Expanding its bench, our Maryland Farms neighbor QualDerm Partners continues to put a recent (and sizable) shot of capital to good use by adding executives to its leadership team.

Todd Falk, COO and Compliance Officer, who recently decamped to QualDerm after spending more than eight years with DaVita. How Falk got to the party is a tale following a similar story arc to many in the Nashville healthcare community.

This one goes back to the Nashville Health Care Council Fellows program, where Falk learned alongside Cressey & Co. partner Merrick Axel in the inaugural 2013 class. Axel eventually introduced Falk to his coworker David Schuppan, who was working with a growing dermatology services organization (DSO) that would become QualDerm.

One thing led to another, and after a six-month courtship, QualDerm’s newly named CEO Bill Southwick and CFO Susan Brownie wooed Falk into making the jump. In Falk’s first four months with the company, the team closed four acquisitions. Not bad.

QualDerm’s growth spurt stems from a combination of funding from both Cressey and Apple Tree Partners (ATP), whose partner Diane Daych funded Brownie’s previous company, Cogent Healthcare (now Sound Physicians), while Daych was with her prior firm, CCP Equity Partners.

Earlier this year, QualDerm raised $31.8 million in growth equity financing led by Apple Tree Partners with follow-on participation by Cressey, with an extra $20 million in reserves.

With this cash in hand, the QualDerm team continues to grow in the form of managers within its hottest market, North Carolina, as well as its corporate team here in Middle Tennessee. Two months ago, the company also hired Mark Rappe, Falk’s former coworker at DaVita, as Vice President of Corporate Development. Recently, QualDerm added Andy Mitzen to the development team, the former EVP of Development for Liberty Dialysis, which was acquired by Nashville-based Renal Advantage several years ago. Truly, a classic Nashville healthcare industry tale.

Source: Molly Cate, Inside Baseball, Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock | July 11, 2016