Paragon Partners Prefer This Practice

Paragon Partners Prefer This Practice

By Pat Reilly

A paragon is a model of excellence, and that’s what a team of two local veterinarians describe as their goal in setting up Paragon Equine Veterinary Services.

Dr. Jena Porto and Dr. Alexis Theiss met while working at a practice that taught them high standards, but didn’t provide the autonomy they both sought. They wanted to own their own operation.

Veterinarians Alexis Theiss and Jena Porto

Photo by Pat Reilly

“We discovered we had a similar work ethic and long-term goals,” Porto recalled. “We decided to go out on our own.”

“I was at the mid-way point in my career,” Theiss said. “I didn’t want the second half to look like the first. I wanted to modify and manage the business in a way I think is ideal. We have mostly the same clients. It’s the same job, but it’s really fun making my own schedule. I can make the day flow the way I want.”

They are entirely ambulatory now. They have carved an area of service that includes south Loudoun, Fauquier, and eastern Clarke counties with a little bit of Prince William, as well.

Theiss specializes in reproduction, foals and sports medicine. Porto prefers sports medicine, dentistry and emergency medicine but prides herself in excelling as a general practitioner. Both have digital radiology machines in their trucks. This is ideal, they said, for pre-purchase exams, repository films, lameness workups, skull, cervical, thoracic and lumbar imaging.

“We can see the images immediately,” Porto said. “Ultrasound is best for soft tissue injuries.”

One of the biggest challenges in equine care is client compliance.

“We can do our best to evaluate and diagnose, but we rely on owners to treat their horses,” she said. “Horses, by their nature, pose a challenge to their owners.”

Porto has a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Penn State University. She then completed her education with a veterinary degree from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012.

Theiss graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in biology before attending the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, where she received her DVM in 2004.

Theiss, who lives on a farm in Upperville, has a 3-year-old son, an 11-year-old daughter and a 17-yearold stepson. When she isn’t taking care of horses, she’s being a mother. Her farm is home to a couple of retired horses, a donkey and a menagerie of pets.

Porto lives in Purcellville in a house she and her husband built. She carries her Weimaraner, Daphne, with her on work rounds.

For the immediate future, they’re happy the way things are and their clients will attest that Paragon— as in a model of excellence—is the perfect name for their practice.