Eleven years after a team at a PDS Health-supported practice cared for her son at no cost, Marta Rizova is helping patients and team members find the same support that changed her family's life.
All Marta Rizova could do was cry.
In 2015, Marta and her family had just moved into a new townhome and welcomed a baby girl. They were looking for a dentist for their children when she brought her six-year-old son to Redstone Dental Group in Colorado. There, she learned her son needed extensive dental treatment, care her family simply couldn't afford at the time.
A healthcare coordinator saw Marta's eyes fill with tears and quietly led her to a consultation room. She told Marta that she was a mother, too. No one was judging her. Sometimes these things happen.
Then she offered a choice Marta never expected: schedule the treatment and pay the cost, or return the following Saturday, when the practice would provide the care at no cost through Serve Day, PDS Health’s annual day of service that provides donated dental care for individuals and families facing financial barriers.
"I was shocked," Marta remembers. "My tears turned into tears of gratitude."
A Day She Never Forgot
That Saturday, Marta's son was in treatment for more than four hours. She read a book, checked Facebook and walked around the office what felt like a hundred times.
The team kept offering her coffee and breakfast. They checked on her, kept her company and made her feel as though she belonged there. In the middle of one of the hardest days she had faced as a parent, their care extended beyond the treatment room.
As Marta watched the way the team cared for one another and for patients, two thoughts crossed her mind: What a great place to work. Then: Imagine working for this company one day.
The treatment met an urgent need, but the trust created that day endured. Her children continued as patients of the same practice, and Marta and her husband became patients at Southglenn Modern Dentistry.
"When I talk about creating Patients for Life, I do not just talk about it as a business goal," Marta says. "I am one. My family is one."
A Dream That Stayed With Her
Years passed as Marta built a career in pharmacy and retail management, but the idea planted in that dental practice in 2015 stayed with her. When she saw an open position with PDS Health, she applied. Her first interview did not lead to a job. Instead of treating that answer as final, she worked on herself and tried again when another opportunity opened in 2024.
On September 3, 2024, Marta accepted a position as an operations manager trainee. The practice where she spent most of her training was 26 miles away, but she didn’t mind the commute. She was finally learning the career she had imagined years before.
She learned how great leaders build strong teams, support clinicians and create an environment where people can do their best work. When Marta became the operations manager of an established practice, she arrived determined to earn that same trust.
She hired a healthcare coordinator who became a trusted partner. She also saw untapped potential in a dental assistant and promoted her into a lead role.
"I saw something in her that she did not yet see in herself," Marta says.
That team member went on to train new dental assistants across the region and help develop back-office teams.
The Support Behind Her Growth
Within Marta's first year as an operations manager, the practice was thriving. The team was recognized for its performance, began helping train future operations leaders and built a culture where people could grow professionally.
She credits the leaders who gave her room to learn, make mistakes and grow; the regional managers who helped her navigate difficult patient and team challenges; and the network of operations managers who shared what they knew and stepped in when she needed help.
"I never felt alone," she says. "I felt supported. I felt cared for."
Marta's story also reflects something larger. Behind every supported practice is a network of people, training and operational support that helps teams grow, solve problems and stay focused on caring for patients. For Marta, that support transformed a single day of kindness into a career built on helping others succeed.
Service That Keeps Moving
Today, as the Development Center Manager at Lone Tree Dentists, Marta is helping build a strong team and develop future practice owners while creating an environment where patients and team members feel seen and supported. Her goals remain the same: provide the best possible care and help the people around her reach their potential.
Marta's experience reveals the multiplier effect of a national platform. A locally led practice can help a family access care when the cost feels impossible. The organization behind that practice can create jobs and pathways into healthcare careers. With the right support, one person's opportunity can extend through every team member she develops and every patient they serve.
Eleven years ago, Marta was the worried mother in the waiting room, wondering how she would help her son.
Today, she is part of the same organization, helping patients feel cared for and helping team discover what's possible in their own careers.
Sometimes, a moment that changes a life looks ordinary when it happens. For Marta, it looked like a team offering a worried mother a cup of coffee and reminding her that she wasn’t alone.
