A corner drug store, 31 companies, and 99 closings.

Thirty-one companies, three states

Paul Mudrick led the marketing effort across three states for the 31 portfolio companies of the Central Companies group — pharmacies, medical equipment, surgical supply, clinical and physiological labs, home oxygen, paramedical services, community health and dental clinics, and the properties that housed them.

Careful study of the data pointed to one conclusion: the most effective way to reach a potential customer in healthcare was to speak to them through people who had actually cared for patients.

A marketing team hired for sector expertise

The team grew to eight. Three members had direct, face-to-face patient experience as registered nurses or dietitians. Two others brought academic backgrounds in business — including a Wharton graduate — and in the sciences. A Marketing Vice President was appointed to lead the initiatives alongside him.

It was a customer-centric team before the phrase existed, and it changed how the companies were positioned to patients, physicians, and referral sources alike.

Consolidation, then a clean exit

With the marketing organization in place, the next step was consolidating the portfolio. Twenty-five of the companies were consolidated and sold to three NYSE-listed corporations. Leadership of the remaining healthcare company passed to his daughter.

Central HealthCare Group

He founded Central HealthCare Group, a boutique investment banking firm in Philadelphia, to put the operating experience gained inside the Central Companies to work for other healthcare business leaders.

The practice has always been deliberately quiet — working alone, without the distraction of social media or a website — and has closed 99 transactions in 33 years for private, public and non-profit companies, representing an aggregate transaction value of more than $703 million.