Manatee Glens signs national affiliation letter

BRADENTON — One of the most prominent mental health facilities on the Gulf Coast, Manatee Glens, will partner with a Tennessee-based industry leader in a deal that creates a nearly $200 million health care organization.

Manatee Glens, according to a release, signed a letter of intent to affiliate with Nashville-based Centerstone, one of the largest nonprofit providers of behavioral healthcare in the country. The letter of intent allows Centerstone and Manatee Glens to complete due diligence and finalize an affiliation agreement. The affiliation, the statement says, could become effective Jan. 1, pending legal and regulatory reviews.

Manatee Glens serves 16,000 clients a year in a variety of services, from trauma to addictions to psychiatric illnesses and emotional disorders. It would change its name to Centerstone of Florida under the proposed affiliation. It would also retain its local board of governance, and Manatee Glens President and CEO Mary Ruiz will continue to run the organization.

“This affiliation model is unique in that it maintains local governance of services while adding national resources and expertise,” Ruiz says in the statement. “This is a best-of-both-worlds opportunity to meet the demands of the new national health care environment while preserving our local mission, staff and services.”

The Centerstone/Manatee Glens affiliation, in total, would consist of 155 locations in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. The organization would have $189 million in annual revenues, more than 3,000 employees and serve at least 100,000 people.

“Centerstone and Manatee Glens share a commitment to strengthening community care, enhancing client services and advancing the practice of behavioral healthcare,” Centerstone CEO David Guth Jr. says in the statement. “Manatee Glens is well-respected as an innovator in inpatient and outpatient service delivery, and its team expands the depth of Centerstone's clinical services and expertise. We are excited to move this affiliation forward.”