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Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) Forms JV to Serve Southwest Michigan

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Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. (ACHC - Free Report) recently entered into a joint venture (JV) with Bronson Healthcare in a bid to construct a freestanding behavioral health facility in Michigan. Notably, Bronson Healthcare is a well-established integrated healthcare system of the state and remains a preferred healthcare destination across southwest Michigan.

Equipped with 96 beds, the new facility is anticipated to commence operations in early 2023. Besides, it will provide a comprehensive portfolio of inpatient behavioral healthcare services for speedy recovery of adults grappling with severe mental health disorders.

The recent move indicates Acadia Healthcare’s efforts to address the dire need for easily available and high-quality behavioral health services throughout Battle Creek, Kalamazoo and the neighboring communities of Michigan.

Bronson Healthcare seems to be the suitable partner for complementing the Acadia Healthcare’s endeavors. The former has been delivering a full continuum of primary care and critical care services through more than 100 locations spanning across southwest Michigan.

Having said that, the latest JV seems to be a time opportune one as mental health issues have been troubling Americans for quite some time. The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated the insecurities and fears. Per the 2021 State of Mental Health in America report, the ill effects of the pandemic were not just limited to damaging physical health or resulting in loss of lives across the United States. The number of people diagnosed with moderate to severe mental illnesses kept on increasing throughout 2020 and at a higher rate from the pre-COVID levels. Besides, young people seemed to be the worst sufferers of deteriorating mental health conditions.

In fact, the prevailing scenario should serve as an alarm call to the nationwide healthcare providers. They need to ramp up their healthcare services to address growing mental health issues in due time.

Time and again, Acadia Healthcare has put its best foot forward in reaching out to the suffering patients. For this purpose, the company has formed JVs with established healthcare organizations. By joining forces, the healthcare provider’s treatment network has diversified and its national presence has been strengthened.  Considering the latest one, Acadia Healthcare has collaborated with 13 leading health systems via JVs for broadening its treatment network. Such efforts have also enabled it to reach out to underserved communities.

Furthermore, the healthcare provider has several JV projects lined up in its pipeline. The year 2022 is likely to be the company’s strongest year with respect to JVs as four or five facilities are expected to start operating.

Besides, it remains focused on expansion plans through undertaking buyouts and, keeps on adding facilities and beds to its existing network. The company expects to add around 300 beds to existing facilities during this year. Following solid demand for treatment of patients plagued with opioid use disorder, Acadia Healthcare remains on track to open 11 comprehensive treatment centers (CTCs) in 2021.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) healthcare provider have soared 145.5% in a year compared with the industry’s rally of 105.8%.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the medical space are UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH - Free Report) , Molina Healthcare, Inc. (MOH - Free Report) and The Joint Corp. (JYNT - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

UnitedHealth Group, Molina Healthcare and The Joint Corp. have a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 20.21%, 17.70% and 199.17%, respectively, on average.

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