Acadia Healthcare announced a restructuring of its executive ranks with the creation of a chief operating officer role and the appointment of Dr. Nasser Khan, Acadia Healthcare’s operations group president for its comprehensive treatment center business, to assume the new position effective June 30. The move formalizes responsibilities previously held by long-tenured executive vice president of operations John Hollinsworth, who will retire on the same date and remain in an advisory capacity through the end of 2024 to support the transition.
The elevation of the COO position reflects Acadia’s intent to align its corporate nomenclature with peers of similar scale and to centralize operational leadership amid an expansion push across its behavioral health platforms. Dr. Khan brings a mix of clinical and operational experience to the role, having led Acadia’s network of comprehensive treatment centers (CTCs), which account for a significant portion of the company’s footprint. Prior to joining Acadia, he served as senior vice president of operations at Shields Health Solutions, a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance, and held clinical and leadership posts at health care technology and services firms, as well as operational roles at DaVita and McKinsey & Company. He is a board-certified internal medicine physician with advanced medical degrees.
As operations group president, Dr. Khan oversaw roughly 145 CTC facilities that provide medication-assisted treatment and comprehensive behavioral health services. Under his leadership, Acadia planned to open multiple new CTCs in 2024 and completed strategic acquisitions, including three North Carolina-based centers in March. The company’s broader growth strategy encompasses five pillars: facility expansion, de novo development, joint venture partnerships, acquisitions, and extension of the care continuum. Executives have also signaled a heightened emphasis on innovation and technology to improve clinical outcomes and workforce experience.
Corporate filings indicate that Jacob Cooper, previously senior vice president and chief operating officer of the CTC service line, will succeed Dr. Khan as group president of CTC operations. The personnel changes come as Acadia seeks to accelerate expansion of both its CTCs and outpatient offerings, including partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs, which company leadership describes as areas with meaningful long-term upside.
Acadia reported softer-than-expected patient volumes in the first quarter of 2024 but affirmed confidence in meeting full-year guidance. The company operates a broad behavioral health network, comprising hundreds of facilities and thousands of beds across the United States and Puerto Rico, and employs more than 22,000 people serving tens of thousands of patients daily. Management has underscored the opioid epidemic and other substance use disorders as critical public health priorities that its CTCs and outpatient programs are positioned to address through medication-assisted treatment, counseling, vocational services, and a range of behavioral therapies.
The introduction of a chief operating officer role at this stage of Acadia’s evolution signals an effort to sharpen operational oversight as the company pursues targeted growth, integrates acquisitions, and seeks to scale clinical quality. Observers will watch how the new leadership alignment impacts expansion plans and operational performance through the remainder of the year.
Sources:
https://www.crunchbase.com/person/nasser-khan-e154
https://www.marketscreener.com/insider/NASSER-KHAN-A3X6C8/
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/potmsearch/detail/submission/6553810/Nasser_Khan