Center City, Minn. (May 30, 2023) – As the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's new chief business growth officer, Bob Poznanovich will be responsible for bridging the gap between product development, marketing and sales to help the nonprofit reach more people with its lifesaving substance use and mental health care and resources.
The expanded role, announced internally on May 19, is the latest in a succession of leadership positions for Poznanovich, who has served the organization since 2009, including most recently as vice president of business development.
Poznanovich will take over guidance of Hazelden Betty Ford’s Patient Access & Placement team as well as the organization’s partnership with the Arcadia Trails INTEGRIS Health Center for Recovery in Edmond, Okla., where it provides site leadership under a management agreement. In addition to the new responsibilities, Poznanovich will continue to manage Hazelden Betty Ford's strategic relations with health systems, employers, insurance and managed care organizations, professional referents, and other national accounts.
"Bob's expanded enterprise-wide scope will enable him to gain key insights into customer needs, external market dynamics and additional growth strategies," said Joseph Lee, MD, president and CEO of Hazelden Betty Ford, the nation's largest nonprofit provider of substance use treatment, mental health care and related research, education and prevention services. "The collective strategy among all of our executives is to link Hazelden Betty Ford’s offerings—from clinical services to digital products to intellectual property and more—cohesively in a way that provides unparalleled value to customers."
"What excites me most about this expanded role is the opportunity to connect the dots across the organization and externally, and to help our leadership team capitalize on the best opportunities to drive results and grow as a force of healing and hope," Bob said. "I first arrived at Hazelden as a patient many years ago and am still energized by our mission and my own personal gratitude to do everything I can to help us expand our reach and impact. I look forward to doing that with my expanded team and everyone we collaborate with inside and outside the organization."
Prior to joining Hazelden Betty Ford, Poznanovich co-founded and served as the CEO of AiR Healthcare—a behavioral health organization that provides solutions to individuals, families and employers dealing with behavioral health issues. Before that, he spent over 20 years as a senior business development executive in the technology industry. He is co-author of the Hazelden Publishing title, It Is Not Okay to be a Cannibal: How to Stop Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive.
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. As the nation's leading nonprofit provider of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient addiction and mental health care for adults and youth, the Foundation has treatment centers and telehealth services nationwide as well as a network of collaborators throughout health care. Through charitable support and a commitment to innovation, the Foundation is able to continually enhance care, research, programs and services, and help more people. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation today is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in its services and throughout the organization, which also encompasses a graduate school of addiction studies, a publishing division, an addiction research center, recovery advocacy and thought leadership, professional and medical education programs, school-based prevention resources and a specialized program for children who grow up in families with addiction.