PACIFIC APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: New Name And New Direction
Pacific Applied Psychology Associates, the Berkeley-based mental health group-practice, is renaming itself Pathmakers Inc. as it moves "to launch a national network of behavioral health clinics" and position itself as the leading behavioral health provider group in the Western United States. The new name reflects the company's focus on proactive patient care. The San Francisco Business Times reports that the 16-year-old practice "specializes in individual and group therapy and preventive health." It currently covers 500,000 enrollees and operates 15 clinics, making it "the largest such group in Northern and Central California." And last month, in its first out-of-state move, Pathmakers began "providing coverage as a preferred provider for PacifiCare's 350,000 enrollees in Colorado." Pathmakers CEO Neil Dickman said, "We want to be the dominant provider group for the western United States and we want to try to do that over the next three years." He said the company plans to develop "strategic relationships with similar groups that want to use its staff-model approach, as opposed to outright acquisition." The Business Times notes that Pathmakers has already secured "$2 million in first-round venture capital" and "is now looking for second-round financing and talking to potential affiliates in Oregon, New Mexico and Colorado," as well as California (Rauber, 3/9).
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