03/18/2025
Agwest Veterinary Group feels so lucky to have Dr. Lisa McCrea Hemphill on our team!
Dr. Lisa has certainly been an amazing role model for not only female veterinarians but all women in agriculture. We are so grateful to have her as a veterinary colleague, a business partner, and as a friend! Lisa; Thanks for everything that you do for cows, farmers, and Agwest 😊
Since 1987, March has been declared Women’s History Month. And though history is about what has happened in the past, we also need to look to the future. To celebrate, this month AABP is tapping into some of its women members who are making their own history. We asked AABP members to recognize women members they admire, and why.
Dr. Lisa McCrea has worked tirelessly, day-in and day-out over the past 27 years as a practicing bovine veterinarian, says colleague Dr. Brent Fawcett. “She is passionate about helping cows and helping farmers; this is what motivates her. Lisa is an amazing bovine veterinarian and has been a role-model and inspiration for women veterinarians for two decades!”
McCrea has a long history of involvement with bovine medicine starting with her 1998 graduation from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown, PEI. She practiced for nine years and specialized in dairy production medicine and reproduction, and in 2004 completed the Dairy Health Management Certificate Program at the Ontario Veterinary College. Fawcett says in 2007 McCrea moved to B.C. and joined Agwest Veterinary Group as a bovine veterinarian and business partner. “She joined our team with unparalleled passion for the cows and the dairy industry, a solid foundation in bovine veterinary medicine, and a work-ethic to be envious of, he says. “ She quickly gained the trust and respect of the Fraser Valley farming community and made a name for herself as the go-to veterinarian in western Canada for embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization.”
Fawcett adds that McCrea’s passion for advanced bovine reproduction led her to joining the board of directors for the Canadian Embryo Transfer Association in 2011. “In 2020, she was elected as the first ever female President of CETA; a particularly exciting accomplishment as she is helping to forge new ground for female veterinarians as an inspirational role model.”
More recently, Fawcett says, McCrea has demonstrated her genuine passion for cattle and compassion for their well-being by taking an active role in advocating for their day-to-day well-being. In 2019, she was appointed as the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and Practicing Veterinarian representative to the Animal Care Technical Committee for Dairy Farmer’s of Canada ProAction. In this role, she acts as the voice of a bovine veterinarian subject-matter expert for ProAction updates. In 2022, she was appointed as the Farm Animal Veterinarian representative on BC’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food’s Advisory Committee on farmed animal welfare. Additionally, McCrea is currently the veterinary representative for Kwantlen Polytechnic University Animal Care Committee and is an Animal Welfare Auditor for BC Milk Marketing Board and Alberta Milk.
“Dr. Lisa has worked tirelessly, day-in and day-out over the past 27 years as a practicing bovine veterinarian,” Fawcett says. “She is passionate about helping cows and helping farmers; this is what motivates her. Along the way, she effectively collaborates with her colleagues, making us all better veterinarians. She takes the time to share her knowledge and skills with veterinary students, ensuring that they can learn the lessons that she has gained over the years. She volunteers on boards and committees, writes articles and presents at speaking engagements as a way to give back to her profession, the industry that she works in, and the community that she lives in.”
Fawcett notes that the entire team at Agwest Veterinary Group is certain that McCrea’s bright career will continue for many more years and that she will have many more achievements. “We are grateful to have her as a veterinary colleague, a business partner and as a friend.”
