Barbaric experiences in this hell hole from June 22-26, 2020. Patients manhandled, thrown to the floor and injected, against their will, with sedatives.”
— Unnamed patient —
Lakeview Behavioral Health Hospital
in Norcross, GA. Facility owned by Acadia.
For-profit psychiatric facilities paid out $152M in fines or settlements in 2019, of which $144M was paid by two behavioral hospital chains, UHS and Acadia Healthcare.
Last December Acadia was caught in a scandal leading to a large-scale investigation when 50 police officers raided its Lakeview Behavioral Health buildings in Gwinnett County, GA. They were responding to allegations of abuse and excessive drugging. One patient was missing and found crying in a freezer, though his documentation said he was accounted for. The incident was covered up. In another incident a child lost a toe. Sexual abuses were also reported.
The New York Times reported that another Acadia Healthcare facility, Piney Ridge in Fayetteville, Arkansas, used chemical injections to restrain young people in seclusion, a violation of federal rules. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette learned of the violations after obtaining a report through the Freedom of Information Act.
Universal Health Services and Acadia Healthcare are far from being the only behavioral treatment operations in the U.S., but they are the largest: UHS (worth $11B) claims 400 facilities, of which 250 are acute care and behavioral health centers; 89K employees; 3M patients annually. Acadia (valued at $6B) has 227 similar facilities; 42K employees; 70K patients daily. With lax procedures victimization is assured, and lax procedures make for bigger profit margins.
It’s disgusting, and it just isn’t right.
That’s why A Case for Women is stepping in to help educate survivors and their families about legal options to take their power back, seek justice and help stop the cycle of abuse in places where enough darkness is already endured.
