David Keys, CFA
Chief Development Officer
David Keys joined Acadia Healthcare in September 2021 as Chief Development Officer. In this role, Mr. Keys has responsibility for Acadia’s strategic growth initiatives including mergers & acquisitions, de novo development and expansion opportunities across each of Acadia’s service lines. Over the last year he has been leading Acadia’s work to accelerate the de novo pipeline for specialty, CTC and acute facilities.
Prior to joining Acadia, Mr. Keys has been within healthcare services for nearly two decades, including more than 15 years in investment banking and mergers and acquisitions advisory work. Most recently, he covered behavioral health and several physician practice management sectors as a managing director for Truist Securities Inc, which he joined following the merger of SunTrust and BB&T. Prior to the merger, Mr. Keys was managing director and head of healthcare M&A for BB&T Capital Markets. Mr. Keys has held previous roles in investment banking with Harris Williams & Co. and Piper Jaffray. Over the course of his investment banking career, he has executed approximately 50 transactions representing more than $3 billion in transaction value for founders, entrepreneurs, private equity groups and corporate clients.
Mr. Keys was also a co-founder of Creswell Partners, where he and his partners established a technology-enabled provider of substance use disorder treatment monitoring, care management, and related support services for nearly 500,000 individuals on behalf of judicial treatment programs and in collaboration with treatment providers. At Creswell, Mr. Keys was responsible for sourcing investment opportunities, integrating acquisitions and working with the Chief Technology Officer to develop a proprietary patient engagement system to drive improvements in outcomes.
Mr. Keys earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mr. Keys is also a CFA charterholder.
