Dr. Robert (Bob) Vero serves as Regional Chief Executive Officer of Centerstone in Tennessee and Georgia. Centerstone in Tennessee is Tennessee’s largest community-based behavioral healthcare provider with a network of more than 50 facilities – including 27 licensed outpatient behavioral health clinics, and more than 280 school-based partnership locations throughout the state. Centerstone Tennessee has a staff of 1,000+ employees serving 65,000 individuals and families annually. The organization additionally reaches more than 20,000 Tennesseans through its prevention and education outreach services. Vero is responsible for the leadership and operational oversight of Centerstone’s clinical service lines as well as its strategic business development, its fiscal performance and accountability and the organization’s philanthropic fund development efforts.

Dr. Vero has worked in behavioral healthcare for nearly four decades. He has held state licensure as Licensed Marital and Family Therapist, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Psychological Examiner. His clinical experience includes both private and community-based practice with special focus on substance use prevention and treatment, marriage and family therapy, the evaluation and treatment of adult sexual offenders, and critical incident stress management services. He also has served as a psychological consultant to several law enforcement agencies (Nebraska State Patrol, and Nashville Metro Police Dept.). Vero has volunteered his personal service following numerous state-level and national disasters –including NYC during the immediate aftermath of September 11th.

Under his leadership, Centerstone in Tennessee has developed numerous nationally-recognized products and services, including Centerstone’s crisis management strategies program, which provides crisis intervention and disaster management consultation to small businesses and large scale organizations across the nation – most notably with the NFL. In January 2013, Dr. Vero was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee–, “Assessing the State of America’s Mental Health System.”

Dr. Vero has held adjunct university faculty positions in both Omaha and Nashville and served as a volunteer Board member for several middle Tennessee not-for-profits – including Cumberland University, where he is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and serves as Secretary. He has served three terms as President of the Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations (TAMHO) – a trade association for Tennessee’s behavioral health providers.

He is the recipient of numerous recognitions including three Professional of the Year NAMI awards, the 2013 Nashville Business Journal’s Health Care Hero Award, and is recognized as one of Nashville Medical News’ InCharge Healthcare leaders annually. Most recently, Vero was appointed by Mayor David Briley to the Nashville-Davidson County Behavioral Health & Wellness Advisory Council, where he currently serves as co-chair.

He received his B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Counseling from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He earned his Doctorate in Human Development Counseling from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.