Our veterinary team values, above-all, the relationships we form with our clients and with each other. We’re here to support your pet’s long-term health and be a partner to you in providing them the best and most modern veterinary services and technologies. There’s a reason we’ve been voted ‘the best’ in the Brainerd Lakes!
A Brainerd native, Dr. Deb Piepgras is the proud owner of Lakeland Veterinary Hospital. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Minnesota in 2000 and began her career at Lakeland the same year. Since then, she has dedicated her work to caring for animals, with a special passion for the challenge of diagnosing and treating sick or injured pets who cannot tell us what’s wrong.
At home, Dr. Piepgras shares life with her husband, their English Setter, Denali, their spirited cat, Soul and recently added a very confident English Cocker Spaniel puppy, Emperor Augustus. With their children grown, she and her husband are embracing the joys of being empty nesters.
Outside the hospital, Dr. Piepgras can often be found tending her many gardens, quilting, reading, camping, fishing, and taking full advantage of the lakes and trails the Brainerd area has to offer. Looking ahead, she is excited to spend more time traveling and exploring new places.
Dr. Aletta graduated with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 2023. Aletta is Fear Free Certified in small animals. Areas of special interest include Dermatology and Internal Medicine. Her favorite aspect of Veterinary Medicine is working with clients and patients to provide them the individualized care they need.
Dr. Aletta originally from East Grand Forks, MN. Now shares here home with her husband and three Dalmatians Tallulah, Ivy, and Sapphire. Outside of work Aletta enjoys reading, traveling and participating in dog sports. She looks forward to taking advantage of the numerous outdoor activities that the Brainerd area has to offer.
Dr. Jonah graduated from Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2026. His professional interests include soft tissue surgery and internal medicine. What he enjoys most about veterinary medicine is working with clients to help their pets live longer, healthier lives.
Originally from North Dakota, Jonah now lives in Brainerd with his wife, where they breed and raise Beagles. Their home is often bustling with Beagle puppies, and outside of the clinic they spend much of their time traveling to dog shows around the country to exhibit their dogs in conformation and other events. Jonah looks forward to building lasting relationships with clients and their pets for years to come.
Becky has been in the veterinary field since 2002, with 17 years at a veterinary clinic located in the Twin Cities. She started as an assistant, all those years ago, but found her love was veterinary customer service. She strives to give her best to every client/patient and that led to a natural transition to the Practice Manager role. Becky is known for her catchphrase of “happy to help” and showing kindness to clients, patients, and staff. Becky grew up, married, and raised her 2 daughters all in the New Prague area. During this time we traveled to the Baxter area routinely! Becky has 2 dogs, Russell, a golden retriever mix, and Teddy, an English cream golden retriever. However, the ruler of the house is Sugar, a domestic medium hair cat. During her free time Becky likes taking the dogs on hikes, fishing, kayaking, boating, gardening, and canning salsa. Fun fact about Becky: she can juggle!
Inspired by her love of animals, Nicko joined the veterinary field in 2018. She has a spunky personality and her favorite part about being the Boarding Manager at Lakeland Veterinary Hospital is the trust clients have in her to take good care of their loved ones. Nicko rescued a Designer Street Mutt named Phoebe. She’s a professional at the snoot trick!
Ari rejoined the Lakeland team December 2023 due to her love for animals. She is incredibly busy, but in her free time she loves to take her pups Miss Ma’am and and Maverick on new adventures. She also spends time watching TV Shows with her cats Majesty and Meadow, coloring. She has recently learned to slow down and start taking care of herself. She loves to learn and conquer new challenges and make new friends!
Both of her parents travel for a living and that is a new goal for Ari to achieve- take the time to travel and explore new places especially with her dogs!
Grace joined the Lakeland team in May of 2024. She was inspired to join the team because of her love of animals and passion for working with people! She graduated from Brainerd High School in 2022 and moved up in positions at a local hotel going from housekeeper to desk agent over the span of a couple years. Grace grew up with multiple family pets, mostly being cats which is why she now aspires to be known as a “cat lady”. Grace currently shares her home with Clark, Rosie, and Edgar; her best friends cat babies, but her heart lies with her own kitties back home with her parents, Harper “Mr. Gills” and Patrice “Mama”. When she leaves Lakeland after a long day of talking to animals in a very high-pitched voice; she enjoys spending time with her family, singing in the car, making/eating good food, listening to true crime podcasts, and having long conversations with friends.
Jenna graduated from Vermillion Community College in 2020 with her veterinary degree. She joined the Lakeland Veterinary Hospital team in February 2021. She is passionate about animals and finds no greater reward than being able to help improve their lives or assist in their healing.
Jenna was born and raised in Aitkin, Minnesota. She has three cats; Winter, Charlie, and Lucky and also a brood of chickens. When she isn’t working she enjoys traveling, camping, finishing, four-wheeling, painting, drawing, and reading.
Bio coming soon!
Melissa joined the Lakeland team in May 2022. She is a graduate from Southwest Minnesota State University with a Bachelors of Art English Literature. Melissa has lived all over the Midwest but moved to the BLA to be closer to family.
In her free time, she loves reading, travelling, and spending time with her friends, but above all, she is absolutely obsessed with her two Siberian Huskies Fenne and Odessa.
Kirsten is from a small town Southern Minnesota and joined our clinic June 2024 as a technician. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in applied biological science and then moved on to volunteering in Sumatra, Indonesia and Namibia with the peace corps. Her vetmed career began shortly after as a veterinary technician and she is currently in our CVT program. Kirsten finds purpose in being a part of each patient’s life from the beginning and helping them thrive as they age. In her free time, she can be found paddle boarding, reading, taking care of her collection of house plants, and lounging around with her four crazy cool kitties.
Karly joined our team in November 2023 as a Veterinary Assistant. She got a small taste of working with animals at a local kennel and her ambition pushed her to wanting more. Her love for animals has been a constant presence in her life and ultimately led her to the vetmed field. She prides herself on her sense of humor and you can always rely on her for a good laugh when you need a pick-me-up! When she has some down time, Karly loves traveling, cooking, and kicking back with her pup WallE and kitty Garfield and catching a good flick.
Cheyenne joined our team June 2024 as a Veterinary Assistant. Before finding her home at Lakeland, Cheyenne was working with a local animal shelter and travelling with them for all sorts of adoption events, so she is no stranger to the vetmed world. She finds so much joy in in being able to help our patients feel better while ensuring their pet parents that we are taking the best care of their fur babies. Vetmed also fills her cup when it comes to continuous learning opportunities, especially when she gets to help with some very interesting cases. When away from the hospital, Cheyenne enjoys hanging out with her two pups and spending time with friends and family.
Bio coming soon!
Dianna is a one of our groomers at Lakeland Veterinary Hospital. She joined the team in 1989 following her graduation from the Twin Cities School of Pet Grooming. Dianna loves that each day is different and feels that her job is truly rewarding. She loves making each pet look their best and appreciates having such great customers.
She shares her home with Chloe, a Lab mix and Pippa, a Bearded Collie. In her spare time, Dianna enjoys flower gardening, hiking, fishing, and camping.
Roz joined the Lakeland team in September of 2020. She got her start grooming in 2010 through a year long apprenticeship at a busy pet salon in the twin cities. Although working with dogs all day, every day can be a challenge, she finds dog grooming to be an extremely rewarding career. How many people get to say that they have a job they truly love?
When not up to her elbows in dog hair, Roz love spending her time with her husband, Ryan and their kiddos, Soren and Aspen. She has a black lab named Mitch and three cats – Kratt, Bunny, and Steve French. A big passion of hers is dogsledding. Roz and Ryan are working hard to get ready for a few dog teams of their own this fall! She also enjoys camping, canoeing, and road trips.
Brenna grew up in Roseau, MN. She recently moved to the Brainerd area last year and really enjoys what the area has to offer. She attended Rio Grooming school in Hastings Mn in 2018. She went to work right after that in her hometown where she worked until December 2023. She really loves that every day is different and loves working with all the dogs. In her free time she loves spending time with her family, camping and fishing. She also stays busy with her 3 dogs Bruiser, Lloyd and Lola as well as 2 cats Bonnie and Clyde and her 5 chickens.
This regal feline is Bagel! She came to us in a group of kittens from Paws and Claws that our doctors were donating surgeries for. Bagel needed some additional dental care after her initial spay and, long story short, became Lakeland’s first foster failure. She is a sassy little thing but she fit right in, learning the ropes from a somewhat apprehensive Nyani. She’s quickly made her way into all our hearts (even Nyani’s, though she’d never admit it).
Located behind Arby’s off Hwy. 371 in Baxter.
Phone: 218-829-1709
