Acadia Healthcare has elevated its operational leadership with the creation of a chief operating officer role and the appointment of Dr. Nasser Khan, Acadia Healthcare announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The move, effective June 30, installs Khan — who has led the company’s comprehensive treatment center (CTC) business line — into a newly established C-suite position designed to align Acadia’s executive titles with peers of similar scale.
Khan, who joined Acadia in 2022, served as operations group president for the CTC division prior to the promotion. In that capacity he oversaw a network of CTCs that the company has described as a core element of its footprint. The company has signaled continued expansion of the CTC platform, planning to open multiple new centers in 2024 and completing recent acquisitions in North Carolina to broaden access to medication-assisted treatment and behavioral therapies.
“My priorities are threefold,” Khan said in a recent interview with industry press, identifying a dual focus on people — patients and staff — and a parallel emphasis on quality and clinical outcomes. He characterized the objective as moving Acadia “from great to even greater” in delivering scalable, high-quality care, and indicated a renewed emphasis on innovation, including the application of technology to support caregivers and improve patient outcomes.
The chief operating officer responsibilities were previously managed by John Hollinsworth, Acadia’s executive vice president of operations, who will retire on June 30. Hollinsworth will remain with the company in an advisory role through the end of 2024 to facilitate the leadership transition. Jacob Cooper, currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of the CTC line, will assume the role of CTC group president.
Khan brings a combination of clinical and operational credentials to the COO role. Before joining Acadia, he was senior vice president of operations at Shields Health Solutions, a Walgreens Boots Alliance subsidiary. His resume also includes leadership and clinical roles at Biograph, DaVita and early-career consulting experience at McKinsey & Company.
Khan holds an M.D., a Master of Medical Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from Brown University, completed residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and remains board certified in internal medicine (biographical references: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/nasser-khan-e154; https://www.marketscreener.com/insider/NASSER-KHAN-A3X6C8/).
The leadership change comes as Acadia pursues a five-point growth strategy that emphasizes facility expansion, de novo development, joint ventures, acquisitions and broadening the care continuum. Management has signaled plans to grow both inpatient and outpatient offerings, including partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) and intensive outpatient programs (IOPs), which company executives describe as a meaningful long-term revenue opportunity despite currently modest financial contribution.
Acadia reported softer-than-expected patient volumes in the first quarter of 2024 but reiterated confidence in meeting full-year guidance. The appointment of a dedicated chief operating officer reflects the company’s effort to strengthen operational oversight as it scales services across inpatient psychiatric hospitals, specialty treatment facilities and outpatient clinics.
Market observers say the creation of the COO role and the elevation of an experienced clinician-executive may accelerate Acadia’s strategic expansion while reinforcing its stated commitment to clinical quality and workforce support amid growing demand for behavioral health services.