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 more than 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 Highway Patrol,
and Metro Nashville 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, following the aftermath of the
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, 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 organizations.
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.
Vero served as a member of Gov. Bredesen’s Health Care Safety Net
Task Force. He was reappointed by Mayor John Cooper to the
Nashville-Davidson County Behavioral Health & Wellness Advisory
Council, where he currently serves as co-chair. Most recently, he was
asked to serve on Gov. Lee’s Long Term Care Task Force (COVID-19).
He received his B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Counseling from
Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska – where upon graduation
he received The Spirit of Creighton Award. He earned his Doctorate
in Human Development Counseling from George Peabody College of
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.