Acadia CEO gets $900,000 to delay retirement

Behavioral health provider Acadia Healthcare will pay outgoing CEO Debbie Osteen $900,000 to delay her retirement for two months.

Osteen announced her retirement from the 225-location network in October and was set to transition to an advisory role on Jan. 31. She will now stay on as CEO through March 31 “to assist with and ensure a smooth transition of leadership,” the company wrote in a submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 31. The Nashville Business Journal first reported that she would extend her tenure.

The investor-owned company is paying Osteen a bonus worth 90% of her $1 million salary to retain here through March.

Osteen’s departure announcement came amid high turnover among the company’s leadership team. Two other senior executives left for a local competitor around the same time.

Osteen has led the Franklin, Tennessee-based company since its board severed ties with Joey Jacobs in 2018. Acadia Healthcare has not announced Osteen’s successor.