Spectrum CEO to retire in July, capping 45 years with company

Charles “Chuck” Faris, who began a 45-year career at Massachusetts-based Spectrum Health Systems as a counselor and has served as president and CEO since 2000, will retire from his position on July 1, the addiction and mental health treatment organization announced Feb. 16. Faris will become a senior adviser to the company at that time.

Faris has overseen Spectrum's growth from one long-term residential treatment program site to an organization offering a continuum of behavioral health services, making its mark in areas such as developing opioid treatment programs (OTPs) and providing specialized services for persons in the criminal justice system. An expanded facility in Westborough, Mass., that was made possible through the organization's increasing private-insurance business was dedicated in Faris's honor last year.

Among Faris's individual honors have been the Nyswander Dole Award for Outstanding Contributions to Methadone Treatment and the 2015 Visionary Leadership Award from the National Council for Behavioral Health.

Faris was promoted to associate executive director of Spectrum in 1979, followed by vice president of the company in 1985.