Cross Street Veterinary Hospital brings independent pet care back to Winchester

Cross Street Veterinary Hospital is a busy place these days. Once known as Winchester Veterinary Group, the building has been bought and sold by a corporation in recent years.

But now, it’s under new management. Cross Street Veterinary Hospital has become an independent, woman-owned business. In fact, everyone on staff, save one male tech named Mark, is a woman.

Co-owners, Becky George and Dr.  Gabriele Chase, DVM, both wear more than one hat, practice manager and medical directory, respectively. And they both worked together at this very location several years ago.

In fact, most of the employees, including Mark, once worked at this location when it was under different management.

But they’re much happier now.

That’s all due to George.

“When I left in October 2024, I knew the company was already renovating a new place in Woburn,” she said. “I knew they were going to leave in the first half of 2025 and this space was going to be available. I knew we had to take advantage.”

George called on Chase to come back on staff as interim medical director.

“I became a believer!” Chase said, laughing at her reticence when George initially approached her about opening their own business. “I had taken a step back from the demands of day-to-day practice. I did that for a year before Becky approached me and floated the idea of this project. I don’t actually know why I was so hesitant.”

George said this was an opportunity to open a veterinary practice that was what they always wanted it to be.

“We wanted to create our own thing, which is so exciting,” she said. “We wanted to be independent, we wanted to provide customer service and that personal touch to our clients.”

Chase said back in the day, the philosophy of Winchester Veterinary Group was that you take care of your patients, your clients and your people and everything else will come.

“No one’s here to make millions,” Chase said. “The idea is to fill this vacuum that’s left from so many smaller practices being bought up by corporations. We feel like we’re providing this niche service because we want to give back to the community.”

After a renovation of the old building, Cross Street Veterinary Hospital opened its doors on Oct. 12, 2025 with very little fanfare. That was on purpose.

“We wanted to start slow because we wanted to make sure we had our feet underneath us,” George said. “We didn’t want to disappoint the clients coming in. We also wanted to get organized and make sure we knew where things were.”

Plus hiring staff, which Chase said was like “getting the band back together.”

So what’s the reaction been by the community?

“They are so happy,” George said. “They are excited to have us here.”

Chase said they’ve definitely received a lot of feedback and support from residents and neighbors who are thrilled to see the old building back to being a veterinary group like it was 30 years ago.

“A lot of my clients have followed me,” Chase said. “People have really give us so much grace and support. It’s been really wonderful.”

Judy Nowell, who was bringing in her 6-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Arthur, said she was thrilled to be a client.

“I’ve been here forever,” she said. “I’m very happy they’re here. I love this and I can’t say enough good things about it.”

The corporate rat race

These days it seems as if everything is owned by a corporation. But George and Chase say their newly opened business is not only bucking that trend, it aims to bring back a personal one-to-one touch for its patients and clients.

“It’s something that’s very common these days, that most people don’t even know about,” said Chase. “Corporations are buying up small vet practices. It’s a typical story of a baby boomer owner who wants to retire and doesn’t want to do a phased buy-out with a younger associate and they will sell to a corporation for the quick money.”

Chase should know. She and George have been through that churn.

Both worked for the former Winchester Veterinary Group, which opened at 95 Cross St. back in 1989. George was there from 2002-2008 and again in 2024 while Chase started in 2014 and was there for the next 10 years.

Chase said things were fine for about a decade until the corporation decided it wanted to increase the bottom line. A new place was found and renovated in Woburn and the corporation moved in late February/early March 2025.

“In its heyday this practice had seven doctors, not all were full time, and 27 employees,” Chase said. “We were very busy. Then we were bought out and the corporation wanted to expand so they started looking for more space. It wasn’t a surprise.”

Plus the lease was up in June 2025.

George had been back at the practice for about six months. She had been made a manager, but said the operation was “too corporate” and she wasn’t allowed to make any decisions.

She left again in October 2024.

Chase had also gone by then, having grown disillusioned with having to be a constant buffer between the corporation and staffers. She also realized she hadn’t had a cost of living increase in four years.

When negotiations reached an impasse, she also left.

The two stayed in touch — but Chase said it was really George who masterminded what came next.

And you know what happened there.

What’s next?

Cross Street Veterinary Hospital is a hopping place, with patients and clients coming in and out. The business is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and provides not only the usual vet services, but also onsite surgical and x-ray services.

George said the clinic is closed weekends, but there’s definitely room to expand for not only Saturday hours, but possibly an evening here and there.

Currently, there are only two doctors: Chase and Dr. Taylor Parson. Chase said to expand would mean adding another vet, but you just never know.

The office is light and airy, with a calming color palette and a lot of natural light from bright windows. George said now that they feel comfortable with operations, the clinic is holding an open house on Sunday, June 28, from 12-4 p.m.

She said there will be an ice cream truck on site, tours for residents and a scavenger hunt for kids.

Both George and Chase said they absolutely love having their own business and being able to provide the services they feel Winchester residents want, especially that one-to-one personal service they are excited to provide.

“It is so great to be back in this space and re-awaken that legacy that the original owner of Winchester Veterinary Group had,” Chase said. “It feels like a homecoming for all of us.”

Nell Escobar Coakley has been a journalist for more than 30 years. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Gotta Know Medford and editor of Winchester News. She can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.