UnitedHealthcare Veteran Jill Winters Appointed CEO to Lead Pathways into Next Phase of Growth
Atar Capital, a global private investment firm, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Pathways Health and Community Support, LLC, one of the largest providers of accessible, outcome-based behavioral and mental health services in the United States, from Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: MOH).
Atar Capital also announced the appointment of Jill Winters, an experienced healthcare management executive, to lead Pathways as its new CEO. Winters held positions of increased responsibility over almost 20 years at UnitedHealthcare, serving as President of the company’s Medicare & Retirement Central Region, as well as Chief Field Executive Officer of its Medicare Solutions business. She succeeds Interim CEO Craig Bass, who will remain at Molina Healthcare.
“This acquisition represents an enormous opportunity for us to put our collective experience to work in a critical and fast-growing segment of the healthcare industry,” said Cyrus Nikou, Founder and Managing Partner at Atar Capital. “Pathways and its dedicated employees serve a critical role as America grapples with an increasing need for mental and behavioral healthcare services. We look forward to partnering with Jill and the management team to assure that Pathways can provide important care to a larger number of clients.”
Originally founded in 1997 as Providence Human Services, Pathways specializes in providing direct services and case management to children, adolescents and adults with behavioral and medical health needs, as well as those supervised by government subsidized programs. The Company offers a full spectrum of social services and behavioral health solutions to clients in their homes or through community-based resources, including Youth & Family Services, Adult Services, and Prevention Services.
“I’m grateful for the chance to lead such a caring and dedicated team of people in delivering these vital support services to our clients,” said Winters. “With the support of Atar Capital, our number one priority is to provide home and community-based services that meet the needs of this population in the communities that we serve.”
“A key part of our strategy moving forward will be to leverage Pathways’ infrastructure and shared services support to enable its next phase of growth, and to make the Company a formidable behavioral healthcare player in the US,” said Robert Lezec, Senior Managing Director at Atar Capital. “We look forward to supporting the business and lending our deep cross-functional and multi-sectorial expertise to help create significant value for Pathways, and measurable positive outcomes for the Company’s clients.”
Atar Capital’s combination of operational expertise, industry knowledge, and investment experience provides a unique edge in identifying and creating value, and working as a true partner to portfolio companies. The firm assists with initiatives to grow the business and improve operations, leveraging all of the resources available through Atar’s global platform, including a bench of seasoned senior advisors with deep sector and functional expertise.
About Atar Capital
Atar Capital (www.atarcapital.com) is a global private investment firm that benefits from over 60 years of combined investing, operational and management experience. Atar’s principals have completed over 60 private equity transactions across North America and Western Europe. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Atar Capital’s unique deal origination, M&A and operating capabilities enables its portfolio companies to achieve their full potential.
