Pipeline: Acadia Begins Construction on Geisinger JV; Multi-State ABA Provider Opens New Center

Acadia breaks ground on JV behavioral health facility with Geisinger

Ground has been broken on a 96-bed, 73,000-square-foot inpatient behavioral health facility in Moosic, Pennsylvania that will be operated as a joint venture (JV) between Acadia Healthcare (Nasdaq: ACHC) and Geisinger Health System.

Geisinger Behavioral Health Center Northeast will treat adult, pediatric and adolescent patients for anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The facility — which is located in the northeastern corner of the Keystone State outside of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area — will open in fall 2022.

“It’s very deliberately located in Moosic — right in between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton — because we know there is a need in both communities,” Jaewon Ryu, Geisinger President and CEO said in a press release announcing the facilities.

The Moosic facility is one of two planned Pennsylvania JVs between Acadia and Gesinger, which together will make up an $80 million project expected to create at least 200 jobs. The second hospital is scheduled to open in fall 2023 in Geisinger’s homebase of Danville, located outside of Harrisburg.

Geisinger staff will be responsible for staffing both facilities while Acadia will be in charge of managing day-to-day operations.

“We look forward to serving our patients with the respect, skill and kindness they deserve,” Michael Genovese, the chief medical officer at Acadia, said in the press release.

Headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, Acadia operates 227 facilities across 40 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. In April, the behavioral health care powerhouse announced its intentions to partner with Geisinger to open the two new facilities as a JV.

Geisinger serves more than a million people across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The provider operates nine hospital campuses along with the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, which covers counties in northeastern and central Pennsylvania, as well as southern New Jersey.

Action Behavior Centers opens new locations

Autism care provider Action Behavior Centers (ABC) has opened two new centers in Texas.

One of the facilities is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of McKinney, which encompasses 8,400 square feet and offers early intensive behavioral intervention, as well as part time and after-school support. The center also extends at-home therapy to children and families.

The second center is a 6,100 square foot facility in Round Rock — located near ABC’s homebase of Austin — and offers assessment and therapy options including applied behavior analysis (ABA). ABA is widely considered to be a gold standard of autism care.

Founded in 2017, ABC operates over 50 clinics in Texas, Arizona and Colorado. It is a portfolio company of venture capital and private equity firm NexPhase Capital.

I/DD provider I Am Boundless creates new center

Worthington, Ohio-based I Am Boundless — a regional provider to individuals and families dealing with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), along with other behavioral health challenges — has launched a new center in the state.

Located in Columbus, Boundless Health bills itself as the first center in Ohio to offer a continuum of care for people with I/DD and other complex needs, which includes whole-person, integrated primary, dental, behavioral and mental health care.

Boundless Health is partnering with the Nisonger Center at Ohio State University to provide dental care to patients. Boundless Health services are also available for patients’ families, parents, guardians and caregivers.

“We have known for many years that there is an incredibly large gap in traditional health care when it comes to caring for and treating these at-risk populations,” Patrick Maynard, the president and CEO of I Am Boundless and Boundless Health, said in a press release announcing the new center. “Boundless Health is an essential additional line of service to those served by Boundless, and we have an obligation to deliver personalized health care to them, without limitations.”

Founded in 1980, the non-profit I Am Boundless provides services to over 50 counties throughout Ohio.