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Meet VBA's Newest Team Members
Meg Sweetland Baker, MS, CVPM
Meg Sweet  land Baker grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and graduated from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis with a B.A. in psychology. She then moved to Eugene, Oregon and earned a Master's degree in Special Education. She stayed in Oregon for 12 years, and after spending 7 years in special education as a teacher and consultant, decided to pursue a career in veterinary medicine due to a longstanding interest in animal husbandry and science. She has worked in various positions in veterinary medicine since 2000, including reception, nursing and practice management, in both large animal, small animal and avian general practices. She earned her credential as Certified Veterinary Practice Manager (CVPM) in 2011, and is currently pursuing an A.A.S. in accounting. Her long-term goals include bringing both operational management and financial expertise to veterinary medicine to enable practices to best serve their patients with compassion while simultaneously pursuing practice financial health.
Meg currently lives in the Princeton, NJ area with her husband, daughter and two cats. She has also owned and cared for horses (including minis!), rabbits, dogs, birds, fish and various other critters. She volunteers her administrative skills to Shantideva Meditation Center in New York, NY. When she has free time, she enjoys meditating, reading books about philosophy and economics, going on adventures with her family, cooking and scratching feline backs. Sometimes she will risk scratching feline bellies if her cats are in a good mood, perhaps while they are lying in the sun on a warm surface.
Nancy Held, CPA
 VBA would like to introduce another new member of our team, Nancy Held, who will be taking over Jean's bookkeeping duties. Nancy will be the one sending you bills after we have rendered you what we hope was excellent service! Nancy recently decided to come out of retirement from Merck & Co. after having worked nearly 20 years in Accounting, Business Development and Marketing roles there, and from Deloitte & Touche where she spent over nine years practicing as a CPA. Nancy earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Wayne State University in Michigan, but has resided in New Jersey for more than 20 years after having spent some time in NYC and Denmark. Nancy has two dogs, three cats, two horses, a koi pond, and two foster dogs. For over seven years she has fostered dogs for rescue groups and has provided safe haven to more than 60 dogs during that time as they waited for their permanent homes.
Nancy is currently the Treasurer for Gateway Regional Rescue NJ, the Treasurer for the Tewksbury Land Trust, and has prepared income tax returns for free through the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. Nancy spends her "spare" time tending to her homestead in Tewksbury. She likes helping people and her community so if you would like to reach out to her for any reason please don't hesitate
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Independent Contractor or Employee?
Who decides if the person working for you is an independent contractor? Veterinarians are often hired as independent contractors under the assumption it saves everyone money. Unfortunately, it doesn't and if the IRS or your state determines the worker is really an employee, it's employer that pays the penalty.
Read this article to find out what it takes to be an independent contractor and why being an employee may be the best option (and perhaps only option) for the working relationship.
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Mentorship Programs: Do you have a program for your associates?
The success of your associates may depend on the mentorship program you have in place. If you do not have a mentorship program in place, you may want to look into the AAHA Mentorship Toolkit.
As stated on the AAHA website; the Mentorship Toolkit is the culmination of multiple years of collaboration between the VetPartners™ Career Development Special Interest Group (CD SIG), an association with 200 members all of whom are practice management advisors and consultants, the American Animal Hospital Association and their My Veterinary Career division, and the National Veterinary Business Management Association (student association with nearly 4,000 members with chapters at all veterinary schools in the US). It has been developed with the objective of enhancing the veterinary economy, expediting the transition of new graduate to productive veterinary associates and growing their confidence and competencies as the driving forces.
Click here to learn more.
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Practical Solutions for Effectively Managing Your Greatest Asset - Your People
There is no greater challenge in veterinary medicine today than recruiting, hiring, managing, and retaining talented people. Now you can find answers to your most pressing human resources questions and get a people management resources guide, all in one complete kit.
The Human Resources Tool Kit simplifies the overall approach to people management in your practice, by providing you with the most up-to-date and comprehensive tools, tips, and practical tactics to managing employees of all levels.
VBA can help!
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