After naming a new CEO and changing ownership in late 2022, eating disorder provider Monte Nido & Affiliates is set on growing its footprint while expanding access to its services.
To execute that mission, the private equity-backed company has tapped health care veteran Cassie McLean, who has worked in the sector for decades, most recently as group vice president at DaVita Kidney Care.
McLean’s appointment comes at a time when eating disorders are on the rise in the U.S. A recent report by market research firm Trilliant Health found that eating disorder diagnoses in people under 18, in particular, grew by 107% from 2018 to 2022.
Monte Nido & Affiliates is one of the largest eating disorder providers in the nation. It was founded in 1996 and operates 51 programs. Its services include inpatient, residential day treatment programs and virtual care.
In August, private equity firm Revelstoke purchased Monte Nido & Affiliates from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners LLC for an undisclosed sum. At the time of the acquisition, Monte Nido & Affiliates said the new funds would help it grow through M&A and organically.
As CEO, McLean is prioritizing personalized care for patients and giving patients multiple options for care delivery. Behavioral Health Business sat down with McLean to discuss her background, vision and what’s next for the organization.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BHB: You just came to Monte Nido in November. Can you tell me about your background?
McLean: I’ve spent 25 years in the health care setting. My passion is working to improve care and the quality of life for patients. Access to care is really important to me as well. I’ve focused on that in a variety of settings. So that’s the string that connects the arc of my career.
I have a passion for improving processes and building systems that provide high-quality care, and I found this same passion with a patient-centered approach at Monte Nido & Affiliates was really just a perfect match. I found it was a like-minded group. That’s what attracted me to come on board.
Your appointment came shortly after Revelstoke acquired Monte Nido. What do these new changes mean for the direction of the company? What’s the company looking at in 2023?
I wouldn’t say that there’s a lot of changes. I am new to the company. We have a very strong clinical team across all of our brands. They are strong leaders who will continue to be with the company, and they do wonderful work.
Our priorities continue to be very similar to the pre-Revelstoke purchase. With the prevalence of eating disorders on the rise, we are working tirelessly to connect individuals needing the life-saving care and support they need. We believe that every person should have equal access to the care they need and deserve. And that recovery is possible at any age.
One of the things that I’ve heard a lot with eating disorders is that the patient population is more diverse than often thought, in terms of body types, gender and ethnicity. How are you looking at treating all patients?
Monte Nido & Affiliates is focused on providing inclusive care for the very diverse population that needs care. And we do that in a variety of ways. The most basic part is that we are passionate about providing personalized treatment. We recognize that no person’s eating disorder is the same and that their treatment experience should reflect that.
Monte Nido & Affiliates provides a full spectrum of care – or a system of care within our inpatient services or our residential services, both of which are in-person. And then our partial hospitalization and our intensive outpatient programs. Those have both in-person and standalone virtual programming now.
Depending on what works best for the patient and their families, we have either option for our day treatment programs.
I think it is helpful also to just come back to the scope of our services. We’re one of the largest and leading eating disorder platforms in the country. We have 50 programs in 15 states and we offer virtual care across 30 states.
Whether virtual or live, each of our treatment components includes medical and psychiatric oversight, skills development, group therapy, therapeutic opportunities on an individual basis, nutritional programming, and the exploration of the self beyond just clinical care.
Value-based care is a hot topic in behavioral health. Do you see that playing into your strategy in the future at all?
The backbone of value-based care is outcomes and high-quality therapy. Our treatment helps people get well and stay well. Our research shows that clients show improvement of symptoms when they are discharged. We do an admission assessment, a discharge assessment and a six-month post-discharge assessment.
Our research shows that clients are better at discharge, but then they continue to stay that way six months post-discharge. And that’s really big.
That doesn’t tie directly to value-based care. But I think it speaks to the intent of what value-based care is trying to do. We’re focused mostly on outcomes, we’re focused on having our therapy have a positive impact on our client’s lives. And then we’re measuring that, and our outcomes show that we are doing that.
What do you see in the workforce landscape going into 2023? How can providers look at ensuring sustainable retention and recruitment?
One of the things that we’re focused on with Monte Nido & Affiliates is talking more about what we do. I just saw an employee satisfaction survey from January for my team. The vast majority of people that work with Monte Nido & Affiliates would recommend or strongly recommend us as an employer.
You walk into our clinics, and folks want to talk about the positive impact they’re making on their clients lives and the ripple effects within their communities.
So talking about that more can help get those stories out there. There’s also quite a bit of clinical supervision and educational opportunities within Monte Nido & Affiliates.
We’re so focused on providing care to the clients that sometimes we don’t call up and talk about those and the greater community. In terms of the workforce, it’s just getting out there and talking about what we do. Then getting our processes down for what that candidate’s experience looks like. When someone applies for a position, you want that process to be quick and be a positive experience, and help connect them to the program that they’re looking to work with. We’re working on tools and processes that will help make that happen.
When Revelstoke acquired Monte Nido, that announcement discussed expansion being a priority. Are you looking to do that through de novo growth, through M&A – or some combination?
It’s both. Again, it comes back to where we see the need and then identifying where we need to expand access, but we’re open to doing it through both a de novo and acquisition process.
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