One of Jonathan Lee’s favorite quotes is from Mark Twain: “It is better to remain quiet and appear stupid than to speak and remove all doubt.” Obviously reluctant to talk about himself, when pressed, Lee engages in a fascinating history punctuated by drama and achievement. Lee was, by all accounts, motivated by his life experiences to create the successful and long-lasting Signature Health, formerly North Coast Center.

Mr. Lee has lived all of his life in Cleveland and the surrounding area. After the tragic death of his mother and subsequent imprisonment of his father when he was 4, his grandparents raised him in Lyndhurst.

While a teen, Jonathan had his own substance abuse issues. He was fortunate to have found recovery at age 17, recently celebrating 22 years of sobriety. He credits the program at St. Luke’s Hospital for both accelerating his recovery and motivating him to reach out to youth in his own practice at Signature Health.

After treatment, Jonathan returned to St. Luke’s Hospital to begin his career in the hospital’s inpatient adolescent chemical dependency treatment center. As a young recovering person, he was often consulted by treatment center professionals who focused on high school and adolescent treatment and intervention procedures.

In the early 1990s, Lee was asked to be part of a national training team for drug and alcohol counseling, factoring his unique viewpoint as a recovering youth. He recognized the importance of this work and dreamed of beginning a program for adolescents, providing support in the schools.

In 1993, he embarked on that personal endeavor and opened North Coast Center (now Signature Health)—an agency, at the time, geared towards treating adolescents. Since its inception, Signature Health has grown into a comprehensive treatment center, with both outpatient and residential treatment facilities, offering psychiatric and counseling services for children, adolescents and adults who have been affected by mental health and/or substance abuse issues.

When not working, he enjoys gourmet cooking, playing golf, the challenge of computer programming (a hobby) and likes traveling and spending time with his family.