Javier Ley promoted to lead Hazelden Betty Ford's East Region

Center City, Minn. (June 29, 2023) – The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation today announced Javier Ley, DPC, as its new East Region executive director. A longtime business and clinical operations leader with deep expertise in helping people recover from substance use and mental health conditions, Dr. Ley will oversee treatment centers in New York City; Chicago; and Naples, Fla.

"Javier is a passionate recovery advocate, talented clinician and accomplished leader who has delivered consistent results throughout his career," said Joseph Lee, MD, president and CEO of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the nation's largest nonprofit provider of substance use treatment, mental health care and related family, research, education and prevention services. "We have outstanding teams and wonderful partners and community ambassadors in New York, Chicago and Naples, and Javier's leadership will help us continue to expand our impact and reach in those cities and beyond."

Dr. Ley, who has led Hazelden Betty Ford's site in Naples for the past seven months, will continue to live in Florida with his family and provide on-site leadership to the team there while also overseeing the treatment centers in Chicago and New York. He will also serve on Hazelden Betty Ford's national Operations Leadership Team and continue to serve on the organization's national Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

"Throughout my time with Hazelden Betty Ford, I have been blessed with opportunities to collaborate with awesome, compassionate, and skilled professionals committed to our strong mission of healing and hope, and it will be exciting to get even more of those opportunities in this expanded role," Dr. Ley said. "The behavioral needs in our communities are significant and growing, and I look forward to working closely with our teams and supporters throughout the Eastern United States to empower recovery and well-being for more individuals and families."

Prior to taking over the site in Naples last year, Dr. Ley was executive director of Arcadia Trails Center for Addiction Recovery, a full-continuum-of-care treatment center that is part of INTEGRIS Health, the largest health system in Oklahoma, an affiliate-level member of Hazelden Betty Ford's Patient Care Network. Dr. Ley worked for Hazelden Betty Ford at the time and led the Oklahoma center as part of a management agreement between the two organizations.

Before joining Hazelden Betty Ford in 2019, Dr. Ley was a senior vice president at Valley Hope Association in Kansas. Earlier in his career, he spent five years standing up a not-for-profit treatment center and prevention program in Nicaragua, where he was born. It was the first substance use disorder treatment program in Nicaragua to utilize evidence-based practices, and his innovative work there led to him helping develop clinical programs at a facility in Honduras as well. Dr. Ley's experience also includes an earlier stint at Hazelden Betty Ford, when he worked as a counselor and program manager in Center City, Minn. Prior to behavioral health, he worked for a decade in a variety of business administration roles. 

He holds a doctorate in professional counseling, as well as advanced degrees in health care transformation and clinical mental health counseling.