Jennifer Atlas has won the Democratic primary and will face incumbent Republican Carrie Buck in the upcoming November election for the 5th Senate District. This district is a swing district and a crucial seat for Nevada Republicans who want to prevent Democrats from gaining a veto-proof majority in the state.
Atlas serves as a lobbyist in the state legislature and represents several clients, including Acadia Healthcare.
Acadia Healthcare operates in 39 states and has more than 250 mental health facilities in its portfolio. The for-profit healthcare giant operates several addiction and psychiatric treatment facilities in Nevada, including one in the 5th Senate District.
Acadia’s influence in the field of mental health care is enormous, as are the numerous controversies, investigations and lawsuits that have plagued the company for over a decade.
Acadia Healthcare owns Highland Ridge Hospital in Midvale, Utah, a for-profit psychiatric facility that treats both adults and minors.
In 2023, Fox 13 News in Salt Lake City reported that patients at Highland Ridge Hospital have been sexually abused for years and staff say they were trained to keep it secret from police. The hospital has been dubbed a “rape hospital” after the Unified Police Department responded to more than 100 cases at the hospital since 2019. More than half of the reported cases were related to physical and sexual violence, with over 17 reports of sexual assault and 31 reports of physical assault documented.
Fox 13 reported that the hospital’s license has been revoked and replaced with a “conditional license” at least three times since 2019. In April 2024, months after Fox 13’s initial reports, Acadia Healthcare made the decision to close Highland Ridge Hospital.
However, this is not the only controversy Acadia Healthcare has experienced over the years.
In November 2023, the company paid $400 million to settle three lawsuits brought against the company and its former subsidiary, Youth and Family Centered Services of New Mexico, including one against a foster parent who allegedly sexually abused a child. Potential liability was estimated at around $1 billion.
One of Acadia’s New Mexico facilities was forced to close due to serious abuse allegations, multiple lawsuits and loss of licensure by state regulators, including staff members who instigated “fight clubs” and sexually abused young patients.
The mental health department of Acadia Healthcare in Tampa Bay has been investigated for unnecessarily detaining patients to make more money. Since 2014, the department has been “cited 72 times for unsafe conditions and code violations, more than all but one other Florida psychiatric hospital,” according to a Tampa Bay Times investigation.
In West Virginia, Acadia was ordered to pay $17 million in compensation, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office described as “the largest health care fraud settlement in West Virginia history.”
Acadia Montana was found to be injecting underage patients with drugs as a form of punishment, and this became the subject of a U.S. Senate investigation. The two-year investigation concluded last month and found that “residential treatment centers put profits ahead of children’s safety.”
NBC reported:
Children in residential treatment facilities run by some of the nation’s largest mental health companies face risks of sexual abuse, dangerous physical restraints and overmedication. These problems are exacerbated by poor oversight and a system that “puts profits above the welfare and safety of children,” a Senate committee reported Wednesday.
The companies studied rely on per diem funds from Medicaid and other government sources to treat the young people in their care, many of whom have developmental disabilities or are in foster care. But the companies often overwork their facilities to capacity and “consistently fail to hire enough qualified staff,” the report said. These deficiencies are “inherent in the business model of the companies,” which “treat children as recipients of payments,” the report said.
The treatment of children as compensation for payment claims is a damning conclusion from the bipartisan Senate committee and prompted The Globe to contact Atlas for comment.
At the time of publication, she had not responded to our email request for comment. We will update the article with her comments if and when we receive them.
