Recovery Centers of America has named former-Sevita executive Brett Cohen its next CEO.
Former-CEO Brian O’Neill, who founded the company in 2014, will transition to a board member role.
Before joining Recovery Centers of America, Cohen served as the chief operating officer of the intellectual and developmental disabilities services organization Sevita, which employs over 40,000 people.
“Brett has successfully cultivated cultures focused on care and growth,” O’Neill said in a statement. “His experience achieving operational excellence at scale will be vital in leading RCA into a new era of saving lives and treating addiction and substance use disorder.
“We couldn’t have chosen a more qualified and committed leader.”
Recovery Centers of America operates 10 inpatient facilities that offer a wide spectrum of care modalities. It is slated to open an 11th facility in Greenville, South Carolina. The company is backed by the private equity firm Deerfield Management Company.
Recovery Centers of America is based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and operates in seven states. The company’s strategy has been to build large facilities that centrally encompass as many addiction services as possible.
The company announced the acquisition of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania-based youth addiction and mental health treatment provider Adolescent & Young Adult Advocates and sold off its outpatient medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic business to Pinnacle Treatment Centers earlier in the year.
“The need for RCA’s services has never been greater, and I am eager to continue the company’s mission to save one million lives through dignified, clinically proven, tailor-made treatment for addiction, substance use, and other mental health conditions,” Cohen said in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside RCA’s thousands of committed employees as we serve our patients across the full continuum of care.”
Cohen has worked at Sevita as chief operating officer since 2015. He oversaw operations, quality improvement, advocacy and government relations.
His roughly 30-year career includes other management roles, such as corporate vice president of inpatient services for Fresenius Medical Care of North America, vice president of operations at Kindred Healthcare and a senior director role with UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).
The rate of drug overdose deaths has increased in the U.S. since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Provisional overdose death counts have increased by 48% in February 2023 compared to the same month in 2020, according to the latest data from the CDC.
Companies featured in this article:
Deerfield Management Company, Recovery Centers of America, Sevita
