Bradley F. Sorte Officially Becomes the Next President and Chief Executive Officer of Caron Treatment Centers, Lays Out Vision for Caron, Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Sorte succeeds Doug Tieman, who has stepped down after 26 years as President and CEO

Wernersville, PA – July 7, 2021 – Caron Treatment Centers, an internationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to addiction and behavioral healthcare treatment, research, prevention, and addiction medicine education, today announced that Bradley F. Sorte assumed his duties as Caron’s new President and Chief Executive Officer on July 1. A clinician by training, Sorte most recently served as Caron’s EVP/Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, a position he held for more than two years.

Sorte succeeds Doug Tieman, who stepped down as President and CEO last month after leading Caron for more than 26 years. Tieman will act as Special Advisor to Sorte for the next year and remain as President Emeritus of the Board.

“Brad Sorte is a talented executive, an emerging leader in the treatment field, and a person passionately devoted to Caron and our mission of Recovery for Life,” said Dr. Thomas J. Flynn, Chair of Caron’s Board of Trustees. “All at Caron are delighted that, having reviewed talented executives from across the country, the Board decided the best person to succeed Doug Tieman was already in the Caron family. We’re excited to move forward as Brad builds on Caron’s successful initiatives and enhances our thought leadership nationally.”

Sorte’s vision includes a range of priorities for Caron and the treatment sector. Highlights include continuing to boost outcomes and research, partnerships with high-level healthcare organizations, specialty programming and increasing access to treatment through value-based insurance contracts.

Sorte intends to build upon the foundation created by Tieman with a continued focus on patient-centric care. As patients seeking treatment present with complicated diagnoses, it’s essential that quality providers combine evidence-based treatment with medicine, mental health modalities, pharmacogenetics, trauma-informed techniques and innovations in relapse prediction.

“Research is the foundation of everything we do,” said Sorte, referencing the new Fran and Doug Tieman Center for Research in Pennsylvania and the forthcoming Keele Center in Florida. “It allows us to better understand the disease of addiction and establish strong prevention and recovery protocols. From my perspective, the treatment community is just beginning to understand the importance of establishing outcomes – the long-term impact treatment has on a patient’s substance use, family life, mental health, and physical health – as the best measures of the success. As a leader in this space, we hold ourselves accountable for our outcomes at Caron with our value-based insurance contracts.”

Likewise, Sorte believes that in the next five years we will see a stronger integration of co-occurring disorders and the treatment of substance use disorder in behavioral health settings.

“The biggest challenge in front of us is the number of people who will need our help as a result of the disruption wrought by the pandemic,” continued Sorte. “That will be on the radar of every addiction treatment organization for some time to come. The other substantial challenge is how to serve the 85% of the 20 million people who meet the criteria for substance use disorder but don't feel they need help or identify for treatment. As we begin to shift our mindset to be more holistic in how we look at medical, mental health, and substance use disorders – including the language and the labels we use to characterize symptoms – we have an opportunity to engage with this broader demographic of people who would benefit from support.”

Professional Background
Sorte began his career at Caron more than ten years ago as a family therapist at Caron Renaissance. He realized early on that to become an effective healthcare leader he needed to have both a clinical background and a business background and set out deliberately to build those skill sets.

In 2015, he took on the role of Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the Florida Continuum, overseeing operations for Caron Renaissance and Ocean Drive. For the past two years, he has served as Caron’s EVP and Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, where he was responsible for aligning Caron’s strategy and performance. He also oversaw Caron’s seven regional recovery centers, all non-residential services and the operations of the business development, marketing, and admissions departments. During this time, Sorte oversaw the ground-breaking for Caron Florida’s Keele Center and site operations.

Sorte holds a Master of Social Work degree and a Master of Business Administration degree, both from Florida Atlantic University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Rice University and a Bachelor of Science degree in legal studies from Kaplan University. He is a member of both the Philadelphia and Palm Beach chapters of the Young Presidents Organization and serves on the board for the Palm Beach chapter.

Caron Treatment Centers
Caron Treatment Centers is an internationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to addiction and behavioral healthcare treatment, research, prevention, and addiction medicine education. Headquartered in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, our mission is Recovery for Life. For more than 60 years, we have helped thousands of individuals struggling with substance use disorder and their families begin to manage this chronic, treatable disease. Caron provides a continuum of care for teens, young adults, women, men, and older adults. Caron’s signature programming provides concierge treatment for executives, healthcare professionals, older adults and first responders. In addition to the Pennsylvania campus, Caron provides services in Palm Beach County, Florida, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and New York City. Caron accepts several major insurance plans and provides financial assistance for those who qualify. For more information, please visit caron.org or @CaronTreatment.

Media Contacts

Kristin Campbell-Salamone
Corporate Director of PR & Communications, Caron
215-292-5526 | kcampbell-salamone@caron.org

Katie Kennedy
Senior Vice President, Gregory FCA
610-731-1045| caron@gregoryfca.com