Allan Domb touts his business career in bid for mayor but skips over one line on his resume

Allan Domb’s pitch to Philadelphia voters in his campaign for mayor leans hard on his business acumen after a real estate career that saw him crowned the city’s “condo king.”

But Domb, a Democrat who served on City Council until resigning last year to run for mayor, leaves out one piece of his sprawling financial kingdom.

Domb has served since 2017 on the board of Universal Health Realty Income Trust, which pays him $60,000 per year. He also holds about $500,000 in stock in that company, including more than $105,000 in shares given to him for free since 2018.

That trust has very close corporate ties with Universal Health Services, a King of Prussia-based health-care company that paid $117 million in 2020 to resolve whistle-blower lawsuits accusing the company of billing government agencies for unnecessary inpatient services and holding adults and children for mental health services that were not reasonable or medically necessary.

UHS executives sit on the board of the trust, which owns and leases UHS properties, and UHS calls itself an “advisor” to the trust.

Domb declined to be interviewed about his service on the trust’s board. Jared Leopold, a spokesperson for his campaign, said in a statement Domb “has zero connection — and never has had any connection — to the operations of UHS.”

“It’s sad that Allan’s political opponents have spent tens of thousands of dollars on political dirt digging, only to attack on something that has nothing to do with Allan’s successful business career,” Leopold said. “Allan has spent his life creating jobs and supporting business growth in Philadelphia.”

Domb’s significant real estate holdings have helped fuel his campaign. He had invested $5 million of his own money as of the end of 2022, largely to run television commercials touting his plans for the city and criticizing Mayor Jim Kenney and his administration.

» READ MORE: Allan Domb has released a plan to avoid conflicts of interest if he’s elected mayor

Universal Health Realty Income Trust, and its connections to Universal Health Services, has not been part of his campaign for mayor.

UHS in 2020 denied the allegations, which surfaced as a criminal investigation in 2015, and said the settlement “does not constitute a finding of improper conduct.”

Still, the company paid more than $88 million to the federal government and nearly $29 million to several states. Nearly $16 million from the federal payment went to 36 whistle-blowers to settle 19 lawsuits, including 15 in the federal court system’s Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Bill McSwain, who served as U.S. attorney in Philadelphia during the settlement and later ran for governor as a Republican, referred The Inquirer to a statement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020 on the matter.

“The allegations involved in this matter — inappropriate billing and inadequate care — have no place in our health care system,” McSwain said in that statement. “Behavioral health service entities must have strong mechanisms in place, including appropriate supervision and oversight, to avoid fraud and abuse in order to ensure they provide the level of care that their patients deserve.”

Universal Health Realty Income Trust owns 76 properties in 21 states that it leases to health-care companies, including UHS. The trust in a 2021 annual report said UHS generated about 32% of its revenue in the previous five years.

The trust launched in 1986 by purchasing UHS properties and then leasing them back to that company. UHS, in annual corporate reports, says it “acts as an advisor” to Universal Health Realty Income Trust.

UHS, in a statement to The Inquirer, said none of the properties included in the 2020 settlement were owned by Universal Health Realty Income Trust.

» READ MORE: ‘Condo King’ Allan Domb owns more than 400 properties in Philly. What happens if he becomes mayor?

Domb serves on the trust’s board with Alan B. Miller, the founder of UHS, and Marc D. Miller, the current CEO and president of UHS.

Still, UHS told The Inquirer that the trust and the company “are separate and independent publicly traded companies” and that Domb, as a board member for the trust, “has no relationship with UHS or its hospitals.”

Among the federal allegations against UHS were the “improper use of physical and chemical restraints and seclusion” for patients, a failure to provide required individual and group therapy, admitting patients not eligible for treatment, and failing to discharge patients when treatment was no longer necessary.

UHS, in its statement to The Inquirer, noted the company “consistently denied the allegations” and the settlement “did not constitute an admission of facts or liability.”