Clay Cunningham Named Vice President of Behavioral Health at Bridgeway

GALESBURG, Illinois - Clay Cunningham has been named the new Vice President of Behavioral Health at Bridgeway, announced Chief Executive Officer Staci Danner on

Monday.

“Clay is an experienced behavioral health professional,” said Danner. “We are lucky to get someone of his caliber to lead our Behavioral Health program forward.”

Raised in Wyoming where he also began raising his family, Clay earned his master’s degree in counseling and has been a licensed professional counselor since 2007. Throughout his career—regardless of leadership role—he has remained actively engaged in direct clinical care and continues to provide virtual therapy services in his spare time through a national telehealth platform.

“I am thrilled to get started with Bridgeway,” said Cunningham. “We now fully consider ourselves Midwest transplants, and have found everyone at the organization and the community to be extremely welcoming.”

Clay spent a decade at a large behavioral health organization similar in mission to Bridgeway in the Denver metro area, advancing from quality and compliance leadership to Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure, he led the organization to become the first Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accredited community mental health center in Colorado, leading the planning stages for the organization to become a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.

“I’m excited to work for one of the few Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics in Illinois,” added Cunningham. “Being part of the CCBHC demonstration program ensures our consumers receive evidence-based, trauma-informed care, while also giving the organization the financial flexibility to thoughtfully develop and pilot innovative programs without the pressure of traditional reimbursement models.”

After relocating to rural Freeport Illinois in 2022, Clay served as Executive Director of Behavioral Health for a nonprofit health system, overseeing community mental health, crisis services, and substance use prevention services, before later leading physician recruitment and retention throughout the hospital system. He now brings this combined clinical, operational, and systems experience to Bridgeway.

Outside of work, Clay enjoys running, reading, and spending as much time outdoors as possible with his family hiking, backpacking, camping, and exploring new places.