How Collegiate Peaks Veterinary Hospital Hit 4.5x Growth with Cherry

About the Practice

Collegiate Peaks Veterinary Hospital is a growing veterinary practice serving a rural community where clients regularly drive an hour or more to access care. In 2026, the practice expanded with a new veterinary technician, technician assistant, and a third veterinarian, reflecting their commitment to delivering high-quality medicine to the pet owners who depend on them. Their patient base reflects the economic realities of their region, with many clients navigating tight household budgets while trying to do right by their pets. That commitment to their community is exactly what makes accessible financing not a nice-to-have, but a necessity.

The Challenge

Collegiate Peaks was facing a challenge that was equal parts geographic and economic. Located in a rural area, clients were already sacrificing time and money just to get through the door. Jacqueline, the practice manager, shared that in a single two-week stretch, two clients told her they could not come in for routine bandage changes solely because of gas prices. The cost of the procedure was not the only barrier; the total cost of ownership was.

The pressure showed up at every stage of the care journey. Clients were declining bloodwork, X-rays, and follow-up visits, not because the medicine was not indicated, but because pet care kept getting pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Economic trade-offs were happening in real time, and the practice was losing cases at the estimate stage before their team ever had a chance to practice their best medicine.

The front desk felt it most acutely. Calls that began with "I need help" and "I have no money" had become routine, and the team did not have a confident, reliable answer to give. Jacqueline described coaching her receptionist to remove emotion from those moments and pivot to offer a real solution, but they needed a tool to back it up. They also needed something that could keep pace with their growth, as the expanding team was increasingly focused on protecting surgical case capture earlier in the funnel.

The Cherry Solution

After implementing Cherry, the shift was immediate. The front desk now had a tangible answer for clients who called with financial concerns, turning what had been a dead-end conversation into a clear path forward. Rather than absorbing the weight of an unresolvable situation, staff could confidently say there is a solution and mean it.

Cherry proved especially well-suited to the practice patient base. With a median Vantage score of 646, many of their clients skew subprime and had likely been turned away by other financing options in the past. Cherry was approving people who would have heard no elsewhere, and that made a direct difference in whether pets received care.

The team also found Cherry to be a powerful tool for surgical case capture. Jacqueline shared the example of a client who was approved and put down a deposit for a dental procedure scheduled one to two months out. Cherry was not just helping close same-day decisions; it was helping the practice lock in future revenue and give clients the time they needed to plan.

Results

• 4.5x growth in monthly funded contracts, from 2 at launch to 9 at peak
• March 2026 volume reached nearly 2x the practice's assigned potential of $5,724 per month
• 33 pet owners received a yes to recommended care that may otherwise have been declined
• Median client Vantage score of 646, confirming Cherry is reaching and approving subprime borrowers who likely would have been denied elsewhere
• Approximately half of all funded loans are at 0% APR, meaning the financial benefit flows directly to clients
• Surgical and dental case capture improved, with clients securing deposits and scheduling procedures weeks in advance