Ascension Recovery CEO to tackle stalled SUD projects at summit

Ascension Recovery Services CEO Doug Leech will join a behavioral health panel Thursday at the SUD Business Summit in Orlando to explain why substance use disorder treatment facilities and expansion projects often stall before opening. The discussion comes as demand for addiction care grows and developers face delays tied to financing, licensing, staffing and construction.

Why it matters: - Substance use disorder treatment capacity is still not keeping pace with demand, and delays can push opening dates back by months or longer. - Projects that stall late in development can burn cash, miss payer revenue windows and delay access to care in the communities they were meant to serve. - For providers and investors, better coordination across financing, licensing, staffing and construction can reduce risk and speed delivery.

What happened: - Doug Leech, founder and CEO of Ascension Recovery Services, will speak on a panel at the SUD Business Summit in Orlando on Thursday, July 16. - The session is titled “Development Download: Why SUD De Novos, Expansion Projects Stall.” - Leech will appear with Abigail Stoll, owner and founder of Restaura Behavioral Health, and Anthony Kilgore, chief executive officer of BHG Recovery. - The panel is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. - Leech will focus on why new substance use disorder treatment facilities and expansion projects frequently face costly delays.

The details: - The panel will examine financial, regulatory, operational and workforce barriers that can prevent well-funded projects from moving from concept to patient care. - Speakers will discuss how to align financing, accreditation, licensing, construction and staffing timelines with community needs. - Leech said, “A funded project is not the same as a financeable one.” - Leech also said, “Optimism helps start a project. Structure gets it open.” - In a recent bylined article, Leech argued that projects stall when site selection, financing, clinical programming, regulatory approvals, workforce planning, payer contracting and operational readiness are treated as separate workstreams. - Leech said choosing a site or starting construction before fully evaluating licensing requirements, workforce availability and reimbursement conditions can create expensive problems later. - Leech said even heavily funded projects can struggle if financial plans do not include startup expenses, delayed payer revenue, pre-opening staffing costs and the runway needed for a new program to stabilize. - Leech’s presentation is built around those same barriers and the need for earlier planning.

Between the lines: - The core message is that addiction treatment development fails less from lack of capital than from poor sequencing. - Leech is framing facility buildout as an operational system, not a real estate project. - That perspective matters for investors and operators trying to avoid overbuilding before licensing, staffing and reimbursement are ready. - Leech brings personal and professional credibility to the topic, pointing to his own recovery journey and his work expanding treatment access in West Virginia and nationwide. - Ascension Recovery Services says it has helped open more than 80 SUD treatment centers across 35 states and has developed and managed integrated behavioral health systems for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions.

What's next: - The panel is expected to offer practical guidance on anticipating dependencies earlier and building more realistic timelines. - Attendees at the SUD Business Summit will also hear about operational best practices, sustainable growth strategies and market trends across addiction treatment. - Ascension Recovery Services says it will continue using its integrated development-and-management model to expand treatment programs nationwide.

The bottom line: - The takeaway for SUD developers is simple: capital helps, but coordinated execution opens the doors.