It’s no secret the autism services space is in flux. Over the last few months a slew of autism CEOs have stepped down.
This included some of the biggest names in the industry. For example, Rob Marsh, former CEO of 360 Behavioral Health, left the autism sector for addiction services and took the helm at Bradford Health.
KKR-backed BlueSprig also saw its CEO Jason Owen announce his departure just two years after taking up the post. And Kathleen Stengal, founder and former CEO of NeuroAbilities, also announced her plans to leave the organization.
Leaders in the autism services space are now under more pressure to address staff retention challenges while balancing lagging payer rates.
In the midst of these changes, some key executives are now tasked with steering some of the largest companies in the sector through the choppy waters. Read on for a list of providers to watch.
Startup success Dr. Neil Hattangadi
Last year, while funding was scarce for many autism providers, Dr. Neil Hattangadi achieved a rare feat. His autism provider, Cortica, defied the odds and secured $115 million in its Series D funding round in 2023. The company’s backers include big names like CVS Ventures, LRVHealth and Ascension Investment Management.
Raking in over $100 million is no small task, especially during a funding dearth. But with that funding comes increased pressure to meet investor expectations. At the time of the fundraise, Cortica said the new capital would go towards scaling its integrated specialty care model for kids with autism and other neurodivergence. We’ll closely watch Hattangadi as he works to execute that promise.
A trained physician, Hattangadi has worked in different parts of the health care ecosystem, including consulting and with different startups, before founding the company in 2017. His diverse perspective could bring a new perspective to the autism services industry.
One innovative move that Hattangadi and his team have begun is negotiating value-based care contracts. While Hattangadi previously told BHB that only a small portion of the company’s revenue is tied to value-based care, the company has begun inking alternative payment plans with payers. For example, the startup signed a value-based care agreement with insurer Point32Health.
We’ll be watching Hattangadi as he navigates the changing value-based care landscape and works with Cortica’s relatively new investors.
The ABA legend returns
In 2023, ABA titan Doreen Granpeesheh jumped back in the driver’s seat at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) after selling the company to private equity in 2018.
Granpeesheh was one of the pioneers of ABA. She founded CARD in 1990 with a handful of employees. Since then, she has grown the operator to more than 200 locations across the country.
Six years ago she sold the company to Blackstone in a deal valued at $600 million. At the time Granpeesheh planned to hand over the reins to another CEO and take on a board role, slowing her involvement.
After Granpeesheh stepped away, CARD faced several challenges. In 2022, the provider laid off at least 156 employees and shut down 10 centers.
The next year, the company filed for bankruptcy. A pair of companies, including Pantogran, which was led by Granpeesheh and PE firm Audax Group, purchased CARD for $48.5 million. Pantogran paid $37.4 million to take control of 10 CARD state markets and other assets as part of the deal.
Following the purchase Granpeesheh took over as CEO. The provider clearly had success and a growth strategy under Granpeesheh’s first tenure as CEO.
While the company has been relatively quiet regarding potential growth plans, Granpeesheh has noted that it is starting off by focusing on the important parts of the business.
“We’re starting out with a much more lean company,” she previously told Behavioral Health Business. “We have to keep the company lean, go back to taking care of our patients and staff and also pay attention to the business. That essentially means going back to not outsourcing every single function. Keeping cost at the forefront and managing the books a little more carefully will be in mind when taking care of patients and staff.”
While the company will go back to basics under Granpeesheh, we can also expect her to incorporate some of her secret sauce before the acquisition.
“Over the last few years, CARD started to restrict its patients to younger children because it aimed to focus on early intervention,” she said. “I’m not going to do that; we’ve changed that. We’re going to have clinics for all patients of all ages.”
Return of the CEO
This could be the year of the return CEO. In January, Arsenal Capital Partners-backed Hopebridge, one of the largest autism providers in the country, announced the departure of its CEO, David McIntosh.
In his place, former CEO Dennis May resumed the role. May never fully stepped away from Hopebridge after leaving the role in May 2023. He continued on as the board’s chairman.
May returned to the CEO role at Hopebridge at a pivotal moment for the company. In 2023, the provider announced it would shutter its ABA service line in Colorado, citing low Medicaid rates and inflation. Additionally, Indiana, one of Hopebridge’s core markets, cut autism therapy reimbursement rates to a fixed rate of about 25% lower than the historic average reimbursement.
While May only stepped away from the role for less than a year, it will be interesting to see how his years of experience will come into play while tackling some of the new challenges Hopebridge faced in his absence.
Clinician turned CEO
360 Behavioral Health was among the autism providers impacted by the recent C-suite shakeups.
After its former CEO, Rob Marsh, announced his departure, Kate Sheldon-Princi, the company’s COO, took over the reins.
Sheldon-Princi comes from a clinical background. She is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and has been with the company since 2012. With over 10 years at 360 Behavioral Health, Sheldon-Princi has by far the longest tenure at a single organization of anyone on this list.
This could be useful to her as she leads the provider organization through transitions. Sheldon-Princi has certainly seen a lot during her time at 360 Behavioral Health.
In 2018, PE firm DW Healthcare Partners acquired the provider. The company has since been through a slew of CEOs, including Dennis Kogod, Paul Fishcher, and finally Rob Marsh.
In 2022, the company underwent a significant layoff round, driven by stagnant payer rates, workforce challenges, and competition from platform companies. However, the company has since stabilized and returned to a growth mode, opening two new locations in Nebraska.
We’re watching Sheldon-Princi because she is coming to the position with a unique perspective: a clinician by training with years of experience at the organization. She has, in many ways, the background that clinicians have advocated for in the past. We’ll be watching how she uses her experience to drive change at the organization.
