From the bedside to the boardroom.
I’ve spent more than twenty years in behavioral health: first as a nurse, then as a director, executive director, COO and CEO. I’ve never stopped caring about the patient at the center of every decision.
I lead the way I’d want to be led.
I started as a registered nurse at The Meadows in Wickenburg, Arizona. I learned early that the quality of care a patient receives is shaped as much by staffing, systems and leadership as by any single clinician.
That lesson pulled me into leadership. I moved through roles as Director of Training & Quality, Director of Nursing, and Director of Operations, where I led the move from paper charts to electronic medical records. As Executive Director of Gentle Path at The Meadows, I grew a 28-bed program to 50 beds, expanded it from a men’s program to a multi-gender one, and ran a $9.4M P&L at a 48% margin.
As COO and VP of Inpatient Services for Meadows Behavioral Healthcare, a private-equity-backed platform, I led 7 inpatient and 7 outpatient facilities across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Texas. Together we grew revenue from $69M to $104M, launched four de novo inpatient programs, and averaged 23.6% EBITDA, while promoting 70% of our leaders from within.
In 2024 I became CEO of Alsana, a national eating disorder treatment provider, to lead a turnaround. Within months we delivered the company’s first positive EBITDA months in more than seven years.
Today, through my firm Arizona Mental Health, PLLC, I serve as a fractional and interim CEO/COO and advisor to PE sponsors, treatment programs and private practices. I also still practice as a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner. That keeps me honest about what care really looks like on a Tuesday afternoon.
Allan Benham
Clinical credibility. Operator discipline. Investor fluency.
Most consultants bring one of these. Behavioral health turnarounds need all three in the same room.
I’ve done the clinical work
A board-certified PMHNP and former Director of Nursing, I understand levels of care, utilization review, accreditation and clinical culture from the inside, so clinicians trust the changes we make.
I’ve run the P&L
I’ve owned budgets from $9.4M to more than $100M. I know how census, payer mix, staffing ratios and length of stay flow to EBITDA, and which levers move first.
I’ve reported to boards
I’ve led inside PE-backed companies through acquisitions, de novo builds and turnarounds, and I know what sponsors need to see and when they need to see it.
Twenty years of leading through growth and change
Five promotions in ten years at The Meadows, then CEO, and now a fractional leader for organizations at their most important moments.
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Nov 2024 – Present
Founder · Fractional CEO/COO & Consultant
Arizona Mental Health, PLLC · Phoenix, AZInterim COO for Valiant Recovery; step-down continuum design for Beond; medical director services for Mana Recovery Center; pre- and post-acquisition work for PE sponsors; fractional leadership for psychiatry and therapy practices. Intake redesign lifted admissions 15% month over month; outpatient leads rose 18% in three months.
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Mar – Dec 2024
Chief Executive Officer
Alsana · $44M eating disorder treatment provider, 11 locations, 3 states, virtual care in 12Led a board-directed turnaround: first positive EBITDA months in 7+ years, time-to-admit cut from 21 to 10 days, turnover reduced from 80% to 30%, professional referrals up 20%, and virtual care expanded to 8 more states.
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2018 – 2024
Chief Operating Officer / VP Inpatient Services
Meadows Behavioral Healthcare · PE-backed, 14 facilities, 5 states, 600+ employeesRevenue grew from $69M to $104M through de novo programs and acquisitions at 23.6% average EBITDA. Inpatient beds grew from 260 to 330 and outpatient seats from 306 to 396; average daily census rose 7–12% a year. Turned a $1.1M EBITDA shortfall into a $586K surplus.
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2013 – 2018
Executive Director
Gentle Path at The Meadows$9.4M P&L at a 48% margin. Grew beds from 28 to 50, expanded to multi-gender care, and led program development, construction, licensure and Joint Commission accreditation. Added roughly $3M in revenue and $1.5M in EBITDA.
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2013
Interim Executive Director
Remuda Ranch · Eating disorder treatmentIntegrated a newly acquired program, stabilizing operations and staffing through the transition.
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2010 – 2013
Director of Operations
The Meadows of WickenburgLed the organization’s transition from paper to electronic medical records.
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Earlier
Director of Nursing · Director of Training & Quality · Registered Nurse
The MeadowsWhere it started: at the bedside, learning what great care requires.
The principles I bring to every engagement
Patients first, always
Every operational decision is a clinical decision somewhere downstream. I never forget who we’re here for.
Tell the truth early
Owners and boards get the real picture, fast. Bad news doesn’t get better with age.
Grow your own leaders
70% of my leadership team at Meadows was promoted from within. Durable results come from developed people.
Leave it stronger
Success is when the organization runs well without me. I build systems and successors, not dependence.
Rooted in Arizona. Grounded by family.
I’m a devoted husband, a father of two and a grandfather.
My wife Molly and I train and trail-ride Tennessee Walking Horses. Horses are honest teachers; they respond to calm, consistent leadership and nothing else. We also love to scuba dive and travel, which keeps us curious about the world and humble about how much there is to learn.
We’ve ridden with gaited horse clinician Jennifer Bauer since 2019, and now host her horsemanship clinics in Wickenburg.
I bring that same steadiness and curiosity to the organizations I serve.
Let’s talk
Facing growth pressure, a leadership gap, or a stalled turnaround?
Twenty minutes, no pitch. Tell me what’s happening and I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help and what I’d look at first.