Meet Our Senior Executive Team

Chris Hunter has served as the CEO of Acadia Healthcare since April 2022. Acadia is the largest stand-alone behavioral health company in the United States, operating a network of 250 behavioral healthcare facilities in 39 states and Puerto Rico. The company has approximately 23,000 employees serving more than 75,000 patients daily across 4 service lines.

Prior to joining Acadia, Mr. Hunter served as President of the Group and Military business at Humana, a $7B+ revenue business, where he was responsible for driving the growth and profitability of Humana’s Employer Group products including medical, specialty and wellness offerings. In addition, Mr. Hunter was responsible for Humana’s Military Business, the largest Medical Services contractor for active duty and retired military and eligible family members through the Defense Health Agency. In this role, he oversaw nearly 20 million members in 45 states.

From 2014-2018, Mr. Hunter served as Humana’s Chief Strategy Officer, with responsibility for leading Humana’s corporate strategy, as well as setting the direction of the company’s merger and acquisition, joint venture and partnership activities. He has extensive executive experience with both public and private growth companies and brings broad knowledge of the healthcare industry to his role at Acadia. His experience ranges from leadership of strategic planning and corporate development to responsibilities that included broad P&L and Board of Directors accountability.

Prior to starting with Humana in 2014, Mr. Hunter was President of Provider Markets at TriZetto, a Denver-based health IT software/services firm serving more than 200,000 providers. He helped take the company private (NASDAQ:TZIX) in 2008. Previously, he served on the executive leadership team at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee between 2004-2012.

Mr. Hunter earned a bachelor’s degree with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He currently serves on the Board of the Honors Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Heather Dixon is Acadia’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), joining the company in July 2023. In this role, Ms. Dixon has oversight of our financial strategies, allowing Acadia to operate from a position of strength so we can extend our care to more patients who need our help and services.

Prior to joining Acadia, Ms. Dixon served as the CFO at Everside Health, providing strategic direction and oversight of company finances with a focus on growth and innovation within the direct primary and mental health care space. She also led Everside Health’s 385 health centers across 34 states, bringing extensive facility-based operational experience to the Company. Prior to that, she held senior leadership positions at Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., where she was the Senior Vice President, Global Controller and Chief Accounting Officer; as well as with Aetna, a CVS Health Company, where she was Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer.

Brian Farley joined Acadia in July 2023 and serves as the General Counsel and Secretary. Mr. Farley oversees a team of attorneys responsible for all aspects of Acadia’s legal affairs and acts as a strategic advisor to Acadia’s executive team and the Board of Directors. In this role, his areas of responsibility include securities law, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, litigation, labor and employment, legal compliance and regulatory matters.

Prior to joining Acadia, Mr. Farley served as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for GoHealth, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded Medicare Advantage marketplace and senior-focused healthcare companies. In this role, he led the Company’s legal, regulatory, compliance, SEC, government affairs and cyber security functions while also overseeing the legal efforts to successfully launch its initial public offering in 2020. Prior to joining GoHealth, Mr. Farley held senior leadership positions at Allscripts, Motorola Mobility and Level 3 Communications.

Dr. Nasser Khan is Acadia’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this role, Dr. Khan oversees the entirety of our operational functions – including quality and clinical operations, facility operations and admissions – to ensure we deliver against our patient care and growth objectives.

Dr. Khan joined Acadia in 2022 as Group President of our Comprehensive Treatment Centers (CTC). Under his leadership, the CTC business grew significantly, adding 11 new de novo clinics and mobile vans and increasing patient retention. Relentlessly focused on improving our patient experience, he activated strategies that have reduced dosing wait times and supported patients navigating Medicaid redetermination. Dr. Khan is a passionate advocate for talent – recruiting strong leaders and increasing CTC employee retention. During his tenure as Group President, he maintained the highest-level standards for care as evidenced by delivering best-in-class quality scores of 99% across all 13 dimensions measured by the international regulatory body, CARF. A sought-after expert on state and federal policy, Dr. Khan continues to advocate for improving access and support for all those dealing with our country’s opioid epidemic.

Dr. Khan joined Acadia from Shields Health Solutions, a national provider of specialty pharmacy services to health systems and a subsidiary of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., where he served as Senior Vice President, Operations. Prior to Shields, he served as Head of Program and Chief Medical Officer at Biograph Inc., a healthcare technology company. He also held a series of progressive operational leadership roles at DaVita, Inc. as Division Vice President of Hospital Services, Regional Operations Director and Director of Strategy and Special Projects. Earlier in his career, Dr. Khan was an Engagement Manager in the healthcare practice at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on growth strategy and operational turnarounds for leading health systems.

Dr. Khan holds a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), a Master of Medical Science (M.M.S.) and a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from Brown University where he graduated magna cum laude.