Monte Nido & Affiliates

Our Monte Nido & Affiliates Leadership

Candy Henderson, MS | Chief Executive Officer

Candance Henderson is the Chief Executive Officer of Monte Nido & Affiliates. With a focus on developing teams and skill in growing companies, Candy brings strong operational and business development experience while maintaining clinical excellence in the programs she oversees. She has spent over thirty years in, and committed her career to, behavioral healthcare. Her operational experience spans all lines of behavioral health businesses with specialized experience in eating disorder treatment programs. She has led publicly traded companies as well as those in the private sector. Candy’s history operating growth-oriented companies is essential, as Monte Nido & Affiliates will continue to evaluate communities that would benefit from its care. She received her MS in Counseling and Psychology from Troy State University following her BS in Psychology and Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Paul Reed, LCSW | Chief Operating Officer

Paul Reed, LCSW serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Monte Nido & Affiliates. Paul brings over 28 years of experience in the behavioral health field. Prior to joining Monte Nido & Affiliates, Paul held CEO, Regional Director and Vice President of Operations positions in three of the leading national behavioral health organizations.

Carrie Hunnicutt, MA | Senior Vice President of Marketing

Carrie is the Vice President of Marketing for Monte Nido and Oliver-Pyatt Centers. She completed her undergraduate degree in Business at Western Connecticut State University and went on to earn her MA in Counseling from the University of Arizona. Carrie has close to twenty years experience working in the behavioral health business development area, and presents on a variety of topics related to the behavioral health business development industry. She previously served as the Secretary for IAEDP Connecticut Chapter. She has received numerous awards for her work in the field included the Unsung Hero Award at the Caron Foundations Award Breakfast, and she was the recipient of the David Brumer Excellence in Education Award.

Jennifer Gallagher | Chief Development Officer

Jennifer comes to Monte Nido with three decades of experience growing leading healthcare companies. Over the last 10 years, she has led the geographic expansion of behavioral health providers who were innovators in their fields. At Monte Nido, she works closely with the clinical and leadership teams to bring Monte Nido’s trusted clinical care into new markets either through start-ups or acquisitions. Prior to entering the field of behavioral health, Jennifer was a founder of one of the first diversified post-acute healthcare companies in the U.S. She received an MS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BA in Psychology from Connecticut College.

Melissa Spann, PhD, CEDS | Vice President of Admissions and Executive Director of Oliver-Pyatt Centers and Clementine South Miami

Melissa Spann, PhD, CEDS is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in working with women and families to effectively engage them in the treatment process from their initial point of contact. Her previous clinical work has included serving as a primary therapist at Oliver- Pyatt Centers, The Renfrew Center and Life Counseling Services in Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, master’s degree from the University of Miami, and her doctoral degree from Drexel University. Dr. Spann served as our Director of Admissions since 2014 and moved to position of Executive Director in 2018. Dr. Spann has presented nationally on topics related to adolescent development and body image issues. Her clinical interests include the intersection of trauma and eating disorders, body image development, proactively building for health, and women’s issues across the lifespan.
 

Joel Jahraus, MD, FAED, CEDS | Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Joel Jahraus is well-known and respected for his two decades of specialization in the medical management of patients with eating disorders. A board-certified physician for over 30 years, he is a recognized expert on diabetes and the medical complications of eating disorders. Dr. Jahraus came to us directly from Park Nicollet-Melrose Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he most recently served as Executive Director, with program oversight and direct management of patient care. He has been associated with the Melrose Institute (formerly the Eating Disorders Institute) since 1992. In addition to his experience with hospital-based programs, he also served as Medical Director at Remuda Treatment Centers in Phoenix, Arizona, from 2002 to 2004, where he worked with residential and outpatient levels of care.

Dr. Jahraus graduated from Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, Missouri, and has a background in family medicine. He entered an academic career as Associate Director of the University of Minnesota Family Medicine Residency Program. He then took a position as the Predoctoral Director at the University of Minnesota Medical School. During his teaching career at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Dr. Jahraus received the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award. He co-authored a chapter on eating disorders in Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine, published by the American Psychiatric Association, and has been featured in various national media, including two public television documentaries on eating disorders. He testified at a United States Congressional Briefing on the need for health insurance coverage for eating disorder treatment. For his outstanding contributions to the field, he received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2011, and was named a Top Doctor of 2013 by U.S. News and World Report.