Atlas
Back to PPM Roll-Ups
Strategic Advisor·PPM Roll-Ups

Dr. Jason Auerbach

Founder and Co-CEO at MAX Surgical Specialty Management

River Edge / Hackensack, New Jersey

DJ
Why they matter

Practicing surgeon-founder who built and still runs one of the Northeast's fastest-growing OMS platforms, with direct insight into DSO deal structuring, surgeon recruitment, and lender relationships.

Background

Dr. Jason M. Auerbach is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon (DDS, NYU College of Dentistry; residency and chief residency at SUNY-Downstate) who founded Riverside Oral Surgery in 2007 and grew it into a multi-site NJ practice. In 2022 he partnered with Jeff Ward of MedEquity Capital to launch MAX Surgical Specialty Management (MAX), a surgeon-led OMS management services organization, which he co-led as Founder and Co-CEO before being named sole CEO in July 2026.

Notable deals

  • 2007
    Founded Riverside Oral Surgery in Northern New Jersey
  • 2023
    Co-founded MAX Surgical Specialty Management with Jeff Ward (MedEquity Capital) and formally launched the platform (16 NJ locations, 25 surgeons) at the AAOMS Annual Meeting
  • 2025
    Led MAX's close of a $77 million senior credit facility from Freeport Financial Partners to fund Northeast expansion
  • 2026
    Named sole Chief Executive Officer of MAX as the company restructured leadership (Jeffrey DeBellis promoted to President/COO) to support over 50 surgeons across 40+ locations in 5 states

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Practicing oral & maxillofacial surgeon; founded Riverside Oral Surgery (2007) and grew it into a multi-office NJ group.
  • In 2022, partnered with Jeff Ward (MedEquity Capital) to launch MAX Surgical Specialty Management, a surgeon-led OMS MSO backed by MedEquity Capital, RF Investment Partners, and Kian Capital.
  • MAX now supports 50+ surgeons across 40+ locations in NJ, NY, PA, CT, and VT.

Current Focus

  • As of July 2026, moved from Co-CEO to sole CEO, with Jeffrey DeBellis promoted to President/COO — signals a maturing management structure ahead of likely further scaling or a future liquidity event.
  • Says he is staying closest to "the clinical and cultural core" of the platform — still practicing surgeon, not a pure operator.

What He Cares About

  • Preserving surgeon autonomy and clinical independence inside a rollup model.
  • Physician-led culture as a differentiator versus PE-only-driven DSOs.

Recent Moves

  • Closed a $77M senior credit facility (Freeport Financial Partners) in April 2025 to fund partnership growth.
  • Leadership restructuring in July 2026 (weeks before this brief) — worth probing on the reasoning and what it signals about MAX's trajectory (next raise? sale process?).

Potential Sensitivities

  • Recent title change from Co-CEO to CEO may reflect internal dynamics with former co-CEO Mark Censoprano (named Co-CEO in 2024) — approach with care.
  • As an active surgeon-owner, he may be guarded discussing valuation or exit timing for MAX's PE backers.

Questions to Ask

  1. What drove the July 2026 shift from a co-CEO structure to sole CEO, and how does the surgeon-vs-operator balance work now with DeBellis as President/COO?
  2. How does MAX structure surgeon partnership economics to keep OMS practices from choosing rival OMS-focused rollups?
  3. With a $77M credit facility deployed since April 2025, what does MAX's next 12-18 months of capital needs and geographic expansion look like?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on surgeon-led OMS rollups?
Dr. Auerbach, I'm reaching out from a deal team studying physician practice consolidation, and your work building MAX Surgical Specialty Management from Riverside Oral Surgery into a 50+ surgeon platform stood out. We're trying to understand what makes surgeon-led MSOs durable versus PE-only rollups — particularly around partnership structuring, surgeon retention, and how leadership evolves as these platforms scale (your recent move to CEO with a dedicated President/COO is a great example). Would you have 20-30 minutes in the next couple of weeks for a paid advisory call? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources

Strongest evidencePage title6 public sourcesVerified2026-08-06How the grades work