LAKEWOOD, Colorado—Providing excellent veterinary care day in and day out requires hard work, dedication, and innovation from veterinary teams. That’s why the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has designated July 22 as AAHA-Accredited Hospital Day.

This year marks the second annual AAHA-Accredited Hospital Day. The mission of AAHA-Accredited Hospital Day is to highlight the exceptional care provided to pets by AAHA-accredited veterinary hospitals, and to educate pet owners about the value and meaning behind AAHA accreditation.

In collaboration with AAHA on AAHA-Accredited Hospital Day, Houston-based PetWell Partners announced it will seek AAHA accreditation for all of its current and future veterinary hospital locations. PetWell becomes the first-ever corporate veterinary group to make this level of commitment to veterinary hospital accreditation.

“We are proud to announce a formal collaboration between PetWell and AAHA,” said David Murvin, co-founder of PetWell Partners. “This confirms each of our teams’ commitment to sustained excellence in practice, as well as our company’s commitment to setting the highest standards of quality among corporate-owned hospitals in the veterinary profession.”

PetWell Partners owns and operates 22 veterinary hospitals in multiple states across the United States. The average PetWell hospital has been in business for over 30 years.

“We have spent a good deal of time with AAHA’s leadership and have been particularly struck by the alignment of our core values,” said David Strauss, co-founder of PetWell Partners.

Since 1933, AAHA has been recognizing veterinary hospitals for their commitment to maintaining high standards of care. Hospitals must pass an evaluation of approximately 900 standards of excellence to achieve accreditation.

“PetWell’s commitment further reflects the value of the AAHA Standards of Accreditation in the overall marketplace, as well as their group-wide commitment to quality,” said Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, DABVP (Emeritus), chief executive officer of AAHA. “We are thrilled that PetWell has made this commitment to accreditation on this very special AAHA-Accredited Hospital Day.”

Only 15% of veterinary hospitals across the United States and Canada are accredited by AAHA. According to research released in March 2017, 85% of pet owners would choose an AAHA-accredited hospital over a nonaccredited hospital. This is an increase compared to 2013, when 81% of pet owners indicated they would choose an accredited hospital over a nonaccredited one.

Read or link to this news in the AAHA online newsroom.

For more information about the American Animal Hospital Association, visit aaha.org.