Kelly Foltz is a 1999 graduate of Mercer University with a bachelor’s degree in English and a 2006 graduate of Athens Technical College with an associate of applied technology degree in Veterinary Technology.  She joined the Academy of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Technicians and Nurses (AVECCTN) in 2012 with recertifications in 2017 and 2022.  In addition to her VTS, Kelly maintains active credentials in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. 

Early in her career, Ms. Foltz worked in a variety of privately and shareholder-owned ERs and in the ICU at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary medicine.  From 2012-2020, Kelly was employed by Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine as an intermediate care/ICU technician and supervisor before relocating to Gainesville, FL in August of 2020 to work as an ICU shift lead at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.  In 2022, Kelly joined BluePearl as their Mid-Atlantic Regional Nursing Partner, where she served as a subject matter expert and veterinary technician administrator for 24 hospitals in MD, VA, KY, TN, NC, SC, and GA.  By 2024, she was supporting 42 emergency and specialty hospitals on the eastern seaboard as the Divisional Nursing Partner for BluePearl’s East Division.

In addition to her clinical work, Kelly is a lecturer, author, educator, and volunteer who has contributed manuscripts to veterinary technology textbooks, co-authored peer-reviewed journal articles, and worked as an adjunct instructor at two AVMA-accredited programs of veterinary technology.   She served on the AVMA Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) from 2017-23, serving as Vice Chair in 2021-2022 and as Chair in 2022-2023.  During that time, she was involved in the creation of the AVMA Committee for the Advancement of Veterinary Technicians and Technologists (CAVTT).  She has also represented technicians on the AVMA Task Force on Veterinary Technician Utilization in 2019 and the Working Group on Veterinary Technician Utilization in 2020-21 plus the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society Task Force on Veterinary Technicians in 2023-25. 

Her professional interests include antimicrobial stewardship, medical futility and its impact on veterinary healthcare teams, technician engagement and education, feline medicine, neonatal and pediatric nursing, trauma, and vascular access.    In an alternate universe, she is a full-time flower farmer, pickle entrepreneur, beekeeper, and honorary member of the legendary E Street Band.  In THIS universe, she presides over a quiet life at Sourpuss Farm, her vintage homestead outside Auburn, AL where she spends her free time gardening, reading, and relaxing with her pit bull terrier Hank, Chihuahua named Chickpea, leopard tortoise Dandelion, and Thoroughbred ex-racehorse gelding “Yabba Dabba Dude,” known to his friends as Steve.