Veritas Collaborative

As Veritas Collaborative and The Emily Program continue to integrate under our parent company Accanto Health, we are so excited to now have a common Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Council. The EDI Council has been shaping our shared policies, procedures, and culture since our brands merged, and we feel it is time to introduce ourselves. The common questions and answers below provide an overview of the Council, its members, and its initiatives. When forming our integrated EDI Council, we launched an EDI-focused evaluation of current practices and policies, similar to one conducted by Veritas’ former EDI Council. We started with an organization-wide survey of both staff and patients to gather information. An external anti-racist consultant, Kenya Crawford, guided the design and administration of this survey and analyzed the information gathered. Additionally, Kenya held racial affinity groups, solicited anonymous feedback, and held stakeholder interviews. We are actively involved in incorporating this feedback into staff policies and patient-facing arenas.

Renowned eating disorders clinician and advocate Chase Bannister was named as the first senior vice president for community engagement for The Emily Program and Veritas Collaborative. He began his new role 14 June 2021. “Chase is a highly respected leader in the field of eating disorders care,” said Dave Willcutts, CEO of The Emily Program and Veritas Collaborative. “We are delighted that he has agreed to join us in this critical new role, which leverages his strengths as an outstanding connector and one of the nation’s most effective ambassadors for eating disorders awareness.” Bannister is a key figure in the eating disorders treatment community, having delivered national educational presentations on eating disorders and provided expert guidance to the U.S. Congress, numerous federal agencies, and multiple White House administrations over the past decade.