13/05/2026
From Dr Kate Haines
After more than 35 years as owner-manager of Latrobe Veterinary Group, the time is approaching for me to hand over to the next generation. Leading the practice through the decades has been a hugely fulfilling experience, providing physical, emotional and mental challenges as well as many moments of satisfaction & joy. A huge thank you to all the staff, local businesses and clients with whom Iโve had great working relationships over all these years.
I am delighted to announce that Dr Kristen Hennessy and Dr Madeline Laurie, veterinarians within the Latrobe Veterinary Group team, will lead the practice into the future. The practice will remain an independent, privately owned clinic, to serve the community as it has done for the last 35+ years. Your familiar vets & support staff will still be here looking after you, following handover in a couple of months.
A quick, indulgent recap on the last 35 years: I purchased Morwell Veterinary Centre in December 1990, separating it from the combined Moe-Morwell practice. At that time we barely needed the 2 vets โ myself and Dr Amanda Rhodes-Andrew โ but it grew. We cared for all animals: from horses, cattle & ostriches to dogs, cats & budgies. Some staff joined us in those very early days and are still here - Sally, Tracey & Celena. They have played an enormous role in the development of the practice. Amanda was pivotal in the practice until her retirement last year.
In 1994 we opened the original Traralgon clinic โ in the midst of the fallout from the massive SEC privatisation. The early years were lean, but the little clinic survived, then thrived. Amanda moved more towards small animal work, while I continued to do the bulk of the cattle & horse work. Other vets and nurses came and went with the gradual expansion of the practice. Small animal work was increasing steadily, the large animal work decreasing with the expansion of towns, lifestyle property subdivisions and coal mines. At the end of 2008, after years of prevarication, I finally made the decision to cease offering conventional large animal services, as it was no longer viable for the practice for multiple reasons. I continued seeing horses for musculo-skeletal consultations.
Plans gradually evolved for the replacement building in Traralgon, but it took years to set up the property & financial arrangements to make it a reality. I had done other things along the way including a Masters degree in Animal Chiropractic and a lot of teaching in that field, but the period between 2010 & 2013 was dominated by building plans, then activity. My husband Noel was awesome in overseeing the building process and carpark construction, as he has always been in ensuring the maintenance of clinic buildings & surrounds. The new hospital building opened in late 2013, which was just as well, because the Morwell clinic was bursting at the seams. This building was a game changer for the practice and a wonderful environment for staff & patients.
More new staff came on board with the increased activity in Traralgon, the practice steadily expanding. I was again a bit distracted, driving the process to set up the Graduate Diploma in Animal Biomechanical Medicine, which qualification still runs, now in its third delivery. Veterinary practice was continually evolving, with ever increasing expectations and standards, my working role progressively less clinical and more administrative as the practice evolved.
Then Covid19 โ which had a massive effect on everything. We had to re-think & re-invent our practice procedures continually, staff were stressed and overwhelmed, we went into Covid with about 16 staff and came out of it with more than 30 as the workload increased dramatically. We also had to re-establish the Morwell clinic, following a fire in an adjacent building. Since then, as life resumed some normality, my focus has been on preparing the practice to hand on, to ensure staff, our clients and our patients remain supported, as they always have been.
More information on the new team and my future availability for consultations will be presented as we work through the transition over the coming period. Many thanks again to everyone who has been part of this journey.
