Reaching Milestones: 800 Locations and 20 Years

Today’s Family Dental, located in Waco, Texas, just became the 800th dental practice supported by Heartland Dental.  Heartland Dental was founded in 1997 by Dr. Rick Workman who grew up in a small Midwestern town. He  graduated from from the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine in 1980 and opened his first office in Effingham, IL. His initial marketing tactic was a $15 hand-painted sign in the front yard. Fifteen months later, he opened another office and spent 55 hours a week at the chair and an additional 30 hours on the business side of dentistry. He knew there had to be a better way for himself and future dentists. Twelve years later, Heartland Dental was born.  He established a dental support organization that would relieve the management burden for supported dentists by offering an array of non-clinical administrative support such as human resources, accounting, supply and equipment procurement, marketing and customer support. Today, Dr. Workman continues to be involved with the company as Executive Chairman and Heartland Dental is the largest dental support organization in the U.S., currently supporting over 1,250 dentists and over 11,000 team members. This year, Heartland Dental supported dentists will deliver over $1.3 billion of patient care services.

“Looking back on the past few decades and what we’ve been able to accomplish with Heartland Dental, I’m amazed every time I think about it.  Starting out with a handful of supported offices in a few states, now we’re supporting 800 offices in 34 states,” said Patrick Bauer, president and chief executive officer at Heartland Dental.  “What great timing to reach this milestone during our 20th anniversary year!  With the combined efforts of so many, we have become the largest dental support organization in the U.S. and continue to make strides in our mission of becoming the leader in dentistry.”

“Over the last two decades, our company is fortunate to have achieved many milestones.  From the 1st supported office to the 800th, we’ve been able to accomplish so much due to the individual contributions of each member of our network.  As we continue to reach milestones, we know they will support us as much as we support them.  We look forward to celebrating many more of these milestones in the future”, said Bauer.

A handful of Heartland’s employees and supported doctors have been instrumental in their growth since day one.  In fact, four of Heartland Dental’s “originals” have even created legacies within the company.  Each family has their own story to tell, and you can read about their individual paths to Heartland Dental in Heartland Dental’s own Smiling Magazine. Read the stories: 

The Bloink Family

The Kallis Family
 
The Steppe Family

The Thomas Family

“This 800th office milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all our supported doctors and team members. We wouldn’t be at this level without their efforts,” said Dr. Rick Workman, Founder and Executive Chairman.

Read other Heartland stories on Group Dentistry Now – HERE

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Sources: Smiling Magazine, Heartland, Globe Newswire, DentistryLeaders.com