Houston, Texas-based autism therapy provider BlueSprig Pediatrics has named a new CEO after being led by a chief transition officer for almost a year.

On Wednesday, BlueSprig Pediatrics named Will Abbott CEO. Abbott was most recently the CEO of the value-based care-focused health care company InnovaCare Health. The CEO role opened up at BlueSprig when Jason Owen announced in April 2024 he was stepping down to take the role of CEO and president at Envision Healthcare. Ania Labno has held the top executive role at BlueSprig Pediatrics as chief transition officer since.

“We are delighted to welcome Will to BlueSprig and are confident that his extensive experience in the health care sector, particularly with large, multi-site organizations such as ours, will be instrumental in supporting our clinicians and teams in the field,” Ali Satvat, chairman of BlueSprig Pediatric’s board of directors, said in a statement.

Satvat is also a partner and head of health care strategic growth at the investment titan KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR). KKR founded the company in 2018 in partnership with now-ex-CEO Keith Jones. 

Before working at InnovaCare Health, Abbott worked at the venture capital-backed hybrid in-person and telehealth primary care provider Carbon Health. That company raised $100 million in 2023. He also spent about 12 years working for CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS).

“BlueSprig is at the forefront of delivering outstanding care to its patients and invests significantly in research to advance ABA practices,” Abbott said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be joining BlueSprig at this exciting time in the company’s growth and look forward to working alongside the talented BlueSprig team to support our mission of providing the highest-quality care for children with autism.”

The statement doesn’t specify what role, if any, Labno will have with BlueSprig going forward. It’s also unclear what his early or long-term goals are for the large company he now leads. The company has not returned a request for comment.

BlueSprig Pediatrics operates 162 locations across 19 states, with Florida (39 sites) and Texas (33 sites) being its largest markets, according to its website. That makes it one of the largest providers of autism therapy services in the U.S. The largest provider is Action Behavior Centers, which has over 320 locations and is also based in Austin.