Former Evernorth and Express Scripts CEO Tim Wentworth Joins Forge Health as Chairman of the Board

Visionary healthcare executive to further company's growth and scale innovative behavioral health care model

Forge Health, a leading provider of value-based mental health and substance use care, today announced that accomplished health services executive Tim Wentworth has been appointed as its new Chairman of the Board.

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Tim Wentworth, Forge Health's Chairman of the Board (Photo: Business Wire)

In this role, Mr. Wentworth will provide unmatched insight, expertise, and thought leadership to support the company in the expansion of its market-leading mental health and substance use treatment model, as well as enhance its value-based partnerships with payers, health systems, primary care providers, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), government agencies, and employers.

With more than forty years of leadership and healthcare industry experience, Mr. Wentworth most recently served as CEO of Evernorth, Cigna’s $100B health services organization, where he brought together a variety of health services capabilities including care provision, pharmacy solutions, benefits management, and integrated data and analytics. Prior to Cigna, Mr. Wentworth was CEO of Express Scripts, the largest pharmacy benefit manager in the United States, and during his tenure, Express Scripts grew to become a Fortune 100 company with more than $100 billion in revenue, 26,000 employees, and ranked number 66 on Forbes magazine’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Tim as Chairman of the Board, especially at this critical juncture where we’re executing on our vision of mental health and substance use care at scale,” said Eric Frieman, co-founder and CEO of Forge Health. “Tim’s extensive experience and proven track record in leading transformative companies that successfully execute on driving healthcare innovation, combined with his exceptional business acumen, make him the ideal partner to advance the Forge Health mission. We’re confident that Tim will help solidify our position as the market leader, be instrumental to our success, and serve as the catalyst for new and innovative opportunities that will support our growth and, most importantly, the people we serve.”

Forge Health was founded in 2016, and throughout its history, the company has successfully partnered with key industry stakeholders to deliver transformative, value-based mental health and substance use care to increase access, lower costs, improve care quality, and provide an exceptional patient experience. It is in-network with more than 30 commercial and government health plans, and through growing population health partnerships with leading health plans and health systems, now manages more than 300,000 members under its value-based partnership model.

“I deeply admire the mission of Forge Health and I am honored and excited to join the Forge Health team,” said Mr. Wentworth. “The pandemic has further highlighted the significant unmet mental health and substance use needs that exist within our healthcare system, and I believe Forge’s ‘one-stop-shop’ approach to behavioral health care is truly delivering a transformative health care experience. I’m eager to work with the Forge team at such an important, exciting time in the company’s evolution, as it expands its partnerships and care footprint to serve more patients in more places.”

Mr. Wentworth’s appointment comes as Forge continues to scale rapidly and follows exciting news from earlier this year, when Forge released the results from a groundbreaking national payor-led clinical outcomes research study showing that Forge patients maintained significant improvement in both medical utilization and overall health outcomes a full year after treatment for mental health and substance use. In August 2022, Forge Health was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. for the second consecutive year.

About Forge Health

Forge Health is a mission-driven company dedicated to delivering the highest quality affordable, accessible, and effective “one-stop-shop” mental health and substance use care to individuals, families, and communities in need. The Forge care model utilizes multidisciplinary clinical teams, data analytics, and streamlined care delivery to provide individualized, whole person care that addresses mental health and substance use issues concurrently, while also driving improved health outcomes. As the first and only behavioral healthcare provider with a proven, national payor-validated ability to drive clinical outcomes that span all areas of health, Forge Health is leading the charge in driving innovation, improving care delivery, and shaping the future of behavioral health care.

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