Acadia Healthcare to Lay Off 90 As Part of Eating Disorder Treatment Facility Closure

Acadia Healthcare Co. (NASDAQ: ACHC) will shutter its residential eating disorder treatment facility in Durham, North Carolina.

A public document from the North Carolina Department of Commerce indicates that Carolina House Homestead & Cottage located at 176 Lassiter Homestead Road will close on Nov. 8, impacting 90 positions. The closure will be permanent. The Acadia Healthcare website shows that it operates another residential treatment facility in Durham called Carolina House Estate, which focuses on treatment for mental health disorders.

Overall, Acadia Healthcare presently lists eating disorder treatment services at 12 of its locations across the U.S. Many of those locations list multiple specialty types.

Acadia Healthcare is one of the nation’s largest pure-play behavioral health care providers. It operates 274 facilities encompassing about 12,100 beds in 39 states and Puerto Rico, according to its second-quarter earnings report.

A company spokesperson has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Eating disorder services are part of Acadia Healthcare’s specialty treatment facility division. This division has recently seen a slight dip in its overall contribution to the company’s revenue. In 2021, the specialty treatment facility made up 22% of the company’s revenue. That share was 19% in 2024. Last year, Acadia’s largest revenue share (53%) came from its acute inpatient psychiatric facilities.

Eating disorder treatment facilities have had a rough go of it in recent years. Long-time executives in the space previously described their efforts as missions and didn’t consider them to be true businesses. However, in recent weeks, two behavioral health organizations that operate in the addiction treatment space have announced the addition of eating disorder programs: Rosecrance Behavioral Health via the acquisition of Ascend CHC and Recovery Now’s opening of Eating Disorder Treatment Centers of Louisiana in New Orleans.

Local media also report that Acadia Healthcare will close the Options Behavioral Health Hospital in Lawrence, Indiana, on Oct. 9. The facility has been plagued by allegations, including lawsuits, of abuse experienced in the facility.

While Acadia Healthcare maintains that it has always followed industry standards, reporting alleges that patients were held against their will and assaulted by staff.

Acadia Healthcare has experienced widespread scrutiny from patients and employees elsewhere. These actions, at least in part, have led to investigations by federal authorities. The company disclosed in its second-quarter earnings reports that it has spent $84.5 million related to these federal investigations.