Chris Hunter took the helm of Acadia Healthcare in April 2022 amid an ambitious expansion and heightened regulatory scrutiny. As chief executive officer of the largest stand-alone behavioral health company in the United States, he oversees a network of more than 250 facilities across 40 states and Puerto Rico, a workforce of roughly 23,000 employees and daily patient volumes exceeding 75,000.
Hunter arrived from Humana, where he led the Group, Military & Specialty segment, a business generating over 7 billion dollars in revenue and serving nearly 20 million members. His prior roles include chief strategy officer at Humana, president of provider markets at TriZetto and executive leadership at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. He holds a bachelor’s degree with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Under Hunter’s leadership, Acadia Healthcare pursued an accelerated bed buildout that produced the largest increase in capacity in the company’s history during 2024. The initiative added roughly 1,300 beds in 2024, with another 1,200 under construction. Management reported state licenses for 800 of the new beds and expected the remainder to be approved early in the following year. Executives have warned that startup costs associated with the rapid expansion will peak in 2025, depressing short-term profitability before generating stronger earnings and free cash flow beginning in 2026 as beds ramp.
Acadia’s growth strategy combines organic expansion with joint ventures and partnerships intended to double revenue by 2028. The company reported 3.1 billion dollars in revenue in the first nine months of 2024, funded primarily by Medicaid and commercial payers.
The expansion occurred alongside intensified external scrutiny. Congressional investigators and media outlets examined practices in residential treatment and outpatient programs, prompting inquiries from the Department of Justice and other federal agencies. Company leadership has emphasized quality initiatives and third-party validations as central to restoring stakeholder confidence.
As Acadia Healthcare executes its multi-year strategy, the industry will be watching whether operational improvements and stabilizing cash flow can reconcile rapid growth with regulatory expectations. Chris Hunter’s blend of strategic, operational and payer-side experience positions him to lead the company through a critical phase of scale-up and reform.