Local vet clinic enters new era

Dr. Gary Schulteis and Dr. Melissa Garcia Rodriguez both feel they’re carrying out a transition of ownership for the veterinary practice formerly known as Adair County Vet Clinic in a way that is best for both of them.

Schulteis — who has owned the practice since 1996, when he purchased it from Dr. Ray Vogel’s widow, Sue — handed over the practice to Garcia Rodriguez Oct. 1. It has been renamed Red Barn Veterinary Clinic, still located at 407 SE Noble Street in Greenfield.

Schulteis will gradually phase into retirement over the next few years.

“This is a prayer come true for me,” Schulteis said. “It’s a little surreal.”

Schulteis describes Garcia Rodriguez as a “jewel and a rarity” because of how rare veterinarians with an entrepreneurial spirit are within the industry.

“When you start looking at labor shortages in other sectors and then ownership, she’s a very, very rare individual,” Schulteis said. “She will enjoy all of that, like I did, in time. It takes a special individual to own a business. Even in a very small business, there’s a lot going on. We’ve come to a solution and it’s finally come to fruition.”

Garcia Rodriguez came to Greenfield knowing that owning the clinic would be a possibility someday.

“It’s kind of taking its time to set in. I definitely didn’t expect to be a practice owner this soon, but I think it came with the right community and right people,” she said. “That’s definitely making it easier and more fulfilling.”

Growing up attending East High School in Des Moines, Garcia Rodriguez took part in Des Moines Public Schools’ agricultural sciences program that has livestock at a location near the Blank Park Zoo, affording her with unique experiences some city kids don’t take advantage of. She went on to graduate from Iowa State University.

Garcia Rodriguez and her now husband, Tyler Parish, relocated to Adair County in 2022 and have felt warmly welcomed by the people here and her clients.

“Ever since I moved here, people have been starting to recognize me in the grocery store, at the gas station, and wherever. It’s kind of hard to fly under the radar here now,” Garcia Rodriguez said. “It fills my heart everyday when someone says, ‘Hey Doc’ or ‘Hey Melissa,’ and they’ll tell me about their pet or livestock. After the tornado, seeing how people would drop everything and give you the shirt off their back, literally, that was the deciding moment for my husband and I that this is the community we want to raise our family in, and we don’t want to leave.”

The new owner said her goal is to keep the 2 1/2-doctor mixed-animal practice mostly the same as it has always been. Dr. Kailey Clarke is the other doctor on staff.

Schulteis experienced a different path to mixed-animal veterinary care as a Kansan farm kid whose family raised cattle, hogs and made hay. His father advised he not go into farming and go to college instead, so he attended veterinary school at Kansas State University.

Twelve years into his practice when he came to Greenfield, and now looking back on his career to this point, Schulteis said he has no regrets and it has been rewarding to have have played played a positive part within the local agricultural and broader veterinary field.

After handing the practice over to Garcia Rodriguez, Schulteis admits there could have been no buyers. To keep one more business open in a small town is important to him.

“Truth be known, it could have been the other way with no buyer, then time runs out for me,” Schulteis said. “I wanted this practice to stay up and running for the next generation. What will another 40 years bring? Who knows. I pray daily that she succeeds and this practice succeeds.”

Garcia Rodriguez wants nothing more than to carry on the professional care the practice has been known for from the start.

“I’m just happy to have the support and be in this position with Gary’s guidance and the support of the community and our own support staff,” Garcia Rodriguez said. “I’m still a young doctor, not even three years out of school, so everyone has been super supportive and patient with me as I find my ground as I transition from being a new grad vet to a business owner. I’m looking forward to the good changes we can bring and the help we can bring to the community.”