Recovery Centers of America at Capital Region in Waldorf has a new chief executive, and by the public record she is the fourth to be named in four and a half years.
The company announced Oct. 6 that Elyssia Stratton will lead the 140-bed addiction treatment center. Stratton has more than 18 years in behavioral health, including what the announcement describes as multiple prior CEO appointments. It says she started as a family therapist at an addiction treatment center, moved into behavioral health marketing, then into operations. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from BYU-Hawaii and a master’s in marriage and family therapy from the University of Phoenix’s Honolulu campus. The announcement does not say what became of her predecessor, Lamar Frizzell, who was named CEO on Oct. 8, 2024.
Stratton said her first 90 days will focus on building relationships with the Capital Region team, learning the facility’s community and regulatory landscape, and deepening referral partnerships with local organizations. “My priority is building relationships with our staff and understanding what makes this community tick,” she said. RCA CEO Brett Cohen called her a leader with “clinical depth and operational discipline.”
Who has led the center
Public announcements and company materials show at least six CEOs since 2018:
- Adam Birckner, named CEO in 2018, when the center opened as RCA at Waldorf and was renamed the Maryland Center for Addiction Treatment that June.
- Lisa Dehorty, named CEO Feb. 11, 2019. She was still CEO in 2020, when RCA rebranded the center as RCA Capital Region.
- Marcus Smith, promoted from clinical director in spring 2022.
- Fredericka Ford, who was CEO by June 2024, according to RCA’s own announcement of a new director of nursing. Her start date is not public.
- Lamar Frizzell, named Oct. 8, 2024. RCA’s September 2025 alumni-award post still listed him as CEO.
- Stratton, announced Oct. 6, 2026.
No CEO whose start and end can both be bounded from public material stayed longer than about three years. Frizzell’s tenure appears to be two years, if Stratton directly replaced him. The Chronicle could not find a stated reason for any of the changes.
A company in transition
The turnover is not limited to Waldorf. RCA’s founder, J. Brian O’Neill, handed the company’s CEO role to Cohen in July 2023, and in August 2024 the company reorganized its regional leadership, according to Behavioral Health Business. In December 2025, RCA agreed to pay $2 million to resolve federal allegations that it violated the Controlled Substances Act and billed federal programs for inadequate treatment services in 2017–2019, without admitting liability. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said DEA audits covered RCA facilities in Pennsylvania and Maryland between 2019 and 2024. The release does not name the Waldorf facility.
What turnover means for patients
The research is mixed. For decades, treatment professionals have assumed that losing staff harms care, but empirical tests are limited. A 2012 study in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment of adolescent treatment found that clients who experienced both direct and indirect clinician turnover reported a significantly higher percentage of days using alcohol or drugs six months later. But turnover had no significant association with the other five outcomes it measured, and the authors concluded turnover is “not necessarily associated with adverse treatment outcomes.” The same authors’ earlier organization-level study found no link between turnover rates and poorer outcomes.
That evidence concerns clinicians, not executives, and the Chronicle found no research on how CEO turnover affects treatment. The Capital Region center’s online team page lists a medical director, clinical director and director of nursing. The Chronicle could not determine how long any of them have held those roles.
What is not public
RCA did not say why its Waldorf leadership has changed, how many clinical staff have left, or how long the center’s current medical director has served. Maryland’s Office of Health Care Quality and Behavioral Health Administration regulate facilities like this one. The Chronicle did not find public inspection reports for the Waldorf center.
