Westlake Village health care startup Lightfully Behavioral Health has kicked off 2022 with a slew of developments that include the launch of two mental health facilities, plans to hire hundreds of California-based employees and the implementation of a new clinical care model.
Lightfully treats clients with a primary diagnosis of a mental health disorder in categories such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma-related disorders and personality disorders.
So far, the Regal Healthcare Capital Partners-backed startup has acquired two of 13 mental health treatment centers it will open in California this year.
One of the two locations acquired is Resilience Treatment Center in West Los Angeles. The acquisition will include a six-bed residential treatment center and a 35-bed partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient program.
The two secured locations are joined by three other residential treatment locations in Brentwood, Thousand Oaks and Carlsbad. Three additional residential treatment facilities are in escrow, along with two commercial properties that will house partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs, according to a statement.
All centers will be opened monthly throughout the year according to Chief Executive Jennifer Steiner.
To staff the 13 treatment centers, Lightfully plans to hire about 195 California-based employees by the end of the year.
Steiner acknowledged the challenge of navigating what has become an employee’s market during the COVID-19 pandemic, as demand for nurses and clinicians has increased.
“We’re really pushing the envelope on our benefits, on work and on pacing. All of our clinicians, all of our therapists, work 32 hours and get paid 40,” Steiner said. “We’re trying to combat compassion fatigue.” She added that Lightfully offers fully paid medical benefits and internal training programs for its clinicians.
Mental health care providers have differing therapies to treat types of diagnoses, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). According to Steiner, there are more than 100 therapies for different diagnoses, creating what Steiner called “a very chaotic and difficult to grow and replicate environment.”
Lightfully is attempting to differentiate itself from other health care providers by adopting a process-based therapy framework that addresses the core processes associated with a range of mental health disorders.
“Here’s the reality: No patient shows up with just PTSD, most people have two to three co-occurring conditions,” Steiner said. “What’s happening today is you might have a clinician in the center that happens to be specialized in DBT, but not in EMDR, so the (patient) kind of just gets whatever’s there.”
Lightfully’s therapy and business model eventually landed the business with an equity group in Regal Healthcare Capital Partners, which targets investments in companies ranging in size from $20 million to $100 million in revenue.
Neither company has disclosed the amount of the investment Lightfully received, but Regal Co-Founder and General Partner Jon Santemma said Lightfully is one of the larger capital commitments for the New York-based private equity firm.
Lightfully plans to expand to other states in the next five years and is eyeing possible locations in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Texas.