A finance team that works side by side with the operations team can be beneficial for a DSO’s growth, according to one CFO.
David Pallaschke joined Phoenix-based Salt Dental Partners as its new CFO earlier this year. He joined the DSO after serving as CFO and president at BrightStar. He also served as the senior vice president of finance and analytics at ATI Physical Therapy, where he worked alongside Salt Dental Partners’ current CEO Dylan Bates.
Mr. Pallaschke recently spoke with Becker’s about his new role and his philosophy for financial leadership.
Editor’s note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What inspired you to step into this role with Salt Dental Partners?
David Pallaschke: This is my third company since 2015 in healthcare services. I started with physical therapy in 2015 and then I went to BrightStar in 2019 in the home health space. We sold BrightStar in February to Peak Rock Capital, and I knew I wasn’t going to go for another hold period. I’ve been interested as a CFO in the multi-site healthcare services space, and dental has always been in my view. It just so happened that Salt had an opportunity. I spent some time trying to understand the model, and it just looked like a great opportunity, so I jumped on board in late April, and it’s been a good first two and a half months.
Q: How do you intend to use your past experience with these other companies to help you lead a multi-location dental company?
DP: In terms of industry, I started off in food service. I went into entertainment. I even did a stint in the school bus land. It’s pretty easy for me to come in and navigate a bit, but I think foundationally, it’s [about understanding] how to manage as a finance leader that multi-site model. So, while the lingo and terms here at Salt are a bit different, there is a lot of overlay in terms of multi-site models. I think my experience in multi-site [industries] for most of my career will certainly help me lead finance at Salt.
Q: Are there any critical lessons you’ve learned about leading finance at multi-site companies?
DP: I think the biggest thing is having a really good partnership with operations. [There are other companies] where finance is a little bit more commanding. It’s not partnering with operations. It’s kind of telling operations what to do. I think it is super important to establish a partnership because once you can establish a partnership and you’re able to provide insights, it’s a lot easier to drive the business through the insights and partnership than it is to have a finance team that is sort of commanding and telling operations what to do.
