Universal Health Service (UHS) Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Universal Health Services (UHS) has been the subject of numerous lawsuits and investigations alleging sexual abuse of vulnerable patients within its behavioral health facilities. These allegations have shed light on systemic problems related to patient safety, staff misconduct, and the company’s failure to respond adequately to reports of abuse. Families of victims and advocates argue that UHS has prioritized profits over patient well-being, fostering environments where abuse can occur unchecked.

About UHS

UHS is the largest facility-based behavioral health provider in the country, with its subsidiaries operating 349 behavioral health facilities in the United States, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the United Kingdom. It is a Fortune 500 Company with over $11 billion in annual revenue. UHS has its headquarters in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

UHS was founded by Alan B. Miller, and Miller is still the CEO and Chairman of the Board of UHS. Miller also owns nearly 80% of the stock in UHS, so it is effectively a privately owned company controlled by a single man. UHS owns a number of corporate subsidiaries, but the UHS parent company maintains tight operational control and its subsidiaries are basically just used as liability shields.

UHS Puts Profits Over Patient Care

UHS has a very well-earned reputation for prioritizing corporate profits over quality patient care. UHS is first and foremost a money-making venture with the primary goal of maximizing profits. UHS has repeatedly and emphatically demonstrated its willingness to cut costs at the expense of patient care quality.

The primary way UHS systematically boosts its profitability is by ruthlessly controlling its staffing expenses. The direct and obvious result of this is that UHS facilities are chronically understaffed. From 2006 until 2016, facilities owned and operated by UHS were cited or investigated for inadequate staffing violations on approximately ninety (90) occasions.

Executives at UHS pressure their facilities to fill beds and admit patients, even though they are aware that the staffing levels at these facilities are inadequate. UHS also pressured doctors and staff to keep patients admitted at their treatment facilities as long as they are able to pay, even when the residential treatment was no longer necessary or beneficial to the patient. UHS encourages these unnecessary admissions and excessive lengths of stay with the specific purpose of increasing revenue.

Systemic Allegations of Sexual Abuse

UHS is a major healthcare provider with more than 330 behavioral health facilities across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.K. As of 2024, UHS had over 24,400 behavioral health beds, making it one of the largest providers in the industry

Universal Health Services is grappling with the financial and reputational fallout of significant legal judgments tied to sexual abuse allegations at its behavioral health subsidiaries. More lawsuits are coming. Juries are already being heard. In one case, a jury awarded $360 million to three plaintiffs who suffered abuse by a physician at the facility. With over 40 additional plaintiffs pursuing litigation, the total liability could rise dramatically.

This judgment follows an earlier $535 million verdict against another UHS subsidiary, Pavilion Behavioral Health System, related to the sexual assault of a minor patient. Combined, these two judgments bring UHS’s liability to $895 million, far surpassing the limits of its insurance coverage for the year. (We talk more about this below.)

The mounting sex abuse lawsuits are part of a larger pattern of misconduct within UHS’s behavioral health facilities. UHS has a history of allegations ranging from improper admissions to abusive practices. In 2020, the company settled with the U.S. Department of Justice for $122 million over claims it unnecessarily admitted patients and used inappropriate restraints. A 2023 Senate Finance Committee investigation also criticized UHS for prioritizing revenue over patient care, citing instances of sexual abuse across multiple states, including Virginia, Alabama, and Illinois.

The lawsuits against UHS describe disturbing incidents in which patients, many of them children or individuals with mental health conditions, were sexually abused by staff members or other patients. Specific allegations include:

• Abuse of children in psychiatric care: Lawsuits claim that children admitted for treatment were sexually assaulted by both staff members and fellow patients. Many of these children had mental health issues, developmental disabilities, or chronic medical conditions, making them particularly vulnerable to abuse. So basically, taking the most vulnerable among us and exploiting them in the worst possible way.
• Failure to report or investigate abuse: Plaintiffs allege that UHS facilities maintained an unofficial policy of concealing reports of abuse to protect their reputation. Profits matter more than keeping children safe from sexual abuse. Staff were reportedly instructed to handle allegations “internally” and not involve law enforcement or outside authorities, even in cases of serious sexual misconduct.
• Retaliation and manipulation: Some families report that when they tried to remove their children from UHS facilities or questioned the care provided, staff threatened to call Child Protective Services (CPS). These actions, the lawsuits argue, were used to silence families and prevent complaints from escalating.

Regulatory Investigations and Settlements

The widespread allegations of sexual abuse at UHS-operated behavioral health facilities have not gone unnoticed by regulators. In 2020, the Department of Justice announced a $127 million settlement with Universal Health Services over claims that the company had engaged in fraudulent billing and improper patient admissions. While the case focused on financial misconduct, admitting and holding patients longer than medically necessary to increase revenue, it also exposed deeper systemic failures in patient care. Among those failures were breakdowns in supervision, inadequate staffing, and the lack of appropriate safety protocols, all of which are conditions that allow sexual abuse to occur and go unchecked.

As part of that settlement, UHS entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services. This agreement required the company to adopt stricter internal oversight, report patient safety issues more transparently, and submit to independent monitoring of its behavioral health operations. But plaintiffs’ sex abuse lawyers say these measures have proven ineffective where they matter most. The agreement did not fix the conditions that enabled sexual abuse to happen in the first place—understaffed units, unqualified employees, poor staff-to-patient ratios, and a company culture that prioritizes full beds and profits over basic safety.

Families and survivors continue to report the same types of abuse—staff assaulting patients, residents abusing each other, and administrators failing to act even when they knew. The same structural weaknesses that led to the DOJ’s investigation are the same ones that allow sexual predators to thrive in these settings. Despite the penalties and promises of reform, the root problem remains: UHS has not changed the corporate model that puts children and vulnerable adults at risk of sexual abuse in the very facilities meant to protect them.

Culture of Silence and Retaliation

It is hard to fathom how such severe abuse could persist for so long without anyone stepping up to stop it. Sex abuse lawsuits against UHS paint a disturbing picture: a corporate culture that not only allowed abuse to occur but actively discouraged those in a position to intervene from speaking out. This silence was not incidental—it was ingrained in the way UHS operated, prioritizing reputation management and profits over patient safety.

You would expect that when something so egregious as patient abuse takes place, someone, a nurse, a therapist, or a colleague, would raise the alarm. Somebody would step up. But in UHS facilities, those alarms were often muted. The people who sounded them were punished. Staff members describe a toxic atmosphere where reporting abuse could mean losing their job, being blacklisted within the industry, or facing other forms of retaliation. Employees were told to handle incidents “internally,” creating a feedback loop of silence where misconduct was downplayed and complaints were buried.

This atmosphere let abuse fester in the shadows. Frontline caregivers feared retaliation, so they stayed quiet. Managers and executives, focused on UHS’s image and profit, did not push for transparency. As a result, the usual safety nets failed. Normally, if a patient is abused, a staff member would report it, and outside agencies would investigate. But inside many UHS facilities, those alarms were muffled or ignored. The people in charge often protected the institution instead of the patients. This culture of silence and intimidation was the perfect storm that let predators continue harming vulnerable patients for years.

So this kind of environment makes it frighteningly easy for sexual abuse to persist and thrive. Staff members fear for their livelihoods, and any attempt to stand up for patients is met with hostility from higher-ups. As a result, the responsibility for protecting the most vulnerable patients is quietly abdicated, replaced by an unspoken rule: don’t make trouble, just keep the beds full.

Largest UHS Treatment Facilities

Here’s a list of some of the largest facilities operated by Universal Health Services (UHS) in the United States. This list primarily focuses on behavioral health and acute care facilities under UHS, reflecting the diversity of their operations nationwide.

1. Rock River Academy – Chicago, IL
2. McAllen Medical Center – McAllen, TX
3. Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center – Las Vegas, NV
4. Valley Hospital Medical Center – Las Vegas, NV
5. The George Washington University Hospital – Washington, DC
6. Aiken Regional Medical Centers – Aiken, SC
7. Palmdale Regional Medical Center – Palmdale, CA
8. The Meadows Psychiatric Center – Centre Hall, PA
9. Austin Lakes Hospital – Austin, TX
10. Mayhill Hospital – Denton, TX
11. Sierra Vista Hospital – Sacramento, CA
12. TimberLine Knolls – Lemont, IL
13. Timberlawn Behavioral Health System – Dallas, TX
14. Rivendell Behavioral Health Services – Benton, AR
15. Friends Hospital – Philadelphia, PA
16. Roxbury Treatment Center – Shippensburg, PA
17. Brentwood Behavioral Healthcare – Flowood, MS
18. Hickory Trail Hospital – DeSoto, TX
19. Summit Oaks Hospital – Summit, NJ
20. Spring Mountain Treatment Center – Las Vegas, NV
21. Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents – New Kent, VA
22. Manatee Memorial Hospital – Bradenton, FL
23. Fairmount Behavioral – Philadelphia, PA

UHS Sex Abuse Lawsuit

Patients who were sexually abused by staff or other patients at a UHS residential treatment facility can file a civil lawsuit against UHS and get financial compensation. UHS has a legal duty to ensure that residential patients, particularly juvenile patients, are reasonably safe and not victims of sexual abuse.

UHS has habitually breached this duty in a number of ways. Some level of negligence in patient care and safety exists at virtually all facilities operated by UHS. This is a result of the focus at UHS on profits over patient care, resulting in chronic understaffing issues. The understaffing problems at these facilities give sexual predators more opportunities to prey on vulnerable patients with less oversight.

Settlement Value of UHS Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Every case is unique, and the outcomes can vary. In general, survivors can claim damages for things like pain and suffering, medical or therapy expenses, and the long-term effects of the abuse on their lives. Many of the victims were minors, which courts take very seriously. Past jury verdicts (like the $360 million and $535 million cases we talked about above) show that these claims can be very significant. Even if a case settles out of court, UHS has paid large sums to avoid going to trial in some instances.

The amount of money you can get from suing UHS for sex abuse at one of its residential facilities depends on a few things. Here are the three main things that impact the money you will receive as settlement compensation or at trial:

• Severity of the Abuse: If the abuse was really bad or went on for a long time, your case could be worth more money than if it only happened once.
• Impact on the Victim: The impact on the victim, including physical injuries, psychological trauma such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety, will also drive up the potential settlement value of a case.
• Age of Victim: Younger victims will typically receive higher settlement payouts because of the long-term impact on their development and life trajectory.
• Strength of Evidence: If you have solid evidence to prove that the abuse really happened (other than your word) your case will likely be worth more money.

Massive Verdicts and Financial Exposure for UHS

In the past year, juries have begun handing down massive verdicts against Universal Health Services for its failures to protect patients. In September 2024, a jury in Richmond, Virginia, awarded $360 million in damages to three young women who were sexually abused while receiving care at a UHS-operated children’s hospital. These were not minor settlements. This was a resounding public rebuke. And it is far from over. About forty additional patients from the same facility are now pursuing similar lawsuits. More large judgments may be on the horizon.

In Illinois, the story is just as staggering. A jury found a UHS subsidiary responsible for the rape of a 13-year-old girl by another patient at one of its psychiatric facilities. That case ended with a $535 million verdict in 2024. It is one of the largest personal injury awards in the state’s history. Put those two verdicts together and UHS is now facing $895 million in damages. These are not theoretical numbers. This is real money. And it is money that exceeds the limits of UHS’s insurance coverage. That means the company itself will likely have to cover a large portion of the cost.

UHS has publicly stated that it plans to challenge or appeal these verdicts. But no matter what happens in those courtrooms, the message from the juries is unmistakable. People are tired of excuses. They are demanding accountability. The damage to UHS’s reputation is done. These verdicts have sent a shockwave through the company’s leadership. UHS’s own chief financial officer admitted that the potential payouts are significant enough to affect the company’s bottom line.

For years, UHS made billions while its patients suffered in silence. That silence is breaking. Juries are speaking loudly, and we believe they will continue to do so if UHS is foolish enough to continue letting meritorious cases go to trial without offering a reasonable settlement amount.

Contact Us About UHS Sex Abuse Lawsuits

If you were sexually abused at a treatment facility owned or operated by UHS, contact our national sex abuse lawyers today to see if you have a case. Call us at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.