For years, Paul Helpard was content to run the clinic on Vancouver Island where he practised orthodontics, a specialty of dentistry that focuses on diagnosing and treating the misalignment of teeth.
As corporate ownership of health care practices has gained steam in North America, the debate has often been polarized between large companies backed by international private-equity funds on the one hand, and small businesses owned and operated by professionals on the other. He also looked outside dentistry and met with Alan Ulsifer, a Calgary optometrist who founded the FYidoctors chain of eye-care clinics in 2008, which is majority owned by optometrists. Dr. Ulsifer agreed to help and ended up serving as the founding board chair of Dr. Helpard’s company.
That unique approach has helped Corus to attract partners in the United States, even though that country has far more corporations competing to recruit orthodontists.