Chief Executive Officer
Centerstone
Nashville, Tennessee
David Guth is chief executive officer and co-founder of Centerstone, one of the nation’s largest behavioral health care providers. The nonprofit organization, headquartered in Nashville, serves nearly 180,000 individuals in communities in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee and nationwide through its national provider network. Guth has served as chief executive for Centerstone since 1991. With more than 43 years of behavioral health care experience – 36 of them in executive leadership – his experience and expertise comprise a vast number of areas, both business and clinical. He has presented extensively before national and international audiences on the adoption of information technology in the health care industry, the integration of behavioral and primary health care and the importance of improving the field of behavioral health through research-driven protocols. His insights on these topics and others have been featured in numerous professional journals. Under his leadership, the organization has grown from $6 million in revenue and 300 staff serving 2,000 individuals to revenue approaching $400 million and 5,400 staff serving nearly 180,000 people each year through 1,250 partnership locations and 211 facilities. In addition, Centerstone contracts with more than 1,500 specialty credentialed clinicians nationwide. Also a national speaker and consultant on not-for-profit mergers and affiliations, Guth wrote a book titled, “Strategic Unions: A Marriage Guide to Healthy Not-for-Profit Mergers.” He has provided merger presentations through both the National Council for Behavioral Health, Open Minds and state trade associations and has consulted extensively with not-for-profits exploring mergers and with both for-profits and not-for profits in the areas of managing growth and business development. He is currently working on his second book on nonprofit mergers. Guth is the recipient of numerous recognitions, including the 2017 Behavioral Healthcare Champion by Behavioral Healthcare Magazine and the National Council 2010 Visionary Leadership award. He is annually recognized as one of Health Care’s Power Leaders in the Nashville Business Journal. He serves as an Executive Committee Member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Guth received the 2016 Douglas Henry Award for Service to Children and Families at Risk from the University of Tennessee’s College of Social Work. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Vanderbilt University and his master’s degree in social work administration and planning from the University of Tennessee.
B1 - Creating the Largest Nonprofit Behavioral Health Provider in the US
Monday, April 27, 2026
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM MDT