American Addiction Centers (AAC) is a Brentwood, Tennessee–based, publicly traded for-profit addiction treatment chain. The company delivers

addiction treatment Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general inten ...

services in residential and

outpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other healt ...

facilities, as well as provides drug testing and diagnostic laboratory services. Ellen-Jo Boschert (BA) and David Hans (PsyD) became co-CEOs in December 2023.

History

American Addiction Centers was co-founded in 2004 by Michael Cartwright (then CEO). In October 2014, the company went from

privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

, becoming the first publicly traded addiction treatment provider in the U.S. In December 2014, American Addiction Centers made its first acquisition as a public company, taking over Recovery First Inc., a Florida-based

substance use disorder Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs despite substantial harm and adverse consequences to self and others. Related terms include ''substance use problems'' and ''problematic drug or alcohol use''. Along with substance-ind ...

and rehab services company. By 2015, American Addiction Centers ran 8 facilities in 6 states after acquiring several sites in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. Among the company's acquisitions in 2015 were also two

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

firms focused on publishing

online content Web content is the text, visual or audio content that is made available online and user encountered as part of the online usage and experience on websites. It may include text, images, sounds and audio, online videos, among other items placed ...

on substance use disorders – Referral Solutions Group and Taj Media; and Aliso Viejo–based Laguna Treatment Hospital's building for $13.5 million. In 2015, the company launched a Behavioral Health Academic Scholarship Program, providing

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

funds to

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

students pursuing careers in addiction-related fields. In 2017, AAC acquired AdCare, a New England–based provider of addiction treatment, for $85 million. In 2019, AAC received three warnings from the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, risking being delisted. The third warning was issued after AAC stock traded below $1 for at least 30 trading days. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, AAC provided coronavirus testing for its patients and the local Tennessee community through its in-house lab to prevent infections. It also launched telehealth services on its mobile application and monitored the vitals of an in-house patient through their EarlySense technology and

toxicology testing Toxicology testing, also known as safety assessment, or toxicity testing, is the process of determining the degree to which a substance of interest negatively impacts the normal biological functions of an organism, given a certain exposure durat ...

as a part of their ongoing treatment program. In late 2020, the company underwent a financial restructuring. In June 2020, it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Locations

By 2018, American Addiction Centers was operating 12 residential treatment centers and 18 outpatient facilities, and reported a

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

of almost $296 million. As of December 2020, AAC operates 26 locations in eight states of the U.S. In June 2023, Sunrise House was closed.

Research

American Addiction Centers conducts studies and research through its subsidiaries. In 2018, the center conducted patient outcome studies with Centerstone Research Institute. In 2020, they conducted a study on people's alcohol consumption pattern during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a research on

likelihood in the

LGBTQ+ community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individua ...

. The company also conducted other alcohol-related surveys and studies during the pandemic.

Controversy

In 2018, a California jury issued a verdict against AAC, awarding $7 million to the family of a patient who committed suicide in a AAC facility and died 20 hours after his arrival. According to an investigation by '' Mother Jones'', centers managed by AAC often leave patients unattended, which led to some patient deaths and lawsuits. AAC denies it and claims that its death rate is the lowest in the industry. In May 2019, AAC filed a defamation lawsuit against the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP). The lawsuit was dismissed in late 2021.

References

External links

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Digital Lifeline For Addiction Treatment Providers
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Addiction Centers Health care companies established in 2007 Addiction organizations in the United States Health care companies based in Tennessee 2007 establishments in Tennessee 2014 initial public offerings Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange