19 December 2022

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Panacea Financial: ‘We really are the next generation of lending’

Mary Guiden

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In recent months, Panacea Financial announced new partnerships with the Pennsylvania Dental Association, which has around 5,200 dentist members, and the Georgia Dental Association, which has over 3,600 members. 

The company — created for doctors, by doctors — provides tailored product offerings and service delivery designed specifically for physicians, dentists and veterinarians throughout their careers: from school, through training, and into practice. Panacea's products cover the full suite of banking needs for this unique population, including PRN personal loans, student loan refinancing and practice loans.

Dentistry33 sat down with Mike Spence, regional healthcare manager for Panacea Financial, at the recent Greater New York Dental Meeting. He shared his thoughts on why Panacea has become increasingly popular within medical communities, and what they offer to doctors, dentists and veterinarians. 

Q: What sets Panacea apart from typical lenders?

Spence:  We were founded by doctors and a finance expert who recognized that there was a big need for lending for medical residents that weren’t out in the job force yet. They weren’t making a lot of money and banks wouldn’t talk to them. They’re great borrowers and they’ve got a great future. They’re going to get out, get jobs and start practices. 

The company started by lending money to medical, veterinary and dental students for things like tuition, housing, relocation, food and books. It did so well that once these individuals started graduating, they came back to us. Now they’re buying and building practices. So, a little less than two years ago, the founders launched the commercial side of the business.

We handle practice acquisitions, renovations, expansions, partner buy-ins and buy-outs, startups, all that fun stuff on the commercial side. There are two sides of the house: personal lending and commercial lending.

Q: What makes Panacea successful? 

Spence: We’ve been successful because the founding doctors and other leaders dealt with banks in their careers. They knew the pain points from the big banks: You’re going to schlep down to the brick-and-mortar bank, fill out a mountain of paperwork, and go before a committee of people with your hat in your hands, begging for money. It’s going to take months and months to get to the closing and get your project completed. 

Panacea came up with a very streamlined digital process that’s easy, fast and flexible. We partner with a bank – that’s where we get our capital. They give us all our banking products, FDIC insurance. 

We’re not cowboys, it’s got to be financially feasible. 

We’re getting that constant pipeline now of doctors that have graduated and are coming back, and the word is really getting out. We’ve worked hard to get our name out in all the different markets. We work all the shows and conventions and partner with CPAs, attorneys, construction workers, equipment folks, anybody that is involved in that doctor’s life. And they’re the ones that come to us when there’s a project. 

Q: How can Panacea be more agile than a big bank?

Spence: We practice commonsense lending. We’ll talk with the doctors, look at the situation and if it makes sense, we’ll move forward.

The bottom line is the request or project must be financially feasible. We’re not going to put the doctor in a situation where they’ve got a loan they can’t pay. And we don’t want to write bad loans. We do our due diligence. 

For a startup practice, most of the big banks will lend $750,000 tops. In Manhattan, it’s very difficult to build a dental practice for that amount of money. A lot of times, you’ve got close to a million dollars in equipment. That’s not counting construction, working capital, whatever else the doctor needs. 

I’m working with startups in the $3 to $4 million dollar range, because we have the flexibility. Again, it’s got to make sense. But there’s multiple doctors involved, they’ve got good credit and they’ve got money in the bank. It’s a solid deal. 

I’ll get a pre-approval in 24 or 48 hours. If it’s not real estate, we can close that deal in a week. If it’s got real estate involved, it might take a month. You’ve got to wait a couple of weeks for an appraisal.

We’re much more nimble, flexible, fast, easy. That’s the name of the game nowadays. 

Q: What else would you like people to know about Panacea Financial?

Spence: The big difference with us is we’re a healthcare company, too. I’ve been a healthcare lender for 10 years. I was in the dental industry for 25 years before that. 

I started out selling gloves and masks, graduated to small and large equipment, office design and technology. I understand healthcare businesses. When doctors talk to me and they’re looking for somebody to help with the contracting, I know who to call. That’s a big difference. 

There are probably bankers that are better than I am at my job, but they don’t know anything about the dental industry. Doctors tell me they are thinking about buying a CBCT, and my next question is going to be: how many implants do you perform? Because I know what the return on investment is on a CBCT. 

That’s really the difference.

You’ll get personalized attention, too. I always tell my clients: if I’m awake and available, I’ll pick up and we’ll have a conversation about whatever it is you need. 

We’re very passionate. Most of the employees came from larger organizations. We believed in what doctors were trying to do and we wanted to be a part of the future of lending. 

I’m a big karma guy. I want to treat people right, keep them happy and help them be successful, and that makes me smile.