By Lois Thomson

Mark D. Kent, FACHE, FACMPE, joined Cano Health as an acquisition in January 2023, when he sold his medical practice group to the organization. “I was only meant to be around for about a year,” he said, “then I was going to go off to my next venture. It was not my idea to stay.” But, as often happens, plans changed.

Kent was named the interim CEO in June 2023, and within 90 days had to inform the market that Cano Health was facing a liquidity crisis, which led to bankruptcy. He admitted, “I spoke with my personal attorneys, and they said ‘you could leave and take your company back.'”

Rather than do that, however, Kent went to visit some of the medical centers and wellness centers associated with Cano Health, and he recalls, “When I entered, there were patients who were saying, ‘Please help save my center. This is the only place I’ve ever come for care, I love my doctors, I love my nurses, I hear you are the one who can help save this.’ It was the same thing over and over.”

That was enough to give Kent a new direction. “I came back to the corporate office, and I rallied my team and said, ‘We’re going to save this company. We’re going to get through this together, and we’re going to do it because that is our mission.’ And from that point on, that’s exactly what we did.”

A company facing bankruptcy can often expect to encounter 12 to 18 months of restructuring, but Kent is thrilled to state, “We entered and exited within 4-1/2 months. I’m proud of our team, and certainly proud of our providers, physicians and nurses – they stayed with us and helped propel the company forward. I’m blessed to lead such an amazing team. Our advisors were also phenomenal.”

Kent was named permanent CEO in August 2023. Cano Health entered bankruptcy in February 2024 and emerged in June 2024. Moving forward, he said his vision for the coming year is to continue to optimize various locations, wellness centers, and medical services. “Around the fourth quarter we’ll be evaluating markets, and next year we’ll begin to implement the plans.”

He said he joined the organization “because I believed in the culture and the service; it was very much akin to what I as an entrepreneur had developed.” What Cano Health offers is a family-like atmosphere that provides the human touch when it comes to caring for patients, and that will continue as the organization moves forward.

In addition to the medical clinics, Cano Health offers wellness centers, where patients can engage in various activities that focus on both physical and emotional health, which are equally important. Kent emphasized, “We’re going to continue the great services we provide. Our wellness centers are not just about arts and crafts, but also yoga, muscle tone, teaching our seniors balance, diet and exercise, nutrition, and the like.”

Kent said being involved with an organization like Cano Health is important to him because when he was a teen he lost his grandmother to complications from diabetes. “She was a nurse who cared deeply for her family and her community; she was a very strong Christian woman. When she passed away I had extreme grief, and I decided to turn that into something positive by going into healthcare. I didn’t want anyone else to lose a family member because of gaps in care – a lack of care in the community, a lack of understanding. The model that is Cano Health wasn’t around at that time; a value-based, outcome-approach to engaging and educating patients wasn’t around.”

In addition to his work at Cano Health, Kent was recently named chair of the Broward Health Foundation Board, for which he said he was “immensely honored and moved.” He explained that Cano Health has about 50 owned and affiliated primary care locations in Broward County, saying they are deeply entrenched there as a healthcare provider.

Kent expressed his gratitude for Shane Strum being the CEO of Broward Health System, and his recent appointment as interim CEO of Memorial Health System. “I believe exploring the alignment of the two systems is critically important for residents of Broward County. Broward Health and Memorial are where our patients go for care. I want residents to have the best care in Broward County; there’s no need for them to be shuttled to counties to the north or south when we have care right here. I am excited by what is to come!”

For more information, call (855) 975-5119 or visit www.CanoHealth.com.