Company History
Alan B. Miller, who currently serves as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, founded Universal Health Services, Inc. in 1978 after he engineered a financial turnaround of American Medicorp, only to lose the control of the company in a hostile takeover by Humana. The next day, Miller founded UHS with $3.2 million from venture capitalists and $750,000 put up by himself and several former American Medicorp employees who decided to follow Miller into his new venture. Within 18 months of its founding, UHS would own four hospitals and have management contracts with two additional hospitals.
1979: UHS entered Las Vegas with the purchase of Valley Hospital, which has been part of UHS longer than any other hospital in the system. The acquisition gave UHS its entry into the growing southeast Nevada marketplace. The company’s annual gross revenue was $30.9 million
1980: The company chose its first Board of Directors. Members included Alan B. Miller, Sidney Miller, George H. Strong, Edwin C. Cohen, Leonard Shaykin and Thomas L. Kempner.
1981: UHS held its Initial Public Offering. Analysts offered positive recommendations for the IPO because of significant and successful experience that company managers had with UHS and with American Medicorp. Annual gross revenue at the time was $119.4 million
1982: UHS purchased five hospitals from the Stewards Foundation, marking the first time a for-profit corporation purchased hospitals from a nonprofit religious organization.
1983: UHS stock split for the first time. The company purchased Qualicare, Inc. for more than $116 million. The purchase included 11 acute care hospitals and four behavioral health hospitals, giving the company its entry into the psychiatric healthcare market. Universal Health Services, Inc. was ranked first for growth in the healthcare industry over five years by Financial World magazine.
1984: Construction began on Wellington Regional Medical Center in Wellington, FL. Company revenues continued to increase as Medicare introduced fixed payments for diagnostic related groups (DRGs), a move experts said would benefit well-managed companies such as UHS.
1985: Annual gross revenue exceeded $500 million for the first time.
1987: UHS created Universal Health Realty Income Trust, the first REIT in the healthcare industry.
1991: UHS stock trading moved from NASDAQ to NYSE. Annual gross revenues exceeded $1 billion.
1994: Inland Valley Medical Center was chosen as one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the country by Modern Healthcare magazine.
1996: UHS stock split, two for one. Outstanding shares increased from 14.4 million to 28.8 million. Annual gross revenue: $2.3 billion.
1997: UHS acquires The George Washington University Hospital in a partnership with the university. The company introduced its Service Excellence program to focus on making patients the first priority.
1998: UHS was named to the Wall Street Journal’s “Shareholder Honor Roll.”
1999: Debra K. Osteen appointed vice president of UHS and president of the Behavioral Health Division.
2001: The Wall Street Journal named UHS as the best performing healthcare stock over 10 years.
2002: UHS was listed among America’s Best Big Companies in the Forbes Platinum 400.
2003: The replacement building for The George Washington University Hospital opened. Steve Filton was named Chief Operating Officer. The Wall Street Journal’s Shareholder Scorecard listed UHS as the best performing stock among healthcare providers from 1992 to 2002. Charles Boyle named Controller, Cheryl Ramagano appointed Treasurer and J.P. Christen promoted to Assistant Vice President of Hospital Finance. UHS makes the Fortune 500 for the first time, with a rank of 468.
2004: UHS was number 10 among the “Top 100 Places to Work in IT” by Computerworld magazine.
2007: UHS formed UHS Development Company, Inc. to build better quality hospitals at lower costs for the industry. Dick Wright was named President of the new venture.
2008: Annual revenue reached $5 billion.
2010: UHS reached an agreement in May to acquire Psychiatric Solutions, Inc., one of the nation’s largest behavioral health operators. As a result of the acquisition, completed in November, UHS’ annual revenue exceeded $7 billion.
2011: UHS ranked among the Fortune 500 America's Largest Corporations for the eighth time since 2003.
2012: UHS ranked number 339 in the Fortune 500 America's Largest Corporations, up from number 408 in 2011.
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