Vera French Names Deanna Solis Chief Operating Officer
Behavioral health providers in the Davenport area can watch how a planned leadership overlap keeps clinical operations steady.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in People
Vera French Community Mental Health Center has named Deanna Solis its Chief Operating Officer, with Solis officially joining the organization on Monday, November 2. Current COO Denise Beenk will remain with the organization through the end of 2026 to support the transition.
Why it matters
A COO transition at a community mental health provider signals how leadership is being positioned to run daily clinical and administrative operations. The overlap period with Beenk is designed to transfer institutional knowledge before she departs.
Solis's résumé includes 30 years in behavioral health and human services, 16 years at Bethany for Children & Families, and a $5 million annual operating budget she managed there. Her prior role at Eagle View Behavioral Health included oversight of a 72-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital.
The players
Vera French Community Mental Health Center
A community behavioral health provider delivering mental health and substance use services, where the COO role oversees daily clinical and administrative operations.
Deanna Solis
A behavioral health executive with 30 years of experience, including clinical leadership roles at Eagle View Behavioral Health and Bethany for Children & Families.
Denise Beenk
The outgoing Chief Operating Officer of Vera French, remaining with the organization through 2026 to support the leadership transition.
Eagle View Behavioral Health
A behavioral health provider that operates inpatient psychiatric services, where Solis most recently served as Director of Clinical Services.
Bethany for Children & Families
A child and family services organization where Solis spent 16 years in senior clinical leadership, including Chief Clinical Officer.
The details
Solis, a licensed independent social worker with a master's degree in social work from St. Ambrose University, most recently served as Director of Clinical Services at Eagle View Behavioral Health. Before that, she spent 16 years with Bethany for Children & Families as Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer. Her career spans clinical operations in both Iowa and Illinois, which the announcement cites as the states where her prior clinical operations were located. Beenk's continued presence through 2026 is intended to support her onboarding and carry institutional knowledge into the new structure.
Timeline
Monday, November 2: Deanna Solis officially joins Vera French as Chief Operating Officer.
End of 2026: Denise Beenk's transitional stay with Vera French concludes.
Market Landscape
Solis's career moved between behavioral health providers and child-and-family services across Iowa and Illinois, reflecting the regional labor pool of clinical leaders. Her appointment at a Davenport-based community mental health center follows that regional pattern of experienced clinical executives moving into operations leadership.
Operators in behavioral health should watch how leadership transitions with a multi-year overlap period are structured, since it can reduce disruption to clinical and administrative continuity. Organizations evaluating executive hires may find the knowledge-transfer model worth noting when planning their own succession.
The takeaway
A planned overlap between outgoing and incoming operations executives is a practical way to protect continuity at a clinical organization. Operators can track whether similar transitions at regional providers include documented handoff periods as a leadership-planning practice.
Further reading
For more on executive moves across the sector, explore People coverage of leadership changes in Davenport businesses.
