A veterinary surgical hospital is planned at 1571 S. Colorado Blvd. in Denver, and it will be the Arizona company's first location outside its home state. Dr. Kelly's Surgical Unit is bringing its high-volume, lower-cost surgical model to Colorado in 2026.
The project will create a Denver location for the company's surgical services.
Why Dr. Kelly's Is Coming to Denver
Dr. Kelly's is coming to Denver. The Denver location will be the company's first outside Arizona.
The Denver location is intended to serve pet owners seeking lower-cost surgical services.
A Business Built on Doing Fewer Things
Dr. Kelly's traces back to 2016, when Patriquin and his wife opened a Phoenix-area clinic specializing in surgeries rather than general veterinary care, according to Dr. Kelly's Surgical Unit. The company now runs two brick-and-mortar locations and two mobile units in the Phoenix area, and it says the decision to focus narrowly on surgeries rather than acting as a typical full-service veterinarian is what keeps prices down. Dr. Kelly's says its surgical care is affordable compared with traditional full-service veterinary care.
Per Mile High CRE, that narrower service offering lets Dr. Kelly's design its facilities, equipment and operational systems entirely around specific procedures rather than spreading resources across general medicine, dental work, wellness exams and surgery all at once. Patriquin has said the company's low-cost model is based on that kind of focus. The Arizona clinic has separately said demand has grown as the cost of living has risen and squeezed household budgets, with Patriquin noting the business has never been busier.
Part of a Broader Access-to-Care Push
Dr. Kelly's is not alone in betting that a stripped-down, surgery-first model can widen access to veterinary care. Arizona-based TLC PetSnip opened its own surgical center in August 2022 specifically for high-quality, high-volume spay and neuter work, with a modern suite that allows multiple licensed veterinarians to operate at once; that organization also offers dental procedures and other treatments alongside its surgical services. Elsewhere, the Low Cost Animal Medical Center markets itself around affordable veterinary care and high-volume spay and neuter services meant to reduce shelter intake.
Research on the broader trend, published by PubMed Central, notes that low-cost, high-quality, high-volume spay-neuter clinics have been established across the country as part of an access-to-care movement that predates today's broader conversation about veterinary affordability. The review reports that 27.9% of U.S. households have experienced difficulty obtaining veterinary care, with financial barriers the most common reason. Against that backdrop, Dr. Kelly's is bringing its high-volume surgical model to Denver.
