You know AAHA accreditation is good, but do you know why AAHA accreditation matters to your pet’s care? And, do you know why only 12-15% of animal hospitals nationwide are AAHA accredited?
To us, it means opening ourselves up to be transparently examined against standards. To your pet, those standards matter. The standards are fine tuned and well honed. They extend collective wisdom beyond our own team’s wisdom to encompass more than 4500 animal hospitals across the United States and Canada, all of whom are committed to excellence and the best care.
AAHA stands for the American Animal Hospital Association. While hospitals that see human patients must be accredited, animal hospitals don’t require accreditation. No doubt the result of in-numerous collaborative discussions, AAHA has developed more than 900 standards of care for accredited animal hospitals, creating a framework that requires veterinary teams demonstrate a focus on what matters most: your pet’s health, safety and comfort.
These standards establish clear protocols in key areas, such as handling patients, diagnostics, laboratory equipment, dentistry, medical records and surgery. With clear systems in place, our team can spend more focus on your pet’s specific needs.
During acute illness or injury, a patient-centered approach matters even more. AAHA-accredited teams consider not only the specific medical condition, but also how treatment could affect other areas, like a pet’s current stress level, their ongoing emotional state and their overall quality of life. Anesthesia safety, dental X-rays, pain management and clear communication with families — standards such as these have a direct impact on your pet’s care. They matter. Best practices matter.
Here, at Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital, accreditation reflects our values. We choose accountability and continued improvement. We choose to be rigorously evaluated by an outside organization, and we choose to be put to the test.
This month, we passed the AAHA evaluation once again. That’s right. Your independent, local Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital, right here in Redwood City, California, has once again earned AAHA accreditation.
It’s not surprising. Only 12-15% of animal hospitals nationwide are AAHA accredited simply because it is voluntary, it is a lot of scrutiny and it is a lot of work. But we think it’s important work. Indeed we have maintained AAHA accreditation since 1986.
Given this is 2026, that means with this AAHA accreditation we just passed Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital has been AAHA accredited for 40 years running! Hey! That makes this our 40th Anniversary of AAHA accreditation.
After all these years, it still means a lot to us. We hope it matters to you. For our patients and clients, it means more than a credential on the wall. It represents an ongoing commitment to provide care that is thoughtful, consistent and held to a high benchmark of excellence.
