Drs. Kim and Steve VanWagner are owners of the Veterinary Hospital of New Waverly, located at 455 West State Highway 150 in New Waverly, Texas. Both graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Kim is a small animal practitioner, and a member of both the American Veterinary Medical Association and Texas Veterinary Medical Association.  Her special interests include critical care and internal medicine. Dr. Steve is an equine practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and Texas Veterinary Medical Association. His interest reaches all areas, ranging from reproduction and lameness, to business management. 

Dr. Kim and Dr. Steve, as everyone knows them, met in veterinary school. He was starting his first year, while she was in her second year.  Dr. Steve started veterinary school later to complete his master’s degree in equine reproduction at Colorado State University.  They married three years later.  After graduating from vet school, they worked together at Big Thicket Veterinary Hospital, a mixed animal practice in Tarkington. Then, at the beginning of 2001, they moved to San Antonio, where Dr. Steve was mentored by, and worked with, a boarded equine surgeon at Hill Country Equine in Boerne. In the meantime, Dr. Kim worked at Fredericksburg Road Animal Hospital, an exclusive small animal practice in San Antonio.  When their family started to grow with the birth of their first child, they decided to move back home to be closer to the grandparents.

Prior to establishing their clinic in New Waverly, the VanWagners had considered buying the practice in Tarkington where they had started their career path. The owner at the time was wanting to retire, but in the end, “it wasn’t what God wanted us to do,” said Dr. Kim. They even considered buying land and building a new practice in Cleveland, “but once again, God shut that door. Looking back now, we are thankful for that,” said Dr. Kim. 

New Waverly was never on their radar for possible locations to open up a vet clinic, but a friend of theirs from Coldspring was building a carwash there at the time, and kept telling them, “Y’all need to put a clinic in New Waverly.” He would say, “The area is growing, and you need to ‘hang a shingle’ there.” So, in 2002, they did a demographic study of the area and found that he was right, growth was definitely predicted.   They still had reservations, but after prayerful consideration, they decided to take a leap of faith. They bought the property, and in October 2003, they opened the doors of the Veterinary Hospital of New Waverly.   At first, “we actually lived in it,” said Dr. Kim. “In fact, the master bedroom was right where we are sitting.” They started off with only 4 staff members: the 2 doctors, her mother-in-law, and a technician friend.  Over the years, a couple of family members have helped work and grow the practice; today, they have 22 employees, and retain a close knit “family” environment.

The Veterinary Hospital of New Waverly currently employs 3 LVTs (Licensed Veterinary Technicians), 1 working towards licensure that is also Fear Free certified, and 2 level II CVAs (Certified Veterinary Assistants)-1 being a certified Dental Technician and Ambassador, with others going through the CVA program.  The hospital takes pride in offering a training facility for many students. They host several CVA students a year from the local area high schools, 4-H programs, and online programs.  Dr. Kim is currently in the process of helping New Waverly High School implement the CVA program for their students. In addition, they offer college students the opportunity to gain the hours needed to apply to veterinary schools, while veterinary students come to gain hands-on experiences and mentoring.  Still others come to shadow and volunteer for other reasons. 

Some of the services offered at VHNW include: immunization and wellness care, extensive dental care, emergency and critical care, soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries, hospice and euthanasia services, internal medicine, microchipping, laser therapy, pain management, radiology, and so much more! They primarily care for small animals and equine, but also a handful of exotics and food animals as they enjoy helping the local 4-H and FFA students. Things that are unique to VHNW are: 1) Dr. Steve is an equine reproduction specialist performing artificial insemination and stallion and embryo collection; 2) Dr. Michael McFaddin, a board-certified small animal veterinary surgeon with Houston Mobile Veterinary Surgery, comes to perform some of the more complicated types of surgeries and provide consultations.  (In the past, patients were referred to specialty hospitals for cases such as major knee repairs, but now, clients can pay almost half the cost since it can be done in-house.); 3) Dr. Oscar Ramirez, a board-certified veterinary radiologist, with Southeast Texas Veterinary Imaging Services, has been coming for several years, and now comes every 2 weeks to perform ultrasounds, review radiographs, and provide consultations;  4) A certified veterinary acupuncturist provides care for various conditions;  5) Chiropractic care for both animals and humans are provided by Doc Jackie Doval, the first licensed Doctor of Chiropractic in Texas to be certified in Animal Chiropractic by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association.  “We are very blessed to be working with all these incredible specialists.  Each offers the hospital an opportunity to provide a higher quality of care and services for our clients and their animals.” For a more detailed description of the services provided by Veterinary Hospital of New Waverly, visit vethospitalnewwaverly.com. 

When they are not at work, the doctors enjoy spending time with their children: Haley, Tyler and Garrett, as well as their granddaughter.  They enjoy going skiing every winter, going to the park, cycling, running, and nature in general. In the past, Dr. Kim has been involved with the Pregnancy Care Center of Huntsville, New Waverly City Council, and the Walker County Chamber of Commerce. For the past two years, they have been active and involved with Alive Church in New Waverly. Dr. Steve is currently serving on their Safety and Finance Committees. Both doctors are quoted saying, “We are extremely blessed to be a part of the New Waverly community!”