How Acadia Healthcare Partners with Major Health Systems to Expand Behavioral Care
Acadia Healthcare’s growth strategy extends beyond acquiring individual facilities. The company has established 21 joint venture partnerships with health systems across the United States, creating behavioral health access points within established healthcare networks. These collaborations demonstrate how specialty providers can work with community health systems to address service gaps.
Board Chairman Reeve Waud announced Debbie Osteen’s appointment as CEO in January 2026, selecting an executive who helped develop many of these partnerships during her first tenure from 2018 to 2022.
A Partnership-Based Growth Model
Joint ventures allow Acadia to combine its behavioral healthcare expertise with health systems’ community relationships and infrastructure. Partners contribute local knowledge, patient referral networks, and established trust with community members seeking care. Acadia provides specialized clinical programming, operational systems, and behavioral health workforce expertise.
These partnerships often operate under the health system partner’s name rather than the Acadia brand. Mount Carmel Behavioral Health in Columbus, Ohio, for example, represents Acadia’s partnership with Mount Carmel Health System. Patients access behavioral health services through a familiar local institution while benefiting from Acadia’s national resources.
Notable Health System Partnerships
Acadia’s joint venture partners include several prominent regional health systems. Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan, Geisinger Health Systems in Pennsylvania, and Nebraska Methodist Health System have all established behavioral health joint ventures with Acadia.
These partnerships expanded significantly following the Affordable Care Act, which required U.S. insurers to cover mental health care. Health systems needed behavioral health capacity to serve their patient populations, and joint ventures with Acadia provided a faster path than building programs internally.
Benefits of Collaboration
For health systems, joint ventures address a specialized need without requiring them to develop behavioral health expertise independently. Behavioral healthcare requires specific clinical competencies, regulatory knowledge, and workforce recruitment capabilities that differ from general medical services.
For Acadia, joint ventures provide growth opportunities with reduced capital requirements and established patient access channels. The company can expand its geographic footprint while partnering with organizations that understand local healthcare markets.
Leadership Continuity Supports Partnerships
Osteen’s statement upon returning to Acadia emphasized the joint venture model: “As the largest stand-alone behavioral healthcare company in the U.S., and with joint venture partnerships with deeply respected health systems across the country, the Company is poised for long-term success.”
Reeve Waud’s announcement selecting Osteen highlighted her role in developing these relationships: “Debbie is a mission-driven executive with a commitment to patients who helped transform Acadia into the leading provider of behavioral healthcare in the U.S.” Her familiarity with existing partners and partnership structures supports continuity in these collaborative relationships.
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