Rick Wurth is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Development Officer at CHNK Behavorial Health/Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky, headquarted in Covington, KY. He joined the organization in October 2010, first serving as Vice President for Development. Wurth was promoted to his current positions in 2012 by the Board of Trustees.
Under Wurth's time as CEO, the organization's treatment lines have expanded to include addiction treatment, intensive outpatient services, day treatment/partial hospitalization, psychiatric residential treatment, psychiatric medication management, individual and family therapy, and a therapeutic day school operated in partnership with Covington Independent Public Schools. Annual revenues for the organization have grown from $3.5M to $12M since 2012. Client family impacts have grown 434% since 2014 under Wurth's leadership. The organization is preparing to open a fourth location in 2024 in response to increased demand for mental health services in the Commonwealth.
Established in 1882, CHNK is a premier provider of mental healthcare services including telehealth plataforms. CHNK offers a full continuum of care including both outpatient and residential treatment. Operating out of three locations in Northern Kentucky, the CHNK team of 120 healthcare professionals take a trauma-informed and family-focused approach to treatment, annually impacting more than 3,000 indiviuals and providing an average of 30,000 treatment services each year. The organization serves both youth and adults throughout the 120 counties of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati Region. CHNK was the first organization in Kentucky to achieve certification in the Sanctuary Model of Trauma Informed Care and is the only entity in Kentucky to achieve the highest certification from the National Human Rights Campaign Foundation for its culturally competent care of LGBTQ youth and familes. It has also been recognized for its work with gender equity within its leadership structures.
Wurth is one of eleven state commissioners serving on the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights which enforces the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. Appointed in 2011 by Governor Andy Beshear, Wurth represents the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Sixth District.
The Cincinnati Business Courier named Wurth as a 2023 finalist in the C-Suite Awards in the Chief Executive Officer category.
Wurth and his husband, Michael, reside in Union, Kentucky with their four parrots and two Airedale Terriers.