Sheppard Pratt Solutions was born out of a critical need. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital leaders across the country faced surging behavioral health demands and lacked the resources to meet them. Sheppard Pratt recognized this gap and launched Solutions to bring its nationally recognized expertise to hospitals and health systems beyond Maryland.
By embedding seasoned leaders, offering tailored consulting, and developing sustainable care models, Solutions is helping partners reach more people with quality mental healthcare. It’s not just filling service gaps. It’s shifting the landscape of what behavioral healthcare can be: integrated, equitable, and enduring.
At Sheppard Pratt, we believe mental health is health, and access to care should never depend on where you live, how much you earn, or whether you have insurance. Yet across the country, millions of people are shut out of life-saving care. For too long, hospitals have faced an impossible dilemma: overwhelming demand for behavioral health services, and no sustainable way to meet it.
That’s why Sheppard Pratt launched Sheppard Pratt Solutions, a bold initiative redefining what it means to deliver mental healthcare. Our mission is simple but transformative: Take the expertise we’ve built over nearly two centuries and share it with health systems everywhere. The result? More access. Better care. Stronger communities nationwide.
“Behavioral healthcare can’t be an afterthought,” says Steve Merz, MHSA, FACHE, vice president and chief operating officer, Sheppard Pratt Solutions. “We’ve proven that mental health services can be high quality and financially sustainable. Now we’re helping hospitals across the U.S. do the same.”
A Vision That Reaches Beyond Maryland
For nearly 200 years, Sheppard Pratt has been a trusted leader in behavioral healthcare in Maryland. Today, thanks to Sheppard Pratt Solutions, that leadership is shaping care in North Carolina, Michigan, Massachusetts, Indiana, and, soon, Arizona and beyond.
We partner with health systems to make meaningful impact—from consulting on new service lines, to embedding Sheppard Pratt leaders on the ground, to building new hospitals dedicated entirely to behavioral health. These are not short-term fixes. They are long-term commitments that transform entire communities.
Why does this matter? Because in many states, behavioral health is dominated by for-profit providers who often cannot or will not treat the most vulnerable: children, individuals on Medicaid, or those facing housing, transportation, and food insecurity. Our model is different. We lean in to the populations others leave behind—because that is who needs us most.
A New Standard for Care
One of our proudest milestones is our partnership with WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. In Wake County, there are more than 500 behavioral health beds, but nearly all are in for-profit facilities. For patients on Medicaid or those with complex social needs, access was almost impossible.
WakeMed’s CEO, Donald Gintzig, inspired by his mother—a psychiatric nurse—knew the community deserved better. So, he turned to Sheppard Pratt. Together, we are building a hospital dedicated to serving those most often excluded from care. It’s a first for WakeMed—and a model for the nation. “The WakeMed-Sheppard Pratt partnership is making a positive impact on our community,” said Gintzig. “As we work to respond to the growing mental health crisis in a meaningful way, this strategic partnership builds upon our organizations’ individual strengths as a leading community health system and a national leader in mental healthcare. The result is an innovative and transformative approach to delivering mental healthcare that will benefit our community for generations to come.”
And here’s the remarkable part: This hospital [pictured below] will be financially sustainable without sacrificing quality or mission. That’s what sets Sheppard Pratt apart.
Why Your Support Matters
Every partnership we build amplifies our impact and extends our reach. But reaching more communities, and serving those who need us most, requires resources. Your gift helps us:
- Expand access in regions where none exists
- Recruit and train the next generation of mental health leaders
- Build innovative care models for complex, high-need populations
- Create financial models that prove mental healthcare can be sustainable everywhere
The truth is simple: Behavioral healthcare in America is broken, but Sheppard Pratt is fixing it. We are not waiting for someone else to lead. We are setting the standard.