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There are hundreds of Acadia Healthcare campuses Nationwide and thousands of allegations, lawsuits and convictions within their umbrella. This is a very brief summary documenting a few of the abuses, crimes and gross negligence Acadia Healthcare has been accused or convicted of.

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Bad Neighbor/ Dangerous Neighbor:

 

• From January until May of 2017,  Desert Hills facility had the most assault and battery calls in the entire City of Albuquerque, and that facility had sanctions placed upon it, which included an admissions hold. https://www.kob.com/investigative-news/cyfd-children-youth-families-department-group-home-admissions-hold-amid-escapes-violence-desert-hills/4629869/

 

• In Feb 2019, Acadia Healthcare Division President Jeffrey Woods chose to move Louisville Facility to a more remote location after 160 incidents listed in the police log from Jan. 3, 2016 to Feb. 7, 2019 with 43 such incidents involving missing juveniles. Citing that stopping escapes was impossible and the move would be beneficial to the community. https://www.thedailytimes.com/news/louisville-behavior-health-center-to-relocate-after-assaults-neighborhood-concerns/article_523be3b2-98ce-5ea6-afdf-028e94103b9e.html?fbclid=IwAR300X3Qx_1AkGfsDKd8ybJASyIcq5lDg70OTiX_Uu5D52jyd4Noqds02qQ

 

• In June, 2016, 15-year-old Shaquan Ketcham, escaped from Acadia facility and then broke into and tried to burglarize a house in the neighborhood where the facility was located in which resulted in Ketcham being shot by the homeowner. https://www.kob.com/investigative-news/cyfd-children-youth-families-department-group-home-admissions-hold-amid-escapes-violence-desert-hills/4629869/

 

• In September 2018, three teenage boys escaped from Acadia owned, Village Behavioral Health Treatment Center and were charged with vehicle theft and aggravated assault and kidnapping of a facility employee. https://www.thedailytimes.com/news/juveniles-charged-in-attack-on-louisville-health-treatment-center-employee/article_5cec281f-911c-577b-858b-ae3c1c896cd1.html

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Danger to its patients / Death / Sexual Assaults:

 

• In April 2019, An Acadia Healthcare facility for youth in New Mexico was shut down, following allegations of abuse and the loss of its state certification. The suits cite internal fight clubs instigated by facility staff members, sex between staff and young patients, the unchecked spread of HIV among patients and excessive use of restraints on children https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/04/08/acadia-facility-shuttered-amid-allegations.html

 

• April of 2019, six women filed lawsuits against your Timberline Knolls facility, in which one of Acadia’s employees raped, forced patients to engage in oral sex, digital penetration and fondling beneath patient clothes, and that Acadia employee was faced with 62 felony charges for sexual assault, and abuse. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-timberline-knolls-lawsuits-20190404-story.html

 

• In October 2018, Acadia announced it was closing all 10 of its Ascent Children’s Health Services in Arkansas after these came under scrutiny in 2017 when a 5-year-old boy died after being left in 140 degree heat in a van outside its West Memphis facility. Criminal charges were filed against workers at the site and Ascent was placed under review by the Office of Medicaid Inspector General. http://testwp10.newsmemory.com/theeveningtimes/news/2018/09/25/ascent-to-close-west-memphis-2-other-locations/

 

• Acadias negligence contributed to the deaths of two patients within a five day span at the Belmont Behavioral Hospital, and the state cited Belmont for multiple deficiencies including lack of staff and failure to have facilities designed to prevent suicide, and State inspectors declared that facility as a state of imminent danger months before these events occurred, yet no appropriate corrections were made. http://www.aureliusvalue.com/research/acadia-healthcare/

 

• On January 13th, 2019, Elizabeth Breck escaped Sierra Tucson (an Acadia owned facility) even though she was in a locked facility and was wearing a tracking bracelet. She has not yet been located. Acadia has not participated in helping private investigators find her. https://kvoa.com/news/crime-trackers/2019/03/22/search-continues-for-missing-teacher/

 

• In 2016, a 9 year old patient was raped by a 14 year old patient inside of an Acadia facility van. The staff member in charge during this time was the rapist’s uncle, who failed to report the incident, was placed on probation, and fined.  The lawsuit was settled out of court. https://www.boonevilledemocrat.com/news/20181002/negligence-lawsuits-against-fort-smith-based-health-facilities-settled-out-of-court/1

 

• May - September 2013, Benjamin Bland, an Acadia employee sexually assaulted nearly a dozen women at the Park Royal Hospital and was sentenced to five years in prison. https://www.news-press.com/story/news/2016/06/20/park-royal-hospital-sexual-abuse-lawsuit-settled/86046604/

 

• A patient named Tara Moon had a nurse who was supposed to check on her every 5 minutes but didn't and instead took a 20-minute coffee break. During this coffee break, Moon killed herself by hanging herself with a bedsheet.. The Arizona Department of Health Services found the hospital didn't have the proper sheets that would break away under a person's weight.https://www.kold.com/story/38318712/tucson-hospital-reaches-settlement-with-family-of-woman-who-committed-suicide/

 

• Because staffing is Acadia’s single largest expense, currently representing roughly 53% of total revenues, staff cuts are common to save on staffing expenses at Acadia facilities to unsafe levels.  Yet having appropriate staffing, in terms of both quantity and quality of people, is critical because some patients are dangerous to themselves and others, requiring intense supervision and precise administration of treatment. http://www.aureliusvalue.com/research/acadia-healthcare/

 

• May 2017 - January 2018, On-going abuse and neglect left and elderly Veteran and patient, Myron Ballou, seriously injured and on the brink of death. Government inspection documents also reported other allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse at the Oklahoma hospital. The hospital didn't investigate to determine if the reports were legitimate, according to inspection reports. https://bit.ly/2KC7jfS

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Cover up/ Corporate Crime:

 

• In 2017, a Government Inspection reported allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse at Acadia’s Rolling Hills facility. Acadia, after receiving multiple reports of sexual abuse, ordered its employees to remove security cameras and destroy video survelliance footage of the incident. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vX5QlqhH-LIBXZMZ1jZhtl82vUXsrs3y/view?usp=sharing

 

• In May 2019, Acadia entered into a settlement with the United States, through the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and the state of West Virginia, for 17 million dollars, which is the largest fraud settlement in the history of West Virginia https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdwv/pr/united-states-attorney-announces-17-million-healthcare-fraud-settlement

 

• In 2013, James Reed, the hospital’s internal investigator for Park Royal Hospital, was caught multiple times supplying false testimony and trying to cover up video surveillance footage regarding sexual abuse allegations at that facility. http://archive.naplesnews.com/news/health/how-a-fort-myers-mental-hospital-missed-warning-signs-about-employee-who-sexually-assaulted-patients-342586572.html/