Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) is an American Fortune 500 company[1] that provides hospital and healthcare services, based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. In 2022, UHS reported total revenues of $13.4b.[2]
Alan B. Miller, who currently serves as the company's Executive Chairman, founded Universal Health Services, Inc. in 1979. Within 18 months of its founding, UHS owned four hospitals and had management contracts with two additional hospitals.[3]
In 1979, UHS entered Las Vegas with the purchase of Valley Hospital.[4]
In 1980, the company chose its first Board of Directors.[citation needed] In 1981, UHS held its initial public offering.[5] In 1982, UHS purchased five hospitals from the Stewards Foundation,[citation needed] marking the first time a for-profit corporation purchased hospitals from a nonprofit religious organization.[citation needed] In 1983, UHS purchased Qualicare, Inc. for more than $116 million. The purchase included 11 acute care hospitals and four behavioral health hospitals.[citation needed] In 1986, UHS created Universal Health Realty Income Trust,[citation needed] the first REIT in the healthcare industry.[citation needed]
In 1991, UHS stock trading moved from NASDAQ to NYSE.[citation needed]
In November 2010, UHS reached an agreement in May to acquire Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. for $3.1 billion.[6][7] In June 2012, UHS announced its plans to acquire Ascend Health Corporation for $517 million.[8] In February 2014, UHS bought Palo Verde Mental Health for an undisclosed amount, renaming the facility to Palo Verde Behavioral Health.[9] In April of that year, UHS announced the acquisition of the Psychiatric Institute of Washington.[10] In September of that year, UHS' stock joined the S&P 500 Index and acquired Cygnet Health Care Limited for approximately $335 million.[11][12] In August 2015, UHS acquired Alpha Hospitals Holdings Limited for $148 million from private equity group C&C Alpha Group.[13] In September of that year, UHS announced the acquisition of Foundations Recovery Network based in Brentwood, Tennessee for $350 million.[14][15] In August 2016, UHS bought Desert View Hospital in Pahrump, Nevada for an undisclosed amount.[16] In December of that year, UHS acquired Cambian Group PLC's Adult Services Division.[17] In July 2018, UHS announced its acquisition of the Danshell Group.[18]
On September 28, 2020, Universal Health Services Inc. announced that its network went offline after an unspecified "IT security issue".[19]
In September 2020, consistent with the company's long-standing succession plan, UHS announced that Alan B. Miller would step down as CEO in January 2021 and that President Marc D. Miller would be named CEO.[20]
UHS ranked on the Fortune 500 in 2021, 2022[21] and again in 2023.[22]
UHS was named on the Fortune World's Most Admired List in 2020 and 2021.[23][24] UHS was again named on the Fortune World's Most Admired List 2023.[25]
Controversies
Hospital licenses
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) threatened the Rancho Springs Medical Center (Murrieta) and Inland Valley Regional Medical Center (Wildomar) in California with decertification in June 2010 while the State of California warned of a possible hospital license revocation.[26] Universal Health Services implemented a program to address all concerns and in November 2011 the two hospitals passed a CMS Certification Survey.[27] As a result, CMS rescinded its termination notice and the California Department of Public Health withdrew its license revocation notice.
Allegations of noncompliance with same-sex visitation law
According to a petition started on Change.org[28] by Terri-Ann Simonelli of Henderson, Nevada, Spring Valley Hospital (owned and operated by UHS) claimed that their policy required power of attorney for a same-sex partner to make medical decisions on behalf of their partner. If true, this would seemingly violate new Department of Health and Human Services rules enabling same-sex partners to make said decisions, with or without power of attorney.[citation needed]
Fraudulent Medicaid claims
In September 2012, UHS and its subsidiaries, Keystone Education and Youth Services LLC and Keystone Marion LLC d/b/a Keystone Marion Youth Center agreed to pay over $6.9 million to resolve allegations that they submitted false and fraudulent claims to Medicaid. Between October 2004 and March 2010, the entities allegedly provided substandard psychiatric counseling and treatment to adolescents in violation of the Medicaid requirements. The United States alleged that UHS falsely represented Keystone Marion Youth Center as a residential treatment facility providing inpatient psychiatric services to Medicaid enrolled children, when in fact it was a juvenile detention facility. The United States further alleged that neither a medical director nor licensed psychiatrist provided the required direction for psychiatric services or for the development of initial or continuing treatment plans. The settlement further resolved allegations that the entities filed false records or statements to Medicaid when they filed treatment plans that falsely represented the level of services that would be provided to the patients.[29]
On July 10, 2020, the US Department of Justice announced a $122 million Fraudulent Claims case with "Universal Health Services, Inc., UHS of Delaware, Inc.(together, UHS), and Turning Point Care Center, LLC (Turning Point), a UHS facility located in Moultrie, Georgia, have agreed to pay a combined total of $122 million to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act for billing for medically unnecessary inpatient behavioral health services, failing to provide adequate and appropriate services, and paying illegal inducements to federal healthcare beneficiaries." From the announcement: "The government alleged that, between January 2006, and December 2018, UHS’s facilities admitted federal healthcare beneficiaries who were not eligible for inpatient or residential treatment because their conditions did not require that level of care, while also failing to properly discharge appropriately admitted beneficiaries when they no longer required inpatient care. The government further alleged that UHS’s facilities billed for services not rendered, billed for improper and excessive lengths of stay, failed to provide adequate staffing, training, and/or supervision of staff, and improperly used physical and chemical restraints and seclusion. In addition, UHS’s facilities allegedly failed to develop and/or update individual assessments and treatment plans for patients, failed to provide adequate discharge planning, and failed to provide required individual and group therapy services in accordance with federal and state regulations.
Of the $117 million to be paid by UHS to resolve these claims, the federal government will receive a total of $88,124,761.27, and a total of $28,875,238.73 will be returned to individual states, which jointly fund state Medicaid programs."[30]
BuzzFeed investigation
On December 7, 2016, BuzzFeed published a report detailing questionable practices within UHS psychiatric facilities.[31] The report includes allegations of holding nonthreatening patients against their will, manipulative misinterpretation of patient testimonies to fit guidelines to involuntary confinement, aggressive staff layoffs and understaffing in hospitals, needless patient deaths due to understaffing and misprescription of medication, "violating a patient’s right to be discharged or holding a patient without the proper documentation", and unnecessary extension of stay times to the maximum Medicare payout. UHS denied the conclusions of the report.[32] UHS stock fell approximately 12% after publication.[33]
According to BuzzFeed investigative reporter Rosalind Adams, UHS responded to the report by hiring "a global PR firm that offers specialized crisis management services... UHS didn't just implement a crisis PR plan. It also fired an employee that the company believed to have spoken to a reporter; it sued a former employee it alleges leaked damaging internal surveillance videos; it threatened to sue other employees; at least one facility held a series of town hall meetings to warn employees from speaking with us; it conducted “in-depth interviews” with nearly two dozen staff, then distributed a public apology that two of them signed; it enlisted one of the most powerful law firms in the United States; it built multiple, high-production-value websites specifically designed to overcome the reputational damage that our reporting might cause."[34]
Cygnet Healthcare
A UK subsidiary, Cygnet Health Care, was the subject of a BBC investigation that found that staff had been taunting, provoking and scaring vulnerable people.[35] It runs 140 mental health services across the United Kingdom . 85% of its services are “rated good or outstanding by our regulators”.[36] New admissions were banned at Cygnet Acer clinic after the Care Quality Commission found it unsafe to use. A patient hanged herself, others self harmed, ligature points were found where patients could hang themselves and too many of the staff were untrained to deal with the highly vulnerable patients at the clinic.[37]
The company bought four inpatient units which were previously operated by the Danshell Group in 2018. All four were condemned by the Care Quality Commission which raised concerns about patients’ “unexplained injuries” and high levels of restraint in 2019.[38]
Additional Allegations
On May 16, 2021, Detroit Free Press published an article exposing St. Simons By The Sea (formerly Focus By The Sea)[39] in St. Simons Island, Georgia for recruiting patients from a local soup kitchen.[40] St. Simons By The Sea contracts physician services with Southland MD in Thomasville, Georgia.[41]
Hospitals and Centers
Aiken Physicians Alliance, Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken Regional Medical Center, Aiken, South Carolina
Alabama Clinical Schools, Birmingham, Alabama
Alliance Health Center, Meridian, Mississippi
Anchor Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia
Arbour Counseling Services, Fall River, Massachusetts
Arbour Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
Arrowhead Behavioral Health, Maumee, Ohio
Aurora Pavilion Behavioral Health Services: an extension of Aiken Regional Medical Center, Aiken, South Carolina
Havenwyck Hospital: an extension of Glen Oaks Hospital, Auburn Hills, Michigan
HCA Houston Healthcare: an extension of Clear Lake Regional Hospital, Webster, Texas
Heartland Behavioral Health Services, Nevada, Missouri
Henderson Hospital: an extension of Valley Health System, Henderson, Nevada
Heritage Oaks Hospital, Sacramento, California
Hermitage Hall, Nashville, Tennessee
Hickory Trail Hospital Behavioral Health Services, DeSoto, Texas
Highlands Behavioral Health System, Littleton, Colorado
Hill Crest Behavioral Health Services, Birmingham, Alabama
Hollie Nichole Salas Medical Center: an extension of St. Lukes Hospital: Houston, Texas
Holly Hill Hospital, Raleigh, North Carolina
Hospital Panamericano, Cidra, Puerto Rico
HRI Hospital: an extension of Kempsville Center for Behavioral Health, Brookline, Massachusetts
Inland Northwest Behavioral Health, Spokane, Washington
Inland Valley Medical Center: an extension of Southwest Healthcare System, Wildomar, California
Innovations Academy, Streamwood, Illinois
Intermountain Hospital, Boise, Idaho
Kempsville Center for Behavioral Health, Portsmouth, Virginia
KeyStone Center, Chester, Pennsylvania
Kingwood Pines Hospital, Houston, Texas
La Amistad Behavioral Health Services, Maitland, Florida
Lakeside Behavioral Health System, Memphis, Tennessee
Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, Bradenton, Florida
Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital: an extension of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health/Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Laredo Physicians Group, Laredo, Texas
Laurel Heights Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia
Laurel Oaks Behavioral Health Center, Dothan, Alabama
Laurel Ridge Treatment Center: an extension of Laurel Heights Hospital, San Antonio, Texas
Liberty Point Behavioral Healthcare, Staunton, Virginia
Lighthouse Behavioral Health Hospital, Conway, South Carolina
Lighthouse Care Center of Augusta, Augusta, Georgia
Lincoln Prairie Behavioral Health Center, Springfield, Illinois
Lincoln Trail Behavioral Health System, Radcliff, Kentucky
Luka Zaiden Salas Medical Center: an extension of Clear Lake Regional Hospital, Webster, Texas
Manatee Diagnostic Center, Arcadia, Florida
Manatee Diagnostic Center, Parrish, Florida
Manatee Diagnostic Center Point West, Bradenton, Florida
Manatee Diagnostic Center Riverside, Bradenton, Florida
Manatee Healthcare System, Bradenton, Florida
Manatee Memorial Hospital, Bradenton, Florida
Manatee Physician Alliance, Bradenton, Florida
Mayhill Hospital, Denton, Texas
McDowell Center for Children, Dyersburg, Tennessee
Meridell Achievement Center, Liberty Hill, Texas
Mesilla Valley Hospital, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Michael’s House Outpatient: an extension of Foundations Recovery Network, Palm Springs, California
Michiana Behavioral Health, Plymouth, Indiana
Midwest Center for Youth and Families: an extension of Psychiatric Institute of Washington, Kouts, Indiana
Millwood Hospital, Arlington, Texas
Mountain Youth Academy, Mountain City, Tennessee
Natchez Trace Youth Academy, Waverly, Tennessee
Newport News Behavioral Health Center, Newport News, Virginia
North Springs Behavioral Healthcare, Leesburg, Virginia
North Star Hospital, Anchorage, Alaska
Northern Nevada Medical Center, Sparks, Nevada
Northern Nevada Medical Group, Sparks, Nevada
Northwest Emergency at Town Square: an extension of Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Amarillo, Texas
Northwest Emergency on Georgia: an extension of Texas Healthcare System, Amarillo, Texas