An operator’s view before you buy. A leader after you close.
I’ve spent most of my career inside PE-backed behavioral health companies, growing a platform from $69M to $104M and leading a board-directed turnaround as CEO. Now I help sponsors see what the data room can’t show them, and deliver the plan once the deal is done.
Behavioral health is easy to misread from a spreadsheet.
Census can look healthy while referral sources quietly dry up. Margins can look strong while turnover is about to cost you your clinical director. Accreditation and licensure risk rarely shows up in a CIM.
I read a behavioral health business the way someone who has run one does: from the admissions log and the staffing schedule up to the P&L. I’ve walked the halls of dozens of programs, sat in their clinical meetings and talked with their front-line staff. I can usually tell within a site visit where the value is and where the risk is hiding.
Through Arizona Mental Health, PLLC, I’ve provided pre- and post-acquisition consulting to private equity sponsors, including business analysis, diligence support and growth planning for target and newly acquired behavioral health companies. Sponsor relationships are confidential, and I treat them that way.
Support from first look to exit
Thesis & screening
Market and level-of-care perspective, target screening, and an honest view of where operational upside really exists.
Operational diligence
Site visits, management assessment, admissions and census analysis, staffing and turnover, clinical quality, accreditation and compliance risk.
Integration & plan
A practical 100-day plan, KPI scorecard and reporting cadence, and the leadership moves needed to deliver it.
Value creation
Interim or fractional executive leadership, de novo and add-on growth, and exit-readiness of operations and reporting.
The questions I answer for sponsors
- Is census durable? Referral concentration, inquiry-to-admit conversion, time-to-admit and payer dependency.
- Can this team scale? An honest assessment of management depth, decision-making and bench strength.
- What’s the real cost to deliver care? Staffing ratios, turnover, agency spend and overtime by level of care.
- Where are the clinical and regulatory risks? Licensure, Joint Commission or CARF readiness, incident trends and documentation.
- Where is the upside? Capacity, service-line mix, length of stay, step-down continuum and de novo potential.
I’ve been the operator you’re underwriting.
Platform growth
Grew a PE-backed, 5-state platform from $69M to $104M in revenue through de novo programs and acquisitions, at 23.6% average EBITDA.
Turnaround
As CEO of a $44M, 3-state provider, delivered the first positive EBITDA months in 7+ years, cut time-to-admit in half and reduced turnover from 80% to 30%.
De novo & integration
Launched four de novo inpatient programs and integrated an acquired eating disorder program as interim executive director.
“Allan has provided guidance, wisdom, and industry intelligence that has led to fiscal success for the company and a successful exit strategy for the owners.”B. DenDooven, LPCGateway Recovery Network (retired)
Discretion is part of the work.
I’m glad to sign an NDA before we discuss a target. Sponsor and target names are never shared without permission, on this site or anywhere else.
Start a confidential conversation
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.