We believe
Independent SUD centers do some of the most important work in healthcare, often with the least support behind them.
Large healthcare systems have playbooks, data teams, and decades of learning. We bring those lessons to independent operators to strengthen their businesses and protect the care people count on.
Mission and money don’t have to be enemies. In a treatment center, they leak from the same places. A call that waits until morning is a person who needed help tonight, and an admission that went somewhere else. A claim denied for a missing note is care your team gave for free. Fix the leak, and three things get better at once.
- Your patients. More of the people who call get in, and more of them finish.
- Your team. Schedules that match the census, and fewer good people quitting.
- You. More profit, fewer fires on your desk, and the freedom to decide what’s next.
Who we help
Independent U.S. centers that treat adults for substance use.
Your organization
At least one established program of care
You accept commercial insurance, private pay, or both. Detox, residential, PHP, IOP, or outpatient step-down care.
Your business
$5M–$30M in annual revenue
Generally 20–130 beds
and $750k+ annual EBITDA.Your goals
Planning for growth over 3–5 years
You want to build a stronger business over time, whether you're planning to keep it or sell it.
Own centers through a fund? The Blueprint works the same way, one center at a time. See “Do you support investors as well as operators?” below.
We put our experience from large systems to work for your center.
Experience at scale
We’ve helped large treatment and healthcare groups plan for growth, launch new programs, and turn strategy into day-to-day operations.
Hands-on operators
We’ve also worked with smaller centers, and we know what it takes to operate without a large system’s budget or staff.
One result: Mental Health Cooperative, a $120M behavioral health system in Tennessee, grew admissions 42% in 15 months with no acquisitions and no added headcount. Read the case. Past results, not a promise.
Client Experience and Leadership Backgrounds
How it works
Like a customized treatment plan for the business behind your care.
Seven growth levers.
One plan.
Admissions, clinical, and billing each look at their own numbers. The money slips between them: more starts stretch the floor, stretched staff miss notes, and missed notes become denials. Nobody sees all three at once.Your Blueprint puts your center’s own numbers side by side, so you know what to change first, and what each change does for patients and for profit.Explore the levers.
Admissions
Help the right patients find you and start care.
More admissions increase the team’s workload across care delivery, documentation, and billing.
- ChangeMore patients call or are referred
- ImpactMore processing and coordination for the team
- OpportunityStaff and support before admissions rise
What you get in six weeks
We turn your business baseline into a 36-month model of your growth options, then a 90-day plan with clear priorities and owners.
All three are yours to keep.
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Your business baseline
Where your money comes from today, by program and payer, and where it slips between admissions, care, and billing, in dollars. You’ll know which of the seven levers to pull first.
Reveals opportunities
What we check
We assess admissions, payer mix, census and capacity, care handoffs, staffing, pricing, and denials and collections. Each is evaluated against your center’s growth goals and what the rest of the business can support.
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Your 36-month growth model
Build a detailed month-by-month model for the next three years. Map each step in order and show how it could change revenue, costs, and profit across your center.
Sets the first 90 days of work
How we test it
You approve the numbers and assumptions. We test best, likely, and worst cases, including when cash comes in and bills come due.
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Your 90-day action plan
Know what to do first, who will do it, and when to check the result. Each task comes from the growth model.
Gives your team a plan to follow
How you use it
Use it to assign work and monitor progress with your team.
Our 36-month goal:
20–40% more EBITDAfor your center (over 36 months)
PLUS
- Equal or increased patient satisfaction
- Equal or increased staff satisfaction
Our 5× guarantee
By the last session in week six, your Growth Blueprint must show realistic ways to add at least $150,000 in yearly EBITDA, using assumptions you approve. That is five times your $30,000 project fee.
If it doesn’t, we refund your $30,000.
The guarantee applies when you share the information we ask for on time and join the working sessions. It covers the opportunity in your model, not actual earnings.
Starting is easy: Tell us a little about your center
- 1Your details
- 2Check fit
- 3Pick a time
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Questions
What exactly is EBITDA, anyways?
EBITDA means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It shows profit before these costs. It is not cash in the bank.
What happens on the fit call?
We spend 25 minutes on your numbers, goals, and questions. Then we decide if the Blueprint makes sense. No financial records needed.
Who can join the Founding Cohort?
The next five qualified centers to register can join the Founding Cohort. Sign up October 15–December 15, 2026. We start together in January 2027. The offer ends when all five places fill or at the end of December 15, Central Time. Applying or booking a call does not hold a place. Your $15,000 signing payment does, and the other $15,000 is due at the January kickoff.
This says it’s a 6-week program. What’s the 90 days about?
We build your Blueprint in six weeks. Group sessions, expert support, and the owner group run for 90 days from kickoff. We agree on dates before you join.
Who is Bob Poznanovich and what does he do?
Bob Poznanovich is a strategic partner to Arden Clark and the former Chief Business Growth Officer at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. Arden Clark builds and delivers your Blueprint.
Do you support investors as well as operators?
Yes. If you own treatment centers through a fund, the Blueprint runs the same way, one center at a time. We work with your operating partner and the center’s leader together, so the plan has an owner inside the building. Start with one center, test the $150,000 opportunity in its model, then use the same weekly measures across the rest. To get in touch, fill out the form above with your fund’s details, and tell us which center you’d start with.
Do I need to be planning to sell?
No. The model helps you grow the business. You can also use it to weigh a sale.
Will this push us to keep patients longer, or admit more at any cost?
No. Clinical need sets care. We look at the people who leave in week one, the step-downs that never start, and the authorizations that run out before anyone decides. Your clinical lead can stop any change.
Can you help us do the work?
Yes. The first group gets 90 days of access to Arden Clark partners. Send your question any time, and we reply within 48 hours. If you want us to lead projects, we agree on that work and fee separately.
Does the guarantee cover cash in the bank?
No. It guarantees the opportunity shown in your model, based on assumptions you approve. If your week-six model doesn’t show at least $150,000 in additional yearly EBITDA, we refund your $30,000. The guarantee applies when you share the information we ask for on time and join the working sessions. Actual earnings depend on putting the plan to work.