Behavioral Health Group Expands Footprint, Adds OUD Treatment Facilities

Behavioral Health Group (BHG), which was busy in the home stretch of last year with acquisitions, is adding to its portfolio as 2021 winds down.

The Dallas-based provider — which operates the country’s largest network of Joint Commission-accredited outpatient treatment facilities for opioid use disorder (OUD) — has expanded into the Midwest and South with two new transactions.

In Minnesota, BHG has made its entry into the state with the purchase of Valhalla Place.

Valhalla Place provides OUD treatment services at four locations owned and operated by Meridian Behavioral Health. The four clinics — which are in the Minneapolis/St. Paul-area — employ 185 clinicians, counselors and other staff, along with serving over 3,000 patients.

As part of the deal, BHG will buy the in-house B-Tek Lab that is co-located in Valhalla Place’s Woodbury office. Valhalla Place’s other centers are in Minneapolis, Brainerd and Brooklyn Park.

“Too many individuals, families, and communities need an immediate, proven solution,” BHG CEO Jay Higham said in a press release issued by the company. “The opportunity to leverage the demonstrated success generated by the Valhalla Place treatment centers shortens our speed to market at a critical moment in this epidemic.”

In a personnel move, Brian Sowada — who is a tenured employee with Meridian/Valhalla Place — has been named BHG’s regional director for Minnesota.

“Our medical mission is to empower our patients to realize their best level of functioning in the community,” Dr. Ben Nordstrom, the chief medical officer of BHG, said in the press release. “Expanding the range of treatment services Valhalla currently offers helps us meet the recovery needs of Minnesotans overcoming opioid use disorders.”

In addition to the Minnesota purchase, BHG is expanding its services in Virginia with the acquisition of Staunton Treatment Center.

The facility is located in the namesake town of Staunton, which is situated in the Shenandoah Valley in the north central part of the state, and employs a staff of 11 that treat over 100 patients for OUD.

Staunton Treatment Center includes both an inpatient and outpatient program that offers medication-assisted treatments (MATs), as well as an office-based program that enables prescriptions. WIth the purchase of Staunton Treatment Center, BHG now operates eight centers in Virginia.

All of BHG’s Virginia locations accept Medicare, Medicaid and multiple commercial insurance plans. Self-pay options are also available in Virginia for BHG patients, along with possible state grant funds for qualified clients.

The facility has also been renamed BHG Staunton Treatment Center.

“The time for action is now,” Higham said in a separate press release regarding the Staunton Treatment Center purchase. “Lives are in the balance. Too many individuals, families, and communities need an immediate, proven solution. The opportunity to leverage existing treatment centers shortens our speed to market at a critical moment in this epidemic.”

BHG said that it will implement its proprietary care model of medication, behavioral therapy and case management services at its newly-acquired Minnesota and Virginia facilities.

Overall, BHG operates 92 locations across 19 states. Late last year, the provider entered Rhode Island with the purchase of Pawtucket-based Center for Treatment & Recovery. Around the same time, BHG brought Wellness Ambulatory Care, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based provider of office-based OUD treatment.