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Alan B. Miller, who currently serves as the company's Executive Chairman, founded Universal Health Services, Inc. in 1979. Within 18 months of its founding, UHS owned four hospitals and had management contracts with two additional hospitals.
In 1979, UHS entered Las Vegas with the purchase of Valley Hospital.
In 1980, the company chose its first Board of Directors. In 1981, UHS held its initial public offering. In 1982, UHS purchased five hospitals from the Stewards Foundation, marking the first time a for-profit corporation purchased hospitals from a nonprofit religious organization. In 1983, UHS purchased Qualicare, Inc. for more than $116 million. The purchase included 11 acute care hospitals and four behavioral health hospitals. In 1986, UHS created Universal Health Realty Income Trust, the first REIT in the healthcare industry.
In 1991, UHS stock trading moved from NASDAQ to NYSE.
In November 2010, UHS reached an agreement in May to acquire Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. for $3.1 billion. In June 2012, UHS announced its plans to acquire Ascend Health Corporation for $517 million. In February 2014, UHS bought Palo Verde Mental Health for an undisclosed amount, renaming the facility to Palo Verde Behavioral Health. In April of that year, UHS announced the acquisition of the Psychiatric Institute of Washington. In September of that year, UHS' stock joined the S&P 500 Index and acquired Cygnet Health Care Limited for approximately $335 million. In August 2015, UHS acquired Alpha Hospitals Holdings Limited for $148 million from private equity group C&C Alpha Group. In September of that year, UHS announced the acquisition of Foundations Recovery Network based in Brentwood, Tennessee for $350 million. In August 2016, UHS bought Desert View Hospital in Pahrump, Nevada for an undisclosed amount. In December of that year, UHS acquired Cambian Group PLC's Adult Services Division. In July 2018, UHS announced its acquisition of the Danshell Group.
On September 28, 2020, Universal Health Services Inc. announced that its network went offline after an unspecified "IT security issue".
In September 2020, consistent with the company's long-standing succession plan, UHS announced that Alan B. Miller would step down as CEO in January 2021 and that President Marc D. Miller would be named CEO.
UHS ranked on the Fortune 500 in 2021, 2022 in 2023 and 2024, and 2025
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UHS was named on the Fortune World's Most Admired List in 2025, 2024 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
UHS has been named on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking in 2025. UHS is ranked at #1,090. Of the American companies on the ranking, UHS ranked #355 among U.S. companies and #23 among global Health Care Equipment and Services category. UHS has been on the ranking for 22 years, and in 2023 earned ‘Hall of Fame’ status.
In March 2026, UHS agreed to acquire online and mobile therapy service provider Talkspace for $835 million.
From Wikipedia’s article on Universal Health Services, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.9