Meet our Founders
Get to know the people who brought SURGE to life.
Our Core Values
Freedom – Community – Platform – Support
Meet the SURGE founders.
We are dedicated to helping you build and live the life you’ve always dreamed about.
Dr. Phil Zeltzman
SURGE Co-founder
Being overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated was not a recipe for happiness, so he decided to explore mobile surgery.
After 6 years at traditional brick-and-mortar practices, Phil Zeltzman started his full-time mobile surgery career in 2010.
Phil and Justin got in touch through a common friend. Since they launched their mobile practice around the same time, they decided to help each other with various decisions: power equipment, autoclaves, staffing needs, business model, paperwork, creative ways to save money, etc.
They loved the interactions so much that they added Jim to the brainstorming sessions.
This is how SURGE started. You can read the rest of the story here.
As more and more practice owners heard about Phil’s service, his territory increased across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
His territory became so large and so busy that he then decided to reduce his reach and his days on the road, from 7 days with 24/7 on-call to 6 days with 24/7 on-call, to 5 days with no on-call, to 4 days and now three days.
This led to an amazing sense of freedom (he may or may not have taken a 3-week vacation island-hopping in Hawaii once) while still providing a valuable service to his RDVMs, clients, and patients.
Phil is also the co-founder of Veterinary Equity Consulting Group, which goal is to help colleagues build a new generation of brick-and-mortar practices.
Dr. Justin Harper
SURGE Co-founder
A graduate of Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Harper completed an internship in Littleton, Colorado, and a surgical residency program at Auburn University in large animal surgery. After returning to the Texas Hill Country, Dr. Harper had the unique opportunity to undergo additional training for small animal surgery in South Texas under the direction of Dr. Andy Baker (small animal surgeon of 40 years), Dr. Don Hulse (Texas A&M University), and others. During this time, he realized the need for specialty surgical services to be offered in-house to veterinarians and their clients. In addition to being board certified in large animal surgery, Dr. Harper began completing requirements for dual certification in small animal surgery. Due to the demand for surgical services to the practices TSVS currently serves, Dr. Harper has put the dual certification process on hold. TSVS currently performs over 800 surgeries a year at veterinary practices for their pet owners, including TPLO, fracture repair, and other orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries.
Dr. Jim Ballow
SURGE Co-founder
After graduating from Texas A&M, Dr. Ballow entered private small animal practice in Longview, TX.
With a year’s worth of experience under his belt, Dr. Ballow returned to his hometown of Henderson, TX, and established a small animal practice, which he merged with two other veterinarians a few years later.
Noting the lack of surgical services offered in the area and the pets that didn’t get needed care because it was not readily available, Dr. Ballow began training for more advanced surgeries and sold his practice to focus on surgery.
Initially doing Emergency Clinic and per diem work, Dr. Ballow began offering mobile surgery services in East Texas, evolving to exclusively mobile surgery as East Texas Veterinary Services.
ETVS now offers TPLOs, fracture repair, and other orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries to East Texas. As ETVS has grown, Dr. Ballow has been able to help pets and owners get the care they need without having to travel long distances for referrals while providing himself the flexibility and freedom to enjoy life to its fullest.
Dr. Ballow is a co-founder of SURGE, a group of mobile veterinary surgeons comprised of members from around the world.
Dr. Ballow lives in Henderson, TX, with his wife, Anna. Travel, gardening, and keeping up with three grandchildren are some of the things that give them great joy.
Danielle Schofield
Executive Director
Danielle began working for SURGE in January 2024 as our Executive Director. Prior to joining us, Danielle was a general practice veterinary technician in Leesburg, VA for almost 7 years. She has always had an appreciation and interest in general surgery at the clinics and was fascinated speaking with the mobile surgeons that visited the practices she worked for and watching them work/assisting them.
Upon learning about SURGE and the chance to not only connect with mobile surgeons from across the globe but also play a role in connecting them with other mobile surgeons and partners, Danielle was eager to be a part of the team. Having a general understanding of the industry and hands-on experience in actual veterinary care on top of her passion for animals, it made SURGE the perfect fit to be able to grow and build upon this remarkable community while delivering top care to animals worldwide.
Currently, Danielle lives in Tucson, AZ with her new husband, Andre, and having grown up with dogs, cats, hamsters, fish, you name it, now has 3 cats and 3 Guinea pigs to make for a full house. Her hobbies include spending time outdoors, hiking (though staying far from the edge) and, Danielle’s favorite thing, spending time with her family, friends and fur-babies.