A State-of-the-Art Facility

When we arrived, we were greeted by CVT Diana Schaapveld, who serves on the leadership team as Allied’s Marketing & Events Coordinator. She introduced us to the front desk team, known as CATs: Client Advocate Technicians. Then, she took us on a tour of the impressive and thoughtfully designed facility, located in a former Rasmussen College building. 

The lobby and waiting area are spacious and well-lit. One corner features handcrafted items for sale made by staff, with proceeds benefitting their angel fund—one of many creative touches. From the lobby, there is access to 11 exam rooms, a dedicated room for contagious patients, a comfort room, side entrance, and memorial garden where clients and staff can place painted rocks in memory of pets.

Entering into the treatment area, a team of ten or so were busy in the ER triage hub. A large wall-mounted electronic outpatient board listed patients checked in to urgent care or ER, and a smaller board showed patients on the way. Diana pointed out lab equipment, oxygen panels, a digital pharmacy system, and more, all dedicated to the ER side of operations.

As we progressed through the space, she showed us various wards (including “Kitty City” with birds on the TV for enrichment), the procedures area, and the surgery area with three specialized surgery suites, including a dedicated orthopedic OR equipped with a C-arm for fluoroscopy. To prevent bottlenecks, the surgery area has its own lab and mini pharmacy separate from those used by ER. There are plans to add a new ultrasound machine soon, and a room has been set aside for an MRI machine in the future. 

Of particular note, Allied has advanced diagnostic imaging capabilities thanks to a brand-new, human-grade 128-slice CT scanner—currently among the most advanced CT units available for veterinary use in Minnesota. In line with Dr. Nelsen’s collaborative philosophy, they welcome referring veterinarians to utilize their CT services for their own case workups. Patients can be referred specifically for CT imaging around the clock.

Growing Services

Allied is continuing to expand its specialty services to better support their referring community and patients. The Brooklyn Park location will soon welcome a full-time, on-site oncologist in June, Dr. Amber Wolf, transitioning from their current virtual oncology support. In addition, two internal medicine specialists will join the team this fall. 

One of Dr. Nelsen’s original goals in founding Allied was to create opportunities for learning and professional development within the broader veterinary community. They will be offering their first RACE-approved CE sessions this year. Allied is also in the process of developing an in-house education center that will support wet labs and additional hands-on learning opportunities. Internally, they partner with Penn Foster and have a dedicated education coordinator who provides mentorship for team members pursuing their Veterinary Technology degree.

A Culture that Prioritizes the Team

Allied’s mission is strongly centered on prioritizing the team, believing that a well-cared for veterinary team provides the best care for patients. Being privately and team-owned is a major differentiator in a market where an estimated 90% of emergency/specialty practices are corporate owned. Dr. Nelsen believes this fosters a special type of collaborative environment and strong relationships with the referring veterinary community. 

This is evident in the employee-centric amenities, which include a spacious and comfy break room, dedicated employee entrance, employee wellness room, beds in doctors’ offices for resting during overnight shifts, a shower, and a dedicated employee dog ward with an outdoor turf run, allowing staff to bring their pets to work.

Dr. Kara Nelsen’s Journey

Dr. Kara Nelsen had an interest in veterinary medicine early on. As a high school student job searching in the 1990s, she remembers opening the yellow pages and browsing veterinary clinic listings. A call to what is now the U of M Veterinary Medical Center landed her a job with the Blood Donor greyhounds and cleaning wards. 

She discovered Affiliated Emergency Veterinary Service in Coon Rapids while looking for clinical experience in undergrad, needing evening and weekend hours. That connection ended up shaping her early career. She immediately discovered a love for emergency medicine and continued working there throughout vet school. She secured a newly open position at Affiliated right after graduation—which wasn’t easy to do 20 years ago—thanks to her connections and a bit of luck with timing. 

The Affiliated system was jointly owned by several veterinarian shareholders in the community. Dr. Nelsen was there through several transitions, including a partnership between Affiliated and BluePearl, a subsequent merger, and eventually BluePearl’s sale. By the end of her tenure, she was Medical Director of Emergency at BluePearl’s seven Minnesota locations.

In early 2021, Dr. Nelsen felt it was time to make a change. While she loved her colleagues, she wanted something different than the corporate system she’d ended up in. With a one-year noncompete in Minnesota and a newfound pull towards opening her own practice—”I think we should do something that is owned by the team” she remembers thinking—she set her sights on Wisconsin, reaching out to clinics in Eau Claire to ask if they would welcome an emergency clinic. The answer was an enthusiastic yes. 

Dr. Nelsen opened the first Allied location in Eau Claire later that year in partnership with an existing clinic from which she rented space. She was joined in the endeavor by Jess Towley, CVT, VTS (ECC), with whom she’d worked previously, along with a team of ten. (Jess is now part of Allied’s leadership team as Hospital Director.) Dr. Nelsen was the only DVM at first, staying in Eau Claire seven days a week and working overnights and weekends. A surgeon friend from vet school pitched in to work shifts that summer. Five years later the location is now staffed by a team of DVMs based in the area. 

Once the clinic in Eau Claire was established and her noncompete expired, Dr. Nelsen turned her attention back to Minnesota. Over the past four years, Allied has now opened four additional locations: Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park, Rochester, and Eden Prairie.

Her approach was relational and focused on mutual benefit. Dr. Nelsen evaluated where there was need and made connections with day practices. She’s assembled a skilled and loyal team, drawing from people she has worked with in the past, new grads, and others she’s encountered who want to be a part of what she’s building. Several mentors from her time at Affiliated are now working with her at Allied.  

Dr. Nelsen struck me as visionary and ambitious, yet humble. She’s friendly and engaging, passionate about what she’s doing, and clearly making an impact. One thing that sets Allied apart, she says, is that they strive to have great relationships with the referring community and make it easy to refer and collaborate. That goes hand in hand with her internal people-first approach to her team. In her words: “If they’re taken care of, then they can take care of the next emergency that comes in.”

By Jenn Stromberg, MVMA Marketing & Communications Manager

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2026 issue of the MVMA Messenger