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Universal Health Services, the nation's largest chain of for-profit psychiatric hospitals, is persisting in its bid to build a facility in Wilsonville. In February, the Oregon Health Authority denied the company's request to build the hospital there. UHS asked for another hearing, which was in March. The health authority will render a final decision later this month.
The company wants to build a $35.8M, 100-bed hospital for adolescent, adult and geriatric patients. It also owns the 89-bed Cedar Hills Hospital west of Portland, and has more than 200 facilities nationwide.
OHA previously decided UHS failed to justify the need for the facility, the Portland Business Journal reports. The health authority also said the hospital would not improve patients’ access to services, in part because its suburban location is without adequate access to public transportation. Separately, the company has been accused of keeping patients at some facilities longer than strictly necessary, until their insurance runs out, a charge that UHS vehemently denies.
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