Two major behavioral health care companies are merging, creating a national network of treatment facilities focused on treating patients with eating disorders. The Emily Program, one of the largest eating disorder treatment programs in the U.S. and an affiliate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, is acquiring Veritas Collaborative, LLC from Vestar Capital Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Veritas Collaborative is a national healthcare system for the treatment of eating disorders, with locations in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Veritas provides a full continuum of care for individuals of all ages, including inpatient, acute residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, outpatient care and multidisciplinary eating disorders assessment clinics. Vestar Capital Partners and Veritas Collaborative partnered together in 2015 when Vestar Capital took a majority stake in the company.
The Emily Program provides individual, family and group outpatient services, intensive day and evening treatment programs and 24/7 residential programs at 15 sites in four states.
The companies will retain their brands in their respective markets across the Northwest, Midwest, and Southeast. Dave Willcutts, CEO of The Emily Program, will serve as the CEO of the merged company to be headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. Veritas CEO Mike Browder will transition to the board of directors of the merged company. Collectively, the companies currently have 20 locations.
The Emily Program has announced only one other deal, according to search results in our Healthcare Deals Database. Back in February 2020, the company acquired the eating disorder treatment services of The Center for Balanced Living, which became The Emily Program-Columbus located in Columbus, Ohio.
