The Emily Program, Veritas Collaborative join forces

Two eating disorder treatment providers are merging.

St. Paul, Minnesota-based The Emily Program and Durham, North Carolina-based Veritas Collaborative have announced their intentions to merge operations, with the deal expected to close around the end of March.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The two companies have a combined total of 20 locations across Georgia, Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. Between them, the organizations serve individuals, groups and families, and provide intensive outpatient programs (IOP), partial hospital programs, residential programs and inpatient care. Veritas Collaborative is backed by the private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners, while The Emily Program is backed by TT Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Triple Tree Holdings.

Dave Wilcutts, CEO of The Emily Program, will lead the newly combined company, while Veritas CEO Mike Browder will move to its board of directors.

Veritas board chairman Chris Durbin will remain chairman of the merged company, and Dick Miller, The Emily Program’s founder, will take the role of founding executive chairman.

The Emily Program and Veritas will retain their respective brands in their markets. The combined company will be headquartered in St. Paul.

CentralReach buys Avail Support

CentralReach, a technology solutions firm that works with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) treatment providers, has announced its acquisition of Irish-based Avail Support, a digital content and data management platform.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

CentralReach specializes in the production of electronic medical record (EMR), practice management and clinical solutions for applied behavioral analysis (ABA) providers. ABA is considered to be the gold standard of care for individuals with ASD.

Avail’s platform provides training and support for individuals with various neurological conditions to help them to lead more independent lives. Those conditions include autism, developmental and cognitive disabilities, learning difficulties, brain injuries and mental health diagnoses.

CentralReach is financially backed by the private equity firm Insight Venture Partners.

Two SUD treatment facilities sold

A commercial real estate firm has announced the sale of two substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programs located in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.

The Behavioral Health Properties Group of Swopes Lees Commercial Real Estate has closed on the sale of Little Creek Recovery, which houses Little Creek Lodge and Shane’s House. Terms of the deal, as well as the identity of the buyer, were not disclosed in a press release announcing the transaction.

Little Creek Lodge is an inpatient residential drug and alcohol treatment center, while Shane’s House is an affiliated sober living facility. Both facilities have 16 beds.

Swopes Lees’ Behavioral Health Properties Group — which is based in Juno Beach, Florida — represented the seller in the transaction.

Massachusetts behavioral health facility to be sold, resume operations

In Massachusetts, Devens-based Health Partners New England has announced that it is purchasing Providence Behavioral Health from Springfield-based Mercy Medical Center.

GFI Partners, a Boston real estate company, is also joining Health Partners New England on the purchase of the inpatient behavioral health and addiction treatment facility. The pair partnered to form Holyoke Medical Property Owner LLC and will buy Providence Behavioral Health for $1 million, according to Hampden County deed documents.

Health Partners New England will operate the hospital under the new name MiraVista Behavioral Health, according to a press release. The new owners are looking to obtain licensure from the Massachusetts Department of Health that will allow them to have up to 84 beds at the facility, according to local media reports.

Mercy Medical Center is also loaning MiraVista $3 million for renovations on the facility, according to MassLive. MiraVista, which shuttered inpatient psychiatric services last year, plans to resume detox and post-detox services as well as outpatient services including IOP, court-ordered, and opioid treatment. Services are expected to begin in mid-April.