DSO People! New DSO And Dental Group Hires, Promotions & Awards – June 2022

Wanda Perez is named new COO at Our Best Life Companies (OBL). Wanda has been instrumental in the day-to-day business operations of OBL-- even before the company integrated multiple practices. Her 20-plus years of experience in the dental industry has given her invaluable knowledge of all things practice-management. Her deep personal connection and attention to the team and patients at each individual OBL practice make her a natural choice to become the COO of the company. OBL made Group Dentistry Now's Emerging Groups to Watch in 2022 list.

Linda Ryan returns to Pacific Dental Services as Director, Territory Recruiting. Linda is a veteran in the DSO space. She began her career in 1990 as a regional manager. Since then, she has held various purchasing, operations, and recruiting positions at Elite Dental Partners, Mid-Atlantic Dental Partners, and PDS. Her passion for dentistry is only rivaled by her love for people. Linda is a positive role model and a mentor to many. She was recently awarded the highly prestigious DSO Influencer Award. 

Gemma Delgaudio becomes Director of Talent Acquisition at Ssun Health LLC. Prior to joining the emerging dental group, Gemma was the Director of Marketing at Mid-Atlantic Dental Partners. She has also held various positions at Pacific Dental Services. Gemma has a passion for matching talent with career changing opportunities. Ssun Health made the highly acclaimed Emerging Groups to Watch list in 2021. The group was founded in 2018 by Dr. Cary LaCouture, Clay Shubin and Eric Nuss, a longtime executive at Henry Schein, on the understanding that total health and wellness stars with sound oral health.

UK-based Portman Dental Care appoints Hersh Shah as Group Business Development and M&A Director. In this newly created role, Hersh will have global responsibility for the group’s inorganic strategy, business development and M&A activities. He will work closely with Portman’s group and regional teams and Portman’s private equity shareholder-partner, Core Equity, and will be based in London. Hersh will report to Portman CEO Sam Waley-Cohen and join the Board and Group Leadership Team. Portman operates in England and Wales. 

dentalcorp announces the appointment of Julian Perez to Chief Legal Officer. dentalcorp is Canada's largest and one of North America's fastest growing networks of dental practices. As a member of dentalcorp's leadership team, Julian will oversee the legal, regulatory compliance and enterprise risk managment functions. He will also take on accountability for dentalcorp's entire legal function. Prior to this he was the Senior VP of Risk Managment and Compliance for the DSO.

Elaine Powell has been promoted to Senior Director of Regulatory Compliance at dentalcorp. Elaine started with the Canadian DSO in 2017 as a practice auditor. Since then, she worked her way up the ranks in the regulatory compliance department. Elaine has also held positions at dental offices as a dental therapist, dental assistant and registered dental hygienist. She has held a seat on the National Dental Hygiene Examination Board for the past 12 years.

Gaile Omori has joined the Benevis executive leadership team as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. This executive role will oversee the development and execution of the company’s people strategy and practice, including compensation, benefits, recruiting, training, talent development, diversity, and equity and inclusion initiatives. Based out of the company’s national headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, Gaile will work closely with senior leadership, including Bryan Carey, CEO of Benevis. Prior to Benevis, Gail was VP, HR at Caravel Autism Health.

Scott Hornbuckle started a new position as Chief Financial Officer at United Dental Partners. Prior to this position, Scott was CFO at Benevis for over 13 years. UDP was founded by two dentists over a decade ago and has grown from a single office to 24 offices in Indiana and Illinois, with 380 employees, and covering six specialities. It is headquartered in Chicago. 

Lightwave Dental adds Chris Suscha as Chief Development Officer. Chris joins Lightwave with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare services as well as mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, he served as vice president of business development with National Veterinary Associates (NVA). During Chris’s tenure with NVA they grew from 250 to 1,000 offices in the United States. Lightwave currently consists of 76 dental practice locations across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama, with more than 1,800 team members, up from 800 a year ago. 

Dr. Mark Bouchillon celebrates his 40th anniversary with Redwood Dental and Smile Partners. Dr. Bouchillon began Redwood Dental as a single office in Warren, MI in 1982. Today, that has grown into Smile Partners USA with 74 offices across four states: Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, and Alabama. 

Chad Olesiak was promoted to Director, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) at Smile Brands Inc. Prior to this promotion, Chad was manager of M&A. Prior to Smiles Brand Inc., Chad worked for Harvey & Company LLC and JPMorgan Chase. Smile Brands CEO, Steve Bilt, was recently recognized with the highly prestigious title of DSO Influencer by Group Dentistry Now. The DSO currently has 700 affiliated dental offices across 30 states.

Bharat Rana, CEO at ProSmile, is an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 New Jersey Award winner. He joins an esteemed multi-industry community of other entrepreneurs who have driven their companies’ success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their employees and communities. ProSmile is a DSO that supports 1,200+ dentists in over 60 Maryland, NJ, and Pennslvania locations. Prior to ProSmile, Bharat was CEO at Dental Health Associates, PA.

Rodeo Dental & Orthodontics has today announced the appointment of Rose Huddleston as Chief People Officer (CPO). After joining the company in late March, Huddleston is heading up the strategic HR effort, bringing deep expertise from 20 years spent working in luxury hospitality for the likes of Wynn Resorts and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Dr. Saam Zarrabi is the founder and CEO of the rapidly growing DSO.

Mortenson Dental Partners' CFO, Jeff Reibel, has been awarded the 2022 Best in Finance by Louisville Business First. MDP is one of the largest groups of employee-owned dental practices in the United States. Beginning as a single practice in 1979, the company has grown to include over 140 practices across nine states, employing over 1,800 team members and welcoming nearly one million patient visits each year. MDP was founded by Dr. Wayne Mortenson and is currently led by CEO, Bill Becknell.  Read Jeff's interview here: https://lnkd.in/g4NFMZBR

Christin Lisenby joins Lightwave Dental as VP Field Operations. Prior to joining the group, Christin worked as President & COO at Northcutt Dental Practice.  Based in Woodbridge, VA, Lightwave Dental was founded in 2016 and has an alliance of 76 dental practice partners across the Mid-Atlantic. The DSO is led by Justin Jory.