Rethinking Mental Health Care with Darden Grad Bill Blue

William F. “Bill” Blue Jr. (MBA ’86) believes all people who need mental health care should be able to find help quickly at any level of care — from crisis intervention to ongoing support — just as they can for physical health.

Eleven years ago, after a mental health crisis in his family involving long delays in diagnosis and treatment, Blue left a 28-year career in investment banking to find a solution.

“It affected us so profoundly. When you are going through it, when you’re worried about treatment, it really impacts everything you do,” he says. “The real fuel for my career change was the injustice of the treatment situation and the inability to access quality care.”

Blue, who retired as vice chairman of investment banking and capital markets at Wells Fargo Securities, and his wife, Betsy, planted the seed for the HopeWay Foundation, a nonprofit mental health treatment community for children and adults in Charlotte, North Carolina. Blue was board chair for the first 10 years and recently joined Betsy as an emeritus director.

HopeWay provides a continuum of care, so no matter what individuals are going through, vulnerable clients can skip the long wait for appointments. And they don’t have to experience the pain of repeating their story over and over in search of new providers. Services include several levels of support: residential; partial hospitalization day treatment and intensive outpatient day treatment, with personal and group therapy and integrative activities like art, music, yoga, gardening and cooking; outpatient once weekly or monthly; and support groups.

Blue was energized from the start to bring evidence-based, holistic mental health care to Charlotte, but launching a health care nonprofit was daunting — forming a board; conducting a feasibility study; fundraising; finding and building a site and high-quality staff; and becoming accredited, licensed and in network. But when Blue took his pitchbook to sitdowns with potential supporters, ready to make a case, community support came fast and strong.

“The people we would call on would just push the book away and say, ’Let me tell you about the story in our family.’ The community response was overwhelming. That’s how HopeWay got rolling.”

The board raised $27 million — far surpassing the $10 million goal. HopeWay initially relied on community outreach and word of mouth. The first couple of clients arrived on opening day, Thanksgiving 2016, but a trickle soon turned into a steady stream.

Over eight years and 8,000 admissions, HopeWay has served more than 4,000 clients from 40 states and four foreign countries. Last year, it opened a new facility to address the urgent needs of children under 18. Together, the two campuses employ 160, including full-time psychiatrists, licensed clinical therapists and nurses.

Blue says launching HopeWay was possible in part due to skills he learned at Darden and advanced in investment banking, such as presentation, capital raising and budgeting, team building, and marketing.

He’s ready to share lessons learned with like-minded communities. “Darden always asked: ‘What are your values?’” he says. “I’d love to pay it forward. We have a playbook, and I’d be more than happy to talk to any Darden alum who is inspired to try and do something like this in their community.”