Acadia names chief medical advisor for Recovery Division

After a two-year stint as chief medical officer at one of Acadia Healthcare’s residential treatment facilities, Michael V. Genovese, MD, JD, now is taking the leadership role for the organization’s entire Recovery Division.

In December, Genovese was promoted to chief medical advisor of the division, which covers about 40 intensive outpatient and residential treatment centers. That includes Sierra Tucson, where Genovese worked on initiatives to advance clinical and medical programming, grow its medical team, improve resident safety and increase access to treatment.

“When I started there, we did our best to bring some new technologies,” Genovese tells Behavioral Healthcare Executive. “We brought in pharmacogenomic testing to make sure we were giving our patients the best medications for that individual patient. We brought in transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat depression and anxiety and help with addiction treatment.

“We changed some of our protocols in terms of medication, as well as some staffing patterns. We tried to individualize the treatment for each patient. Those are the sorts of things I’ll be looking to do with the rest of the division.”

As chief medical advisor, Genovese says he plans to visit Acadia treatment centers, working with medical directors, physicians, therapists and nurses to get a feel for what works at each facility and to address their respective weaknesses.

Prior to joining Sierra Tucson, Genovese co-founded Long Island Mind & Body, a New York medical practice that specialized in integrative treatments. He was also a fellow at the New York University/North Shore University Hospital Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Program.