Two enormous and abusive hospital giants to merge

According to news from Tennessee, Universal Health Services, (UHS,) the giant, for-profit hospital chain which runs over 100 psychiatric facilities nationwide, including the large, notorious psych-only chain in Massachusetts, Arbour Health Systems, is moving closer to buying the equally-notorious chain based in Tennessee, Psychiatric Solutions, Inc.

This $3.1 billion deal would result in a for-profit chain of over 200 hospitals in about 40 States, with approx. 22,000 psych. beds and placements. Both systems have a horrible reputation for human rights abuses, and have been repeatedly investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice - in fact, at least one of these companies (if not both), are currently under investigation.

A report published in 2007 by the Service Employees Industrial Union Local 1107 in Las Vegas detailed a long history of rights violations at UHS, and the site ProPublica has done a series on abuses at Psychiatric Solutions.

Despite the history of horrific abuses resulting in injury, trauma and many deaths at both companies' facilities, each is doing extraordinarily well financially, especially at the behavioral health facilities. An illustration of this is the extraordinarily large sums of money being paid to PSI's departing executives:

- PSI Chief Executive Officer Joey A. Jacobs will be given over $50 million.

- Five other top PSI executives will receive over $40 million.

Another sad example of how the mental health hospital system makes enormous profits at the expense of human rights.

- Thanks for this article from my colleagues at "Keep An Eye on PSI!" on Facebook!