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Brian Setzer

Chief Executive Officer at Newport Academy

Nashville, Tennessee, USA

BS
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Why they matter

Ex-Walmart Health EVP now runs Newport Healthcare, the largest youth behavioral-health platform, bringing rare payor-reimbursement and scaled-operations expertise.

Background

Brian Setzer is Chief Executive Officer of Newport Healthcare, the Nashville-based youth mental health and behavioral health treatment platform whose flagship brand is Newport Academy, a role he took on in December 2024. He joined after nearly 25 years in healthcare finance and operations, most recently as Executive Vice President of Health & Wellness at Walmart, and before that in senior finance and operating roles at Highmark Health and Cigna. He holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University and a finance degree from the University of Tennessee.

Notable deals

  • 2024
    Appointed CEO of Newport Healthcare (parent of Newport Academy), succeeding Joe Procopio, who moved to Chairman
  • 2023
    Promoted to EVP of Health & Wellness at Walmart, overseeing retail pharmacy, optical and healthcare delivery lines
  • 2021
    Hired as CFO of Walmart Health & Wellness after seven years in operating/finance roles at Highmark Health

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Became CEO of Newport Healthcare (parent of Newport Academy) in December 2024, succeeding Joe Procopio, who moved to Chairman.
  • Prior to Newport: ~3 years at Walmart Health & Wellness (CFO, then EVP), 7 years at Highmark Health (COO/CFO/EVP roles), ~15 years at Cigna including CFO.
  • MBA, Vanderbilt University; BS Finance, University of Tennessee.

Current focus

  • Expanding Newport's capacity to serve more adolescents/young adults needing residential and outpatient behavioral health care.
  • Building trusted-partner relationships with LGBTQ+-focused organizations (e.g., The Trevor Project) as a stated strategic priority.
  • Applying payor-reimbursement and retail-scale operating discipline from Walmart/Cigna/Highmark to a fragmented behavioral health category.

What he cares about

  • Mission/culture alignment — has publicly emphasized staff being motivated by purpose over compensation.
  • Access and inclusivity of care across demographics, not just flagship programs.
  • Reimbursement dynamics and payor relationships, a career-long specialty.

Sensitivities

  • New to the sector (first behavioral-health operating role) after a career in payors/retail — may be cautious discussing strategy publicly this early in tenure.
  • Behavioral health real estate/staffing rollups draw regulatory and media scrutiny; approach ownership/PE questions carefully.

Questions to ask

  1. How is Newport's payor mix and reimbursement strategy evolving under your leadership versus the Highmark/Cigna world you came from?
  2. What's the near-term M&A or de novo growth appetite for Newport Academy/Newport Healthcare?
  3. How are you translating Walmart-style operating rigor into a clinical, staff-intensive care setting?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick call on Newport Healthcare's growth strategy
Hi Brian, Congratulations on stepping into the CEO role at Newport Healthcare. Your background across Walmart Health, Highmark, and Cigna gives you an unusually complete view of payor dynamics and operating discipline in healthcare — a combination that's rare in behavioral health leadership today. We're a deal team tracking the youth behavioral health space and would value 20 minutes to hear how you're thinking about growth, reimbursement trends, and capacity expansion at Newport. No ask beyond your perspective — we're building our own view of the sector and your read would be genuinely useful. Would you have time in the next couple of weeks? Best, [Name]

Linked companies

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