Private equity-backed Newport Healthcare has named a new CEO.

Brian Setzer, an ex-Walmart executive, will succeed Joe Procopio, effective Dec. 9. Procopio is retiring but will take up the role of chairman of the board for Newport Healthcare. He has held the CEO title since June 2019, when the company was known as Newport Academy. Procopio has been an executive in the behavioral health space since 2001.

“Brian is the ideal leader to take Newport to the next level, guiding the most dedicated, talented, and passionate professionals in this field,” Procopio said in a statement.

Setzer most recently was the executive vice president of health and wellness at Walmart. In that role, he oversaw the retail titan’s retail pharmacy, optical and health care delivery operations. He has also held executive roles at the health conglomerates Highmark Health and The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI).

The Nashville, Tennessee-based youth-focused behavioral health provider operates 800 beds and 21 outpatient programs, according to the statement. It operates four sub-brands — Newport Academy, Newport Institute, Center for Families and PrairieCare. Collectively, they offer residential services, partial hospitalization programs (PHP), and intensive outpatient programs (IOP) for mental health, substance use disorders and psychiatric inpatient services.

The company acquired PrairieCare in November 2022.

In part, Setzer joins a company deepening its addiction treatment investments. Earlier in the year, Newport Healthcare announced it would offer dedicated addiction treatment services independent of other mental health services as it had previously done.

Toronto-based Onex Partners acquired about 60% of the company in a deal that reportedly valued Newport Academy at $1.3 billion. That deal closed in July 2021.

The company was originally founded in 2008.

Youth behavioral health continues to see significant action, especially by digital health companies. The telehealth-focused mental health care provider Brightside Health announced the launch of teen mental health services in September. School-partnership-focused Hazel Health announced a deal with UnitedHealthcare that would help it extend access to care to 1 million children by the end of 2025. In August, BeMe Health secured $12.5 million in a seed round to grow its teen-focused digital mental health services.

More traditional youth behavioral health providers have had a rougher go of it lately. In June the U.S. Senate Finance Committee released a scathing report about residential treatment centers, especially focusing on communal treatment settings for children covered by Medicaid. That has since evolved into calls by the leader of that committee for investigations into the segment.
Earlier in the month, youth behavioral health provider Embark Behavioral Health pruned its administrative structure (laying off about 60 staffers) and shuttered a few clinics.