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Dr. Workman asked me to join Heartland Dental in 1997, and I’ ve been here ever since
did not emerge from financial engineering. It was born from a support model shaped by a dentist founder and leaders who prioritized continuity.
Pat’ s path into healthcare started outside dentistry. After leaving school, he joined a nursing home company that supplied Medicare Part B products. He spent five years there and, as he puts it,“ ended up running a 100-person department at the age of 25.” The experience placed him inside reimbursement systems and operational complexity. Further, it put him in front of teams early. He later moved into dentistry with Metro Dental
Care in Minneapolis, where he spent nearly a decade. That period introduced him to the founder who would influence his career moving forward.“ That’ s where I met Dr. Workman in 1995. He asked me to join Heartland Dental in 1997, and I’ ve been here ever since,” Pat recalls.
At Heartland Dental, Pat entered as Chief Operating Officer, later becoming President and Chief Operating Officer in 2008. Then in 2015 he stepped into the role of President and Chief Executive Officer. His tenure spans market shifts, technology innovation, and growth phases. The journey 36