Heartland Dental Takes Steps to Address Drop in Services, Maintain Staff

As part of Heartland Dental’s response to a severe decline in services within their supported dental offices due to COVID-19, the company has taken various actions to not only ensure team members are provided for during this crisis, but also to maintain financial fluidity as the company looks to the future.

Heartland Dental’s first step in addressing the crisis was to provide two weeks of emergency pay to support employees in offices that were impacted by COVID-19, which enabled the company to understand and analyze the government’s response with regards to stimulus benefits.

“We purposely held off in making furlough decisions until we fully understood the new federal stimulus plan. Our goal all along has been to provide for the financial stability of our workforce through a combination of company, state, and federal resources,” said Travis Franklin, Chief Financial Officer, Heartland Dental.

This week, Heartland Dental implemented a temporary furlough status to enable team members, who will remain employed by Heartland Dental, to immediately access government support. As part of the temporary furlough, the company will not only continue to provide benefits to team members but will also pay for their premiums during this time. The company expects and desires furloughed team members to return to work after this temporary period of leave.

Other measures taken as part of a company-wide effort to reduce costs include the suspension of pay for its Chairman and CEO as well as a 50% cut in pay for its senior leadership team. Heartland Dental had a record-breaking period just prior to the COVID-19 crisis and believes that by taking a balanced approach during this unprecedented time, it will emerge stronger once the crisis subsides.

Heartland Dental supported dentists continue to serve in their communities during the crisis. A company statement reads, "By keeping dental emergency patients out of our country’s ER’s, they are working hard to reduce the risk of further spread of the virus that could be associated with an ER visit, and by helping to ensure our country’s vital hospital and urgent care resources are reserved for COVID-19 patients.