Foundations psychiatric hospital to be acquired

A subsidiary of Universal Health Services Inc. said today it has agreed to buy Foundations Behavioral Health, a Bucks County children's and adolescent psychiatric hospital and residential treatment center.

The deal should be completed in the "next month or two," said Steve Filton, Universal Health's chief financial officer. Until then, the company will not release financial information about the acquisition, he said.

Universal Health, of King of Prussia, is a for-profit operator of hospitals and other health centers. The purchase is to be made by its UHS of Doyletown LLC unit, which owns several other behavioral health facilities in the region, including Fairmount Behavioral Health System and the Horsham Clinic.

The deal requires Orphans' Court approval because Foundations is a nonprofit facility, Filton said.

Foundations has 54 acute-care beds, 48 residential beds, an alternative school service and significant in-home and community-based services, he said. It serves more than 1,000 children and adolescents a day, and has about 100 employees.

UHS has no immediate plans to change staffing levels at Foundations or its operations, Filton said.

"Our general approach to an acquisition is that we continue to operate the business in essentially its current form," Filton said.

"The reality is when we buy a facility like this, part of our hope is frankly to expand their scope of services and their revenue stream."

For example, he said, UHS might consider adding adult services.

Universal Health posted a profit last year of $259.5 million on revenues of $4.2 billion. It shares were down 30 cents at $58.74 in noontime trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

In a press release, Foundations chief executive Ron Bernstein said the acquisition would make his hospital stronger. "We are safeguarding the hospital's future and sustaining our legacy of service and commitment to the community," he said. "By joining the UHS network, the hospital will now have the strength behind it to thrive in the changing health care industry."