Chapter 01 — The Story
The long way was the right way.
Sold a business to become a doctor. Became a doctor and built the hospital herself. Nicole does things in the order conviction demands, not the order the industry suggests.
The short version
Medicine first. Ownership so the medicine survives.
Nicole Sorensen, DVM is a veterinarian people drive past other clinics to see — known for taking on the complicated, chronic, nobody-can-figure-it-out cases and giving every one of them her full attention. Colleagues tease that she finds the weirdest cases. What that actually means: she notices the thing everyone else walked past.
She's also a business owner twice over — and was one before she was a doctor. She and her husband Britain owned and operated The Valley House Inn for two and a half years, sold it, and bet everything on veterinary school. When it came time to practice, she made the contrarian bet again: instead of joining a corporate group, they built the hospital themselves — twice.
Mtn Green Animal Hospital opened September 2, 2025. Agave Animal Hospital opens in St. George in early 2027. Both independent. Both doctor-owned. That's not an accident; that's the point.
The medicine she's known forThe whole story
Colorado kid, Utah transplant
Nicole moved from Colorado to Utah for college. The career question had been settled since childhood — first as a kid who simply loved animals more than anything, then as a plan that never wavered.
“From 2–12 years old, I wanted to be a dog. After I realized that was not realistic, I wanted to be a vet.”
Married Britain. Bought an inn.
The same year she married Britain, the two of them bought The Valley House Inn in Huntsville and ran it as owner-operators — guests, payroll, breakfast service, and all. She learned what owning a business actually costs before she ever wrote a prescription.
B.S. in Zoology, Weber State
Degree number one — a zoology bachelor's from Weber State University, where Mtn Green Animal Hospital is now listed among Wildcat-owned businesses in the alumni directory.
Sold the inn to chase the calling
After two and a half years of innkeeping, she and Britain sold — a completed buy-run-sell arc, and a clean answer to what she wanted next.
“I definitely was done with the bed and breakfast. I wanted to be a mom and a vet.”
Veterinary school, the long way
Four years in the WIMU Regional Program of the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine — the first two in Logan, the last two in Pullman. She did it while building a family, and she's honest about the cost: never enough hours for studying, for work, and for the people she loved most, all at once. She graduated a doctor anyway.
“Every aspect of the process had struggles.”
Associate veterinarian, West Haven
Fresh DVM in hand, she went straight into practice in West Haven — and spent nights and weekends building her own hospital at the same time.
Mtn Green Animal Hospital opens
Her own hospital, built from bare ground in Morgan County — calm rooms, unhurried appointments, and medicine she'd want for her own animals.
“We focus on high-quality medicine, clear communication, and building lasting relationships with pet families.”
Agave Animal Hospital
The second act, taking shape in St. George — a completely new, from-scratch build with its website already ranking before the doors open.
The doctor we haven't met yet
The playbook is proven and the mission is bigger than two buildings. The next hospital gets built with a partner doctor who wants their name on it.
Quotes from Nicole's VoyageUtah “Community Highlights” interview, January 2026.
On the record
VoyageUtah — Community Highlights
An in-depth interview on the road from innkeeper to hospital founder, in Nicole's own words.
Weber State Alumni — Wildcat Business Directory
Mtn Green Animal Hospital, listed by her alma mater among alumni-owned businesses — Nicole Sorensen '17.
From the story
