Acadia Healthcare has promoted a senior executive to a newly created chief operating officer role as the behavioral health company seeks to streamline leadership and accelerate growth across its treatment network . The Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated May 24, 2024, names Nasser Khan, Acadia Healthcare’s operations group president for its Comprehensive Treatment Center business line, as the company’s first-ever COO effective June 30.
The move replaces the executive vice president of operations role held by John Hollinsworth, who will retire June 30 and remain on as an advisor through the end of 2024 to support the transition. Khan will assume company-wide operational oversight, while Jacob Cooper, currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of the CTC service line, will step into the CTC group president post.
Khan joined Acadia Healthcare in 2022 to lead the company’s network of medication-assisted treatment centers and has since prioritized patient care, staff support and measurable clinical outcomes. Company filings and interviews indicate he intends to build on Acadia’s existing clinical standards and scale innovations in care delivery and technology to improve both employee experience and patient results.
Before joining Acadia, Khan served as senior vice president of operations at Shields Health Solutions, a Walgreens Boots Alliance subsidiary, and held leadership roles at Biograph, DaVita and McKinsey & Company (https://bhbusiness.com/2022/09/19/acadia-healthcare-taps-walgreens-vet-dr-nasser-khan-to-lead-largest-segment/). He brings a blend of clinical training and operational experience to the COO role; his reported base salary in the filing is $515,000.
Under Khan’s leadership, Acadia has been expanding its CTC footprint, planning to open 14 new centers in 2024 and completing recent acquisitions, including three North Carolina facilities (https://acadiahealthcare.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/acadia-healthcare-appoints-dr-nasser-khan-lead-its-ctc-business). The CTC division remains central to Acadia’s five-point growth strategy, which includes facility expansion, de novo development, joint ventures, acquisitions and broadening the care continuum. Acadia also plans to grow outpatient services such as partial hospitalization programs and intensive outpatient programs.
Despite softer patient volumes in the first quarter of 2024, the company maintains guidance for the full year and is positioning operations to support longer-term expansion (https://www.beckersbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-executive-moves/acadia-healthcare-appoints-coo/). The elevation of Nasser Khan to COO signals Acadia Healthcare’s intent to align executive structure with peers while sharpening focus on clinical quality and network growth.