The interview below is part of a McGuireWoods series featuring interviews with C-suite leadership of private equity-backed portfolio companies. To recommend a leader for a future interview, email Holly Buckley at hbuckley@mcguirewoods.com or Tim Fry at tfry@mcguirewoods.com.

Q: How do you ensure the platform’s organizational culture is appropriately conveyed to potential targets?

Rich Goode: The main way is by involving our physicians in our merger and acquisition process. We feel it’s important to have a few in-person meetings with targets before we go any further with the process. During these meetings, we’re able to interact and get to know one another a bit and let the people we’re meeting see doctors from our other geographies. We’re trying to understand their culture and get them to know ours as well.

The single biggest thing we look at when we’re considering a target is whether there’s going to be a good cultural fit. That’s important for our physicians and our management team, and I think it’s one of the things that differentiates us from other organizations. We’ve been willing to pass on numerous opportunities because we didn’t feel like they were a good fit.