SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kids Care Dental, a Sterling Partners portfolio company, announced today the appointment of Janet Widmann as CEO, effective immediately. Widmann brings more than 25 years of experience delivering significant growth for healthcare companies while leading high-performing teams, cultivating stakeholder relationships and driving business results across a variety of healthcare subsectors, including technology and insurance. Widmann was named one of the Bay Area’s Most Influential Women by the San Francisco Business Times in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Widmann will work closely with Sterling Partners and Kids Care’s management team to lead the company into its next phase of growth, which includes a strategic expansion plan throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Ultimately, Widmann’s keen focus on patient and employee experience, coupled with her deep background in healthcare technology and delivery, will help more parents and children experience Kids Care.
“I am so excited to lead and expand a healthcare company focused on kids. For parents, dentistry and orthodontics are must-do services for their children, and I want the experience we provide them at Kids Care to be high-quality, safe, convenient and fun,” said Widmann. “I cannot wait to work closely with our amazing clinical staff of nearly 200 professionals. As we expand throughout the Bay Area, it will be critical for us to deliver exceptional patient experiences and that ultimately starts with creating and maintaining an environment in which our employees can thrive.”
A healthcare industry veteran with a high-growth record, Widmann served as a senior executive for nearly a decade at Blue Shield of California, most recently as executive vice president of markets, where she had full P&L responsibility for the company’s $15 billion in annual revenue and 3.5 million members. During her tenure at Blue Shield, Widmann founded the company’s Women Lead to Excellence (WL2X) program to better develop women for leadership. Widmann is currently a trustee of the Health Professions Education Foundation, which improves access to healthcare in underserved areas of California, and also serves on the board of Avista Corporation (NYSE: AVA).
Sterling Partners first invested in Kids Care in 2013. Kids Care provides pediatric dentistry, orthodontic and oral surgery services for toddlers to teens in Northern California. Kids Care’s differentiated approach revolutionizes pediatric dentistry by offering parents and children an easily accessible dental experience in a comforting and fun environment. Kids Care offers comprehensive services including preventive dental care, pediatric orthodontics and oral surgery.
“We are thrilled to have Janet lead the Kids Care team,” said Dan Hosler, principal of Sterling Partners and a Kids Care board member. “Because the pediatric and orthodontic industry is truly non-discretionary, we believe the potential for growth here is very strong, especially given Janet’s track record of scaling businesses and managing high-performing, growth-oriented teams. Under Janet’s leadership, Kids Care will strategically expand at a rate that makes the most sense for the company and its patient base, while continuing to deliver excellent dental care to kids.”
About Kids Care Dental
Kids Care Dental Group is a Sacramento-based dental practice conceived and dedicated to serve the special needs of children from toddlers to teens. The practice’s 200+ professionals are committed to providing excellent dental care while promoting lifelong oral hygiene habits. Kids Care’s differentiated approach revolutionizes pediatric dentistry by offering parents and children an easily accessible dental experience in a comforting and fun environment. For more information, visit http://www.kidscaredentalgroup.com.
About Sterling Partners
Sterling Partners is a private equity firm with a distinct point of view on how to build great companies. Founded in 1983, Sterling has invested billions of dollars, guided by the company's stated purpose: INSPIRED GROWTH®, which describes Sterling's approach to buying differentiated businesses and growing them in inspired ways. Sterling focuses on investing growth capital in small- and mid-market companies in industries with positive, long-term trends – healthcare services, business services, and education services. Sterling provides valuable support to the management teams of the companies in which the firm invests through a deep and dedicated team of operations and functional experts based in the firm's offices in Chicago, Baltimore and Miami. The people at Sterling believe in ideas and ideals, in people and in partnerships that drive long-term success. For more information, please visit www.sterlingpartners.com.