Acadia Healthcare is proud of our over 23,500 dedicated employees, clinicians and healthcare professionals serving patients in more than 260 behavioral healthcare facilities and over 11,000 beds across the country. Through our continuum of care – from crisis intervention to intensive inpatient treatment and structured outpatient programs – we treat patients facing some of the most difficult, severe and complex mental health and addiction challenges known. Every day, our facilities strive to deliver consistent, high-quality care using the latest evidence-based approaches to safely stabilize and treat thousands of high-risk patients, including those experiencing acute suicidal ideation, severe psychosis or complex co-occurring disorders. We firmly stand by the quality of care our facilities provide.
Regrettably, a recent media report cherry picked and conflated historical incidents at a closed Acadia facility to paint a false and inaccurate picture of the safety and quality of the care our facilities provide. To be clear: Acadia and its facilities do not tolerate assault, abuse and neglect, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for behavior that could endanger our patients and staff. Acadia facilities take a proactive stance on care quality and patient safety, and we invest in new training, policies, procedures or enhancements as part of our culture of continuous improvement. Our policies require complaints and incidents are investigated and acted upon to protect our patients and staff. They are also reported to appropriate agencies as required by law or regulation.
We understand the trust and responsibility placed in us to uphold high standards and to deliver the latest evidence-based care with compassion. That’s why the dignity and wellbeing of our patients is at the core of everything we do – a commitment we back up with hundreds of millions of dollars in continuing investments in patient safety and quality. As our country continues to face an unprecedented mental health and addiction crisis with rising rates of depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and suicide, Acadia continues to be committed to expanding access and providing the specialized care and treatment that’s so desperately needed.
Here are the facts:
- Acadia facilities are highly regulated, regularly inspected and maintain high, independently accredited standards to prevent incidents
- Our policies require complaints and incidents to be investigated and addressed
- Acadia invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually to deliver high quality, safe behavioral healthcare
- Acadia facilities are appropriately staffed and have rigorous onboarding and training requirements
- Acadia regularly monitors facility care quality and addresses potential issues
1) Acadia facilities are highly regulated, regularly inspected and maintain high, independently accredited standards to prevent incidents
Acadia and its facilities do not tolerate assault, abuse and neglect, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for behavior that could endanger our patients and staff. As such, our facilities employ a multi-layered approach to patient protection that often exceeds industry and regulatory standards. These measures are designed to meet the specific needs of the patients and staff at each Acadia facility.
- Depending on the facility, these measures can include:
- 24/7 patient monitoring systems
- Regular safety rounds completed by staff, as directed by our psychiatric providers
- Mandatory verbal de-escalation training
- Multiple confidential reporting channels for patients, families and staff
- Providing access to patient advocates at a local level
- Quality improvement programs such as independent facility safety committees
Quality assurance extends beyond internal protocols. All of Acadia facilities regularly undergo external audits, and are licensed, accredited and regularly inspected to uphold high regulatory and quality standards, including rigorous requirements for employee training and patient safety. Based on each facility’s licensed programs and services, our facilities are required to meet the relevant regulations and guidelines such as those issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Joint Commission (TJC), and Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International (CARF), in addition to other various government agencies at the state and local levels. These independent third parties regularly visit our facilities – announced and unannounced – to ensure compliance and validate the quality and safety of the care we provide. Importantly, the guidelines and accreditation standards we follow are set by regulatory and accrediting bodies, and they are not unique to Acadia.
In fact, since 2020, Acadia’s acute and specialty facilities have successfully completed over 1,900 surveys conducted by relevant examination entities based on the licensing and programming of each facility including CMS, The Joint Commission, DEA, CARF, state boards of pharmacy and other federal, state and local regulatory bodies.
Our facilities are also designed with patient protection in mind. Additionally, facility medication management controls feature structured medication monitoring, secure medication storage with limited access, and comprehensive documentation of medication dispensing including date, time, patient information, medication details and provider signatures. Regular audits ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, with rapid investigation of any discrepancies.
Staff members go to great lengths to ensure patient well-being, and Acadia facilities have strict protocols designed to prevent assault or abuse. These include policies and procedures to ensure the proper placement and monitoring of patients and personnel within the facility. Our facilities’ admission process includes an assessment of potential risk factors, and maintaining appropriate separation of different patient populations based on clinical needs and safety considerations. Importantly, patient placement and monitoring decisions are based on individual factors including personal history, age, gender and behavioral health needs. Staff members are also trained to recognize warning signs of potential conflicts or inappropriate behavior to facilitate early intervention before situations escalate.
Importantly, patient care decisions are medical decisions made by licensed physicians and advanced practice providers based on standardized criteria, and our providers are never incentivized financially to admit or retain patients.
2) Our policies require complaints and incidents to be investigated and addressed
Providing safe, quality care isn’t just a goal – it’s our standard. The vast majority of the tens of thousands of patients in our care each year – including patients who were admitted to Acadia facilities involuntarily – experience significant clinical improvement and also report high patient satisfaction scores across service lines. In 2024, for instance, nearly 8 out of 10 patients shared that they would be likely to recommend treatment at one of our facilities.
To be clear: any incident that results in physical or emotional harm to a patient is unacceptable and does not reflect the standards, practices and quality of care for our patients at our facilities. While patient privacy laws prohibit us from discussing specific historical cases, our data demonstrates that patient suicides and incidents resulting in patient harm involving staff are rare. And across all Acadia facilities, our incident rates for all publicly available incident measures consistently fall below industry benchmarks published by CMS.
We treat patient concerns and incidents as an opportunity to continuously improve. All allegations are taken seriously. Any substantiated incident results in a review process to identify opportunities to enhance our systems, procedures or staff training to prevent future occurrences. If a staff member violates any of our policies, they could be subject to additional training, education or disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. Additionally, we actively collaborate with our regulators and accrediting bodies following both routine and impromptu inspections to investigate any findings and develop and implement corrective action plans as appropriate.
We take our patient safety and compliance obligations seriously and have a complaint and grievance process in place that provides multiple avenues to raise concerns. Acadia has an active internal Compliance Program and Code of Conduct intended to promote ethics and integrity, and every employee has an obligation to report any activity that appears to violate applicable laws, rules and regulations or Acadia policies.
In accordance with regulatory requirements and accreditation standards, upon admission, orientation, and posted throughout our facilities, patients and/or guardians are provided with instructions regarding their rights and how they can initiate or file complaints or grievances at any time, including through identified staff/patient advocates who operate independently from the treatment team, or by contacting the State Licensing office and/or Human Rights agency. We’ve also established confidential reporting mechanisms, including a compliance hotline overseen and managed by an independent third party, that allow both patients and staff to raise concerns anonymously without fear of retaliation. Complaints can be raised either during a patient’s stay or after discharge. Every report is taken seriously.
Our facilities also maintain strong relationships with local law enforcement agencies as a part of our safety framework. While our skilled clinical teams are trained to manage most behavioral health situations through therapeutic interventions, there are times when law enforcement assistance may be necessary to ensure the safety of patients and staff. Staff are trained to work seamlessly with first responders in a way that minimizes disruption to other patients while maintaining dignity and appropriate care for all involved. We have also helped to establish communication channels with local authorities.
As a leader in our space, Acadia actively participates in industry safety initiatives, engages with third party advocates and adopts new best practices as they emerge. These collaborative relationships with third parties help us to continuously refine our practices and reflect our belief that external perspectives and accountability are essential to maintaining our high standards of care.
3) Acadia invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually to deliver high quality, safe behavioral healthcare
As a leading provider of behavioral healthcare services, we recognize the vital role we play in addressing the national mental health and addiction crisis. The growing demand for high-quality, accessible mental healthcare has never been more urgent, and we are actively investing in and expanding our services to meet this critical need.
We back up our commitment to excellence with hundreds of millions of dollars in ongoing investments in talent, technology, clinical protocols and training across all our service lines – helping us to deliver safe, quality care with positive clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. Additionally, since 2020 we have invested on average over $240 million annually to enhance existing facilities and establish new hospitals and treatment centers in underserved communities.
In fact, 2024 was the largest bed expansion year in Acadia history with approximately 1,300 new beds completed, with 776 of those beds licensed as of December 31. Additionally, over 400 licensed beds have been added to date in 2025. Since 2017, we have opened or acquired over 25 acute and specialty facilities, expanding the net-new number of acute and specialty beds in our network by more than 3,300.
These modern care facilities have premier amenities, safety systems and cloud-based performance management software to support our teams in maintaining high standards that align with all regulatory and accrediting bodies in the industry. We are an industry leader in the use of cloud-based performance improvement software; 100% of our acute facilities are able to systematically collect performance data, analyze the results and make actionable improvement plans based on even the most minor deficiencies identified through the tool.
Even though electronic medical records (EMRs) are not required for behavioral healthcare hospitals – and government funding isn’t provided – Acadia has aggressively invested in the implementation of EMR systems across our facilities which help to reduce medication errors, improve care coordination and support quality patient care. Additionally, we have invested in proximity-based patient monitoring systems, allowing for consistent tracking of monitoring intervals and patient condition. Facility leadership analyzes this data daily on a comprehensive dashboard to identify improvement areas in real-time. Trended performance data is then brought together in regular quality review meetings by service line with Quality, Compliance and Operational leadership teams to identify performance improvement opportunities.
Our approach is helping to deliver positive results. We received nearly 65,000 patient satisfaction surveys in 2024. On average, 82% of patients at acute and specialty facilities – including voluntary and involuntary patients – reported a feeling of hopefulness as a result of care at the time of discharge, which is a positive predictor of clinical success. In addition, on our most recent survey conducted by CARF International, we scored >90% across our Specialty Treatment Programs against all 13 dimensions of quality, including a score of 100% on the Risk Management dimension.
4) Acadia facilities are appropriately staffed and have rigorous onboarding and training requirements
We reject the characterization that Acadia facilities are unsafe, inappropriately staffed or have insufficient supervision.
Staff selection and training is the cornerstone of patient safety at our facilities. Every potential employee undergoes an extensive background screening built to meet state and local requirements. Applicants are screened on a comprehensive suite of dimensions which may, in accordance with local requirements, include federal, state and county criminal records searches; national sex offender registry searches; education verification; professional license verifications; personal and/or professional reference checks; and other background screening items.
Our facilities maintain onboarding and training programs in order to ensure ongoing compliance with regulatory and clinical care requirements. This includes mandatory zero-tolerance training designed to prevent abuse, neglect and misconduct with a required passing grade of 100%, as well as field-based training programs for frontline caregivers – such as milieu management and verbal de-escalation training – to create a more therapeutic environment designed to improve patient experience and enhance clinical outcomes. Staff are also subject to performance reviews and annual training recertifications.
With high turnover rates facing many in the healthcare provider community, we are focused on ensuring our facilities are adequately staffed and supporting employees with training to meet regulatory and clinical care requirements. Staffing levels are regularly monitored and assessed to ensure the appropriate number of staff and the proper expertise is available, including during overnight hours. We also maintain multiple levels of clinical supervision to ensure quality is maintained.
Additionally, our facilities maintain strict policies regarding staff-patient interactions, including clear guidelines about appropriate therapeutic relationships and communication. Clinical supervisors regularly observe staff-patient interactions and provide immediate feedback when necessary.
Acadia takes compliance with our company policies, standards and code of conduct seriously. We conduct investigations into alleged violations of these policies, and, as needed, take appropriate action up to and including employee termination.
5) Acadia regularly monitors facility care quality and addresses potential issues
Our commitment to quality care is supported by sophisticated data, analytics and performance monitoring systems that track key quality metrics across our facilities.
At the facility level, our hospital CEOs and leadership teams use a variety of sophisticated systems to monitor care quality. Our data capabilities allow us to combine data across multiple vendor systems covering more than 50 quality metrics into an organized dashboard to assist in performance management. Data is refreshed daily in most cases and is reviewed by facility leadership in various daily, weekly and monthly performance-focused meetings to gain an understanding of what is occurring so the appropriate and effective actions can be taken in a timely manner. Example datapoints include incident report timeliness, incident volumes and rates, patient observation timeliness, patient experience survey volumes and results and other performance data. This data-driven approach is designed to allow us to identify and address potential issues before they affect patient care.
Acadia’s approach to helping our facilities provide consistent, quality care includes a robust continuum of activities that we have established to manage risks, including:
- Daily touchpoints such as treatment team discussions and safety huddles to discuss individual patient needs to ensure each patient is progressing in their treatment and any potential risks are identified early and addressed.
- Daily and real-time reviews of patient safety and experience indicators such as compliance with observation rounds, reviews of any incidents or patient complaints, and reviews of patient experience survey feedback.
- Regular quality reviews with both Acadia executive leadership and facility executive leadership which allow individual facilities to learn from peers and share best practices across the Acadia system.
- Regular quality and patient safety meetings hosted by our executive clinical leaders to share key quality performance indicators and quality metrics of select facilities with Acadia’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and other select leaders.
- Safety committees at each facility comprised of facility management and frontline staff to promote quality assurance and continuous improvement.
Key quality indicators are reviewed on a regular basis by our Corporate Quality & Safety Committee, which is comprised of Acadia’s Chief Quality Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, General Counsel and operations leadership. When our monitoring identifies trends that don’t meet our rigorous standards, we take swift and decisive action. This could involve deploying specialized support teams, implementing enhanced training protocols, and providing additional clinical resources to address any areas of concern.
We take leadership accountability seriously, and where necessary, we make organizational and leadership changes to help ensure every facility consistently delivers quality care.
Any decision to close a facility is made after careful review and analysis of a variety of factors such as community needs, demographic trends, and existing healthcare resources within a region. When community needs evolve, we work with local regulators, community leaders, and other behavioral health providers to adjust our service offerings and facility locations accordingly. Importantly, we continue to invest in our current facilities, evolve our service offerings and expand our services to meet the changing behavioral healthcare needs of communities.
Most recently, on January 15, 2025, Acadia announced it made the decision to close Timberline Knolls, a residential and outpatient treatment facility for women and adolescent girls in Lemont, Illinois. Following a careful and comprehensive review, we determined that the landscape for the specialized programs and services offered by Timberline Knolls had changed since Acadia acquired the facility 13 years ago. Importantly, other facilities including partner or referral programs were able to meet the needs of patients, ensuring a smooth transition for patients and families.
Timberline Knolls specialized in eating disorders, mental health, substance misuse and other co-occurring conditions. Over the course of many years, it provided transformative care and successfully treated more than 26,000 women and adolescent girls, building a strong nationwide network of partners and alumnae.
Throughout Acadia’s operation of the facility, Timberline Knolls maintained its license and independent accreditation status and successfully completed dozens of audits, surveys, visits, and inspections from state and local regulatory bodies, accreditors, and payors. When it closed, Timberline Knolls was in good standing with all regulating and accrediting bodies, and the last patient was discharged on January 31, 2025.
Acadia remains focused on addressing our country’s mental health crisis. According to Mental Health America, over half of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment. Acadia is committed to providing access to quality life-saving care for high acuity and complex needs patients who, without our support, may not receive the care they so desperately deserve. In spite of ongoing false and inaccurate media reports, our teams of clinical and administrative staff remain focused on providing high-quality, collaborative and compassionate care for patients, families, providers and communities.