Healthcare services · Addiction treatment
Recover
A California outpatient addiction treatment provider, paid mostly by county governments, that began as a telehealth service and now holds eight state certifications for clinics. Its outcome numbers have never been published anywhere a reader can check them.
Three feet of snow
Placer County put the problem plainly in January 2023. In North Lake Tahoe, the weather and a shortage of local clinicians had been keeping people with substance use disorders away from treatment for years.
On April 1, 2022 the county signed contract HHS000432 with Recover Medical Group, P.C., a two year old startup, for outpatient treatment, recovery services and case management delivered over video. Nine months later it reported 30 clients served in the North Tahoe area.
“It’s been great being able to bring these services to the Tahoe area and the rest of the county,” chief executive Nick Gulino said in the county’s announcement.
That contract is the whole business in miniature. Recover does not sell software to hospitals and is not a cash pay clinic. It contracts with county behavioral health departments and bills Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program.
Who actually pays
The Placer contract shows where the money comes from, line by line: the state Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System, AB109 realignment funding, child welfare services and CalWORKs. The ceiling was $456,300 for 15 months. Rates are $3.00 a minute for outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, case management and recovery services, and $15.00 a urine test.
Recover’s own framing of the market, on its Y Combinator listing, is combative. It says fewer than 10 percent of Americans who need addiction treatment get it, that only 8 percent of those treated get better, and that most publicly funded programs are “frequently predatory, and focus more on profit than people.” Those figures are the company’s, uncited.
What is independently documented is demand. The Marin Independent Journal reported in June 2025 that driving under the influence is the most frequently charged crime in Marin County, with 1,121 cases referred in 2024, and that the 2025 County Health Rankings put binge or heavy drinking among Marin adults at 25 percent against a state estimate of 20 percent.
A lawyer who grew up around it
Nick Gulino graduated from Yale Law School in 2018. His profile on The Org says that before founding Recover he spent ten years in addiction services, led work in McKinsey & Company’s government practice, advised governors and served in the White House. Crunchbase News reported in June 2021 that he grew up watching his own family and friends struggle with addiction. The Y Combinator listing goes further, saying he was raised by a parent with an addiction, has a brother with an alcohol problem, and lost an uncle to heroin.
Tracxn and FounderTrace both name Dylan de Waart as a co-founder; Recover’s team page now lists him as Founder Emeritus. The named leadership is small: Ian Christensen-Gibbons, operations, Peter Posada, partnerships, and Daniel Duel, M.D., medical director. Duel is the authorized official on the first federal provider registration, enumerated July 16, 2021 at the Cardiff address.
From one pilot to a clinic network
For three years Recover was a video service with a mailing address. Then it started opening buildings.
In June 2025 the County of Marin announced that Recover had taken over the court required driving under the influence program, dark since the previous provider stopped offering classes in August 2024, and now runs it from an office on Irwin Street in San Rafael. Gulino told the Marin Independent Journal that the company offers those classes at 11 locations in the state, and that Marin also pays Recover to treat low income residents.
Federal provider records track the same expansion. Six new organizational registrations were enumerated in 2025: Chula Vista, San Diego and Escondido in June, then Corcoran, Hanford and Moreno Valley in November. California’s facility dataset now lists eight certified outpatient sites across Kings, Placer, Riverside, San Diego and Santa Clara counties.
The most visible opened on September 17, 2025, when Santa Clara County’s Behavioral Health Services Department cut the ribbon on Recover Gilroy, a clinic built for 600 to 700 people a year in a part of the county officials said had long had few options.
What is proven, and what is still claimed
| Evidence | What the record shows | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| Placer County contract | HHS000432, April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, not to exceed $456,300, funded from the state block grant, Drug Medi-Cal, AB109, child welfare and CalWORKs. | Public record |
| Contracted rates | $3.00 per minute for outpatient ASAM 1.0, intensive outpatient ASAM 2.1, case management and recovery services. $15.00 per urine test. | Public record |
| State certification | Eight DHCS certified facilities: Corcoran, Rocklin, Moreno Valley, Cardiff by the Sea, Escondido, Chula Vista, San Diego, Gilroy. All outpatient, none residential or for withdrawal management. Expirations June 30, 2026 to August 31, 2027. | Public record |
| Provider registrations | Eight active organizational NPI records. First July 16, 2021 in Cardiff under Daniel Duel; one in Roseville, February 2024; six in 2025 under Nicholas Gulino, taxonomy addiction medicine. | Public record |
| Santa Clara clinic | Recover Gilroy opened September 17, 2025 under county contract, built for 600 to 700 people a year, for Medi-Cal members and the commercially insured. Staff training was still underway at opening. | Public record |
| Marin programs | County DUI program provider from June 2025. Separately listed in the county Medi-Cal directory for outpatient care, recovery services and medications for addiction treatment, telehealth only, for adults and adolescents aged 12 to 17. | Public record |
| Reported volume | 30 clients in North Tahoe as of January 2023. Capacity 600 to 700 a year at Gilroy. No cumulative patient count has been published. | Public record |
| Outcome claims | The company says its approach can “improve outcomes for over 70% of patients,” cut overdoses by 80 percent and death by 50 percent, at 10 percent of the cost of traditional programs. No study, cohort or dataset is named. | Company-stated |
| Published evidence | PubMed returns no results for Recover Medical Group as of September 24, 2026. ClinicalTrials.gov lists no study by the company. No county evaluation has been published. | Not found |
| Headcount | Y Combinator says 10, PitchBook 25, GetLatka 22 in December 2024, Tracxn 41 in August 2026. None is a company disclosure. | Sources disagree |
Read plainly: the operating record is real and easy to verify, because contracts, certifications and registrations are filed with named agencies and carry dates and dollar figures. The clinical record is another matter. Every number Recover uses to argue its model works better is one it supplies itself without a citation, and no county that pays it has published an evaluation. Medication combined with counseling is established care that California funds as a defined benefit; that is not evidence about this provider.
What to watch
- Whether the Rocklin certification, which expires June 30, 2026, is renewed.
- Any published outcome data, from Recover or a county that pays it.
- Whether the 2025 clinic openings produce published contract awards with values.
- Movement outside California. Every record found is in one state.
- Federal Medicaid changes, which Santa Clara County named as a risk when it announced Gilroy.
In their words
“It’s been great being able to bring these services to the Tahoe area and the rest of the county.”
Nick Gulino, CEO, Placer County announcement, 2023 · County release
“We’ve had telehealth options for mental health for some time yet this is the first time we’ve had such an option for substance use treatment.”
Amy Ellis, Adult System of Care Director, Placer County, 2023 · County release
“Some clients prefer telehealth. For some, it’s a necessity because they can’t go to treatment in person.”
Daniel Apgar, program supervisor, Placer County, 2023 · County release
“Recover Medical Group has a strong record of providing a broad range of services throughout our state, which allows patients flexible access via both in-person and through telehealth.”
Dr. Cheryl Ho, medical director for substance use treatment, Santa Clara County, 2025 · County release
“At Recover Medical Group, we believe recovery starts with access to compassionate, evidence-based care.”
Nick Gulino, CEO, Santa Clara County announcement, 2025 · Company-stated
“This program is critical for both accountability and rehabilitation.”
Dr. Todd Schirmer, Behavioral Health Director, County of Marin, 2025 · County release
“My understanding is Recover offers bilingual classes, so that’s a real positive factor.”
Wesley Pratt, Deputy District Attorney, Marin Independent Journal, 2025 · Independent
“We’ve been working with the county for a while.”
Nick Gulino, Marin Independent Journal, 2025 · Independent
Related companies
Sources
- Public recordContract HHS000432, Recover Medical Group P.C.
- Public recordSUD Recovery Treatment Facilities dataset
- Public recordNPPES NPI Registry, organizational records
- Public recordTelehealth makes treatment more accessible in North Lake Tahoe
- Public recordSanta Clara expands treatment with new Gilroy clinic
- Public recordCounty Restores Local DUI Program Services
- Public recordSubstance use services, provider and DUI listings
- Public recordPubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov searches
- IndependentMarin offenders get local option for DUI courses
- IndependentCounty opens new substance use recovery center in Gilroy
- IndependentDUI Program Returns To Marin County
- IndependentMore Startups Founders Are Tackling Addiction
- IndependentFounding a Tech Company for Social Good
- IndependentRecover company profile
- IndependentRecover company profile
- IndependentRecover revenue and headcount estimates
- IndependentRecover treatment listing
- IndependentNick Gulino, Chief Executive Officer at Recover
- CompanyRecover company page and directory record
- CompanyRecover website: home, patients, partners, team
Profile researched and written by Healthcare Discovery. Last updated September 29, 2026.
