Array Behavioral Care Secures $25 Million from CVS Health to Help Address National Mental Health Crisis through Virtual Care

Investment round led by CVS Health provides leading virtual behavioral health provider support to meet mental health needs across the care continuum

Array Behavioral Care, a virtual  psychiatry and therapy practice, closed its latest equity round to further  scale modern behavioral health care across the continuum, with CVS Health leading the round.  Existing investors also joined the round and contributed additional capital. 

The financing builds upon a long history between Array and CVS Health and opens doors to new  levels of collaboration to expand access to high-quality behavioral care. 

“Array has consistently been a strong mental health care provider within Aetna’s network,” said  Cara McNulty, President of Behavioral Health and Mental Well-being for CVS Health. “As CVS Health drives more innovation into care delivery, we look forward to working with Array to enhance  access that complements our existing services in new ways.”  

Serving hospitals, clinics, and individuals directly at home, Array uniquely delivers psychiatry and  therapy across the continuum of care. With CVS Health as a new investor, Array will scale faster to  provide further access to quality, timely behavioral care in new and existing markets through  enhanced service offerings and operations, innovative technology, and expansion of the practice  team. 

“The Array team’s experience with telepsychiatry spans more than two decades, and during this  time, we’ve been at the forefront of creating, implementing, and evolving virtualized mental health  programs across the continuum of care. From our first telepsychiatry encounter in a rural hospital in 1999 to caring for patients online from their homes today, we’ve stayed true to our mission to  meet patients where they are regardless of acuity level or setting to deliver the behavioral health  care they deserve,” said Geoffrey Boyce, CEO and Co-founder of Array. “As we continue to lead the  charge in transforming access to modern behavioral health care, we’re proud to do it with our  existing partners and CVS Health.” 

“Array’s long history in virtual behavioral care and its devotion to quality stand out,” said Vijay  Patel, Managing Partner and co-founder of CVS Health Ventures, the company’s dedicated corporate  venture capital platform. “Our collaboration and investment can help enhance access to these  services, which is particularly important with demand for mental health services increasing  significantly in recent years.” 

As an early champion of telepsychiatry more than 20 years ago, Array and its early founders have  been instrumental in the reinvention of how mental health care is delivered. The practice has long  advocated for improved access to timely, quality behavioral health care in hospitals, community  clinics, primary care offices, and homes for patients nationwide. Today, there are about 90 million  Americans who can access Array’s services across all 50 states.  

An estimated 150 million Americans, or 40% of the population, live in federally designated mental  health professional shortage areas. According to research by the U.S. Department of Health &  Human Services, only 27.7% of the national need for mental health professionals is actively being  met. This scarcity of mental health professionals prevents patients from receiving the care they need, resulting in adverse health outcomes. The virtual care model allows for a more equitable  distribution of clinical resources, particularly in rural and underserved communities, helping to  remove barriers that limit patient access and increasing collaboration between mental and physical  health clinicians. 

“Our practice has always focused on helping provide patients the care they need, when and where  they need it, without sacrificing quality,” said Dr. James Varrell, Executive Chief Medical Officer and  Co-Founder of Array. “It’s clear that telebehavioral care is one of the most meaningful ways to  address the clinician shortage and mental health crisis. As our practice broadens its reach, our  patients and partners can rest assured in knowing that we lead with quality and clinical excellence  first and foremost.” 

Virtual solutions can also benefit psychiatrists, therapists, and other clinicians who can often be  burdened with excessive administrative work that detracts from time that could be spent providing  direct patient care. At Array, clinicians have a support team of clinical, operational, administrative,  and technical specialists who help providers operate at the top of their licenses, integrate with care  teams, and similarly practice as they would if they were physically present with the patient. In  2022, Array earned the Great Place to Work Certification, with 90 percent of team members calling  Array a great place to work.  

CVS Health joins other industry leaders and early investors in Array Behavioral Care, including  Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Health Velocity Capital, Harbour Point Capital, HLM Venture Partners,  OCA Ventures, and OSF Healthcare. 

Wells Fargo served as Array’s advisor on the transaction with a team led by Puneet Chandhok. 

David Fairchild, MD, MPH, SVP and Chief Medical Officer of Retail Health for CVS Health will join Array’s board of directors. “Providing high-quality, whole-person care to consumers is essential to  improving the health care system,” said Dr. Fairchild. “Working with Dr. Varrell, Geoffrey Boyce and  the entire Array organization, we believe that we can help increase access to excellent, convenient  behavioral health care services.”