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Dr. Murn and Dr. Swenson open Brookpark Dental Center in 1972
Park Dental
After meeting at a dental conference in 1969, Dr. Gregory Swenson and Dr. Brian “Bud” Murn began to discuss forming a group practice, a new concept for the dental community. They believed a group practice could best bring consistent, high-quality, affordable dental care to a community.
There wasn’t a clear way to set up a group at the time. Still, in 1972, they successfully opened Brookpark Dental Center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, with three dentists, three dental assistants, three hygienists, and five other team members.
This first location was the engine and inspiration for future growth. In 1977, they opened another practice in Fridley, and in 1979, a third practice in Blaine. As each practice succeeded, the doctors reinvested resources to start the next practice.
Park Dental expanded from 3 to 17 locations in the 1980s, and by 1999, it grew to over 100 doctors practicing at 27 general dentistry locations and four specialty locations. Following years of steady and consistent growth, it now has more than 50 locations throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
The Dental Specialists
Dr. Greg Swenson, one of Park Dental’s founders, determined that endodontist Dr. Alan Law, who had been working with Park Dental, providing specialty care in several locations, had the potential to help grow the organization’s dental specialty practice.
Once Dr. Swenson hired Dr. Law full-time, he started dreaming of having a more complete group of dental specialists where close collaboration with the general dentists at Park Dental could provide comprehensive and convenient care to patients.
As a result, in 1998, The Dental Specialists was formally established as a unique, multi-location, multi-specialty dental group and has continued to grow since. The Dental Specialists currently offer six specialties: endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, and prosthodontics. Today, the group has 34 specialists practicing in 23 locations throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
Dr. Law is now the president of The Dental Specialists and continues to practice endodontics.
Park Dental Partners
Building on 50 years of collaboration and success, doctor-owned Park Dental and The Dental Specialists have announced the formation of Park Dental Partners, Inc. to provide administrative, marketing, information technology, and operational support to the group practices it serves.
Considering themselves to have a dental resource organization (DRO) model, this new entity will provide comprehensive support for practicing doctors, who will continue to focus on the delivery of patient-centered care under their existing professional corporations and practices.
Park Dental and The Dental Specialists’ support team and dentists believe that the formation of the new parent holding company, Park Dental Partners, will:
- Strengthen the culture and brands of their successful group practices and enable expansion to serve more patients in more communities throughout the region.
- Position them well for continued growth and enhance synergies.
- Be highly impactful in the industry, allowing doctors to remain in control of their clinical judgment for patient care while also retaining control over the governance of Park Dental Partners.
“We think this model will resonate with doctors in every stage of their careers throughout the industry. Most importantly, we believe the new structure will help us coordinate and support continued growth.” – Jean Lind, Chief Administrative Officer at Park Dental Partners.
“We think this model will resonate with doctors in every stage of their careers throughout the industry. Most importantly, we believe the new structure will help us coordinate and support continued growth.” – Jean Lind, Chief Administrative Officer at Park Dental Partners.Pete Swenson, previously Chief Executive Officer for Park Dental and The Dental Specialists, has been appointed as Chairman and CEO of Park Dental Partners, Inc.
“The formation of Park Dental Partners will strengthen the culture and brands of our successful group practices and enable our expansion to serve more patients in more communities throughout the region. We believe this new structure will be highly impactful in the industry, allowing doctors to remain in control of clinical practices while also retaining control over the governance of Park Dental Partners,” says Swenson.
“The formation of Park Dental Partners will strengthen the culture and brands of our successful group practices and enable our expansion to serve more patients in more communities throughout the region. We believe this new structure will be highly impactful in the industry, allowing doctors to remain in control of clinical practices while also retaining control over the governance of Park Dental Partners,” says Swenson.The transition to Park Dental Partners is expected to be seamless and there will be no impact on the day-to-day activities in the practices. Showing its commitment to a doctor-led culture, Dr. Alan Law, President of The Dental Specialists, and Dr. Christopher Steele, President of Park Dental, have been appointed to the board of Park Dental Partners.
Said Law, “Our combined strength and world class operations form a platform that should be very attractive to high-quality dental groups that seek our shared vision, which is to provide more patients with a lifetime of optimal oral health.”
Said Law, “Our combined strength and world class operations form a platform that should be very attractive to high-quality dental groups that seek our shared vision, which is to provide more patients with a lifetime of optimal oral health.”Park Dental Partners is the largest Minnesota-based provider of business and nonclinical support to general and multi-specialty dental practices. Park Dental Partners supports over 190 doctors across 86 locations.
“We are eager to take this next step in our evolution,” added Steele, “This new structure supports our practices’ continued growth, long-term stability, and helps ensure that we can continue to deliver patient-centered care for generations to come.”
“We are eager to take this next step in our evolution,” added Steele, “This new structure supports our practices’ continued growth, long-term stability, and helps ensure that we can continue to deliver patient-centered care for generations to come.”Park Dental Partners has also added two additional general dentistry brands and partners with other specialty providers.
Park Dental Partners’ family of brands include:
