Nikki Frost
Nicole Frost was a two-time Ducey nominee for the veterinary technician member position on the Board. She was first nominated in 2015 to replace Julie Mumford, a Prescott Animal Hospital employee and the first veterinary technician member ever appointed to the Board after legislative changes. She was subsequently reappointed in 2022. Frost has held a variety of positions including working as a business manager for an accounting firm as well as hospital administrator for multiple veterinary clinics and emergency facilities. In June 2024 she was appointed as board chair, replacing public member Jessica Creager.
Frost's 2016 confirmation hearing before the Senate mentions that she began working in the veterinary field in 1997. She considers it her career, her passion, and what she's meant to do; her education in the veterinary industry has mostly been, in her words, "hands-on," but she does have education in various areas of business, finance, and economics. She stated that she wanted to be on the Board after being recommended by a friend of hers who served as the Board's first veterinary technician (that would be her immediate predecessor, Julie Mumford). Her experience across large-animal and small-animal work is also said to be an asset. The committee recommended her to the full Senate in slightly over two minutes.
Frost did not attend her 2022 reappointment hearing but apparently sent an email to be shared with the Senate committee reviewing her appointment. After a brief moment the committee and its helpers were able to find a copy of the email. One of the Senate staff read the email, which mentions a "meet-and-greet video conference" that Frost had instead of attending the meeting. Her statement says that while many people would meet the qualifications, her many years of Board experience distinguishes her to continue working for the Board. She also cites her decades of work in the veterinary industry and the variety of places she's worked as assets to the Board, along with mentioning her various human resources certifications. Her current work with the Yavapai Emergency Animal Hospital (more below) also familiarizes her with the growing standard of care. Her statement concludes by stating that she's very proud to be an Arizonan and that there's no better place to live. One of the senators said that she's had a conversation with Frost and finds her extremely qualified. Her nomination was sent to the full Senate in around three and a half minutes.
She previously worked as a board member and hospital administrator for Prescott Area Pet Emergency Hospital, then worked as a customer experience manager for Shepherd Software. Shepherd Software is a veterinary software company started by Cynthia Barnes, former responsible veterinarian for Prescott Area Pet Emergency Hospital before she sold the practice to Pathway Veterinary Alliance. Prescott Area Pet Emergency Hospital was the subject of no fewer than five complaints over fiscal years 2018 to 2021. That included an investigation of the facility's triage practices under its new responsible veterinarian for the premises, Shantibhushan Jha, a well-known veterinarian and champion of the Arizona Animal Welfare League's "An Evening to Paws" (21-51).
Frost has a variety of connections with the prominent Dow veterinary family in the Prescott area. She served two stints as hospital administrator at the Prescott Animal Hospital's Equine Center. PAH was originally operated by Arizona Veterinary Medical Association Past President Kenneth Skinner and early-2000s Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board Member Steven Dow. Ownership was passed to Dow's son, Cameron, who served on the Investigative Committee at the same time Frost was on the Board; Cameron later resigned and was replaced by his father, Steven. Frost has also worked as the hospital administrator for Yavapai Emergency Animal Hospital (YEAH) alongside Amie Dow, Cameron's spouse. According to Arizona Corporation Commission filings, she also serves as both the registered agent and a fellow member-manager in the business along with the aforementioned Amie Dow, veterinarian Katrina Tavasci, and veterinarian and Arizona Veterinary Medical Association Director Barbara Batke. YEAH, in turn, is listed as a platinum sponsor of the newly-formed Arizona Veterinary Technician Association (AzVTA) where Frost is on their Board of Directors; other prominent donors include VCA and BluePearl.
Frost was named as a defendant in the infamous horse-massager lawsuit brought by Celeste Kelly, Grace Granatelli, Stacey Kollman, and the Institute for Justice. The state veterinary board had decreed that only licensed veterinarians could massage horses in Arizona and fought the matter in courts for years.
According to her 2023 LinkedIn page, Frost worked for Patterson as an Education Specialist. Aside from her time at Prescott Area Pet Emergency Hospital, there was no mention of her diverse work experience as listed on her nomination summary.
Voting Summary
Nikki Frost voted to dismiss about 80.1% of complaints in our Tails of Woe.
We've tallied up Nikki Frost's votes during the time covered by our public records requests. Of the cases we have, Nikki Frost voted in 537 cases. Of those, Nikki Frost voted in favor of at least one motion containing the word "dismiss" in 430 of them.
Below we've included Nikki Frost's vote breakdowns for up to ten of the most common motions. We also have a detailed list of votes and their associated complaints available in the Voting History.
| Motion | Aye | Nay | Recused | Absent | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dismiss with no violation | 368 | 8 | 10 | 76 | 462 |
| Schedule informal interview | 74 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 94 |
| Offer consent agreement | 63 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 79 |
| Find violation | 44 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 70 |
| Dismiss with no violation and issue letter of concern | 37 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 44 |
| Issue board order | 27 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
| Accept consent agreement | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Disagree and dismiss with no violation | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Disagree and dismiss with no violation and issue letter of concern | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| Issue letter of concern | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
Archival Content
Additional archival content for Nikki Frost is posted below and hosted at the Internet Archive.
| Corporate Record | Urgent Pet Prescott LLC Articles of Organization (Arizona Corporation Commission) (2022) |
| Corporate Record | Yavapai Emergency Animal Hospital LLC Restated Articles of Organization (Arizona Corporation Commission) (2020) |
| Corporate Record | Yavapai Emergency Animal Hospital LLC Restated Articles of Organization (Arizona Corporation Commission) (2021) |
| Executive Summary | Nikki Frost Executive Appointment Summary (Legislative Session 522R) |
| Executive Summary | Nikki Frost Executive Appointment Summary (Legislative Session 552R) |
| Senate Nomination Hearing | Nicole Frost Senate Nomination Hearing (Legislative Session 522R) |
| Senate Nomination Hearing | Nicole Frost Senate Nomination Hearing (Legislative Session 552R) |