Two major nonprofit mental healthcare providers, including one based in Springfield, have announced plans to merge.
Brightli is headquartered in Springfield and has more than 6,000 associated employees working at more than 220 locations in five states, including Burrell Behavioral Health.
It’s planning a merger with Centerstone, a Nashville-based company with 4,300 employees working at 140 locations across six states, plus an international network of more than 1,500 providers serving patients globally.
Brightli CEO C. J. Davis said the merger would result in the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of behavioral health services. The new organization, according to Davis, would have around 10,000 employees and impact roughly 250,000 lives annually.
He said he believes the merger will inspire hope for the people they serve.
"Clients need more research, more evidence," he said. "This organization, collectively together, will be able to fill some of the research gaps that exist in our industry. But it's also for our employees. It's about attracting more people during a workforce crisis."
The number of providers in behavioral healthcare is at an all-time low, according to Davis, and that's expected to continue through 2036 "so we have to find creative and innovative ways to find partners to be able to service that demand."
He said, by joining together, the two organizations will have the chance to transform mental health and substance abuse care.
One thing the merger will result in he said, is the ability to innovate clinically. He said they want to "advance the science of practice in a pretty profound way" and make sure all providers are providing evidence-based treatments based upon research. He said they'll also be able to be an influential leader in their field.
"I think we really intend to be the leader of the country when it comes to behavioral health and addictions treatment."
And, Davis said, they intend to be a recruiter of providers and employees to help solve the workforce crisis.
"We've seen an uptick in the number of providers that apply and the number that we hired, so I think that most employees want to be part of something special. I think this organization has that chance," he said.
He hopes that the merger will lead to more operational efficiency, which could lead to lower cost of care.
Being a nonprofit, Davis said, means they're fully committed to their mission.
"That doesn't mean we're not profitable," he said, but what it does mean is that, when we make a profit, we make an excess, we pour that back into our communities, back into our staff and back into the science to make sure what we're doing is high quality."
Each organization brings its own strengths to the planned merger. For instance, Brightli provides services for individuals with developmental disabilities, which Davis said Centerstone might want to replicate.
"Our ID service line is one of the best of the best," he said, "so I would anticipate that that would be an opportunity for other states."
And he said Centerstone is an expert in the area of crisis services. And its CEO David Guth "has literally written the book on mergers and acquisitions."
The due diligence process is underway, and the transaction is expected to close in November. Once the transaction is complete, Brightli expects the combined organization to serve a quarter million people annually.
He doesn't yet know what their new name will be or where the headquarters will be located, but he said they expect to make those decisions in the next 60 days.
