According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 5 adults—roughly 59 million people—live with a mental health issue, ranging from anxiety or depression to schizophrenia or addiction. While treatment options and access to care have increased in recent years, fewer than half of these people receive mental health services.
Investment in Behavioral Health
Private equity firms remain highly interested in identifying opportunities to deploy capital and professionalize businesses across the behavioral health continuum. Behavioral health mergers and acquisitions activity remained strong in 2025 and is expected to continue its upward trajectory into 2026, with certain subsectors such as autism therapy and intellectual and developmental disability expected to receive outsized interest.
A combination of market forces continues to fuel investment in behavioral health, including persistent market fragmentation, strong and rising demand for services, and workforce inefficiencies. Managing a workforce that is plagued by high turnover and labor shortages continues to be a critical focus area for all behavioral health companies and underscores the need to deploy effective management strategies that can scale efficiently as demand for services grows.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
