to its fullest.
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