Movers & Shakers: Meadows Hires Head of Virtual; Oceans’ New Vice President

Meadows hires executive director of virtual outpatient

Phoenix-based Meadows Behavioral Healthcare has hired Mark Baumgartner as its executive director of virtual outpatient services.

Before coming to Meadows, Baumgartner spent most of his career at the Betty Ford Center, which is part of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. He worked there almost two decades, serving his last five years as its executive director.

While at Betty Ford, Baumgartner played a key leadership role in the provider’s merger with the Hazelden Foundation and also led the Betty Ford Center’s expansion in the West Los Angeles area.

Meadows provides treatment for people struggling with conditions such as emotional trauma, subtance use disorcer (SUD), sex addiction, eating disorders, psychiatric disorders and co-occurring conditions. It operates nine residential treatment facilities across Arizona, California, Texas and Massachusetts, as well as outpatient facilities in Dallas, Arizona and California. It also offers outpatient services virtually.

Oceans Healthcare appoints VP of HR

Oceans Healthcare has appointed Tom Lokar to its management team, where he will serve as executive vice president of human resources and talent management.

Lokar is a veteran business executive with 25 years of experience who previously served as a vice president of human resources for Hewlett-Packard, as well as an executive vice president and chief human resources officer for the business communications company Mitel. He is also currently an advisor and partner with the Talent War Group, a Dallas-based organizational consulting firm.

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Oceans Healthcare is a behavioral health care provider with 42 hospital and outpatient locations across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Oceans is backed by the venture capital firm General Catalyst Partners.

Psychiatric hospital CEO announces retirement

The CEO of Washington state’s largest inpatient psychiatric hospital announced that he will retire from his post next month.

David Holt is the CEO of Lakewood-based Western State Hospital, a behavioral health facility with 857 beds. He has been with the hospital for the past five years, serving the past three as CEO. Prior to coming to Western State, Holt spent over 35 years in hospital administration and mental health leadership within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs system in California.

Holt’s last day is May 7, according to the Washington State Department of Health and Human Services. Charles Southerland, who has served as deputy CEO since 2018, will fill the position on an interim basis.

New hires at Newport Academy

Newport Academy, which operates mental health treatment centers for teens and young adults on the East and West Coasts, is welcoming two new additions to its leadership team.

Michael “Jep” Stokes has been tapped to lead Newport’s residential programs in Los Angeles. With a background in health care administration, Stokes previously was the CEO of a 60-bed inpatient treatment facility owned by Acadia Healthcare (Nasdaq: ACHC). Most recently, he was the market vice president of behavioral health services for HCA Holdings (NYSE: HCA).

Newport also announced the hiring of Rebecca Snachez Norton, who will serve as clinical director in LA. A licensed marriage and family therapist, Norton most recently worked as a clinical care manager for Beacon Health Options.

Newport Academy is owned by The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG), which is reportedly considering a sale of the provider.

Promises Behavioral Health facility names CEO

College Station, Texas-based Promises Brazos Valley, which is part of the Promises Behavioral Health network, has named Cameron House as its CEO.

House is a licensed professional counselor in the College Station-Bryan metropolitan area, home to Texas A&M University. She has a background in victim services and acute psychiatric care, and has also served as a private practitioner.

Promises Brazos Valley opened for business late last month.

Headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, Promises Behavioral Health operates residential and outpatient treatment centers across Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Treatment services include SUD, sexual addiction, trauma, eating disorders and other mental health disorders.

Promises was established by the asset manager BlueMountain Capital Management (now Assured Investment Management) in 2019.