Texas-Based Universal Health Services Subsidiary, Timberlawn Hospital, Loses Medicare & Medicaid Funding Due To Patient Safety Violations

On August 14, 2015, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) terminated its provider agreement with Timberlawn Mental Health Hospital, a private psychiatric facility in Texas owned by Universal Health Services, because Timberlawn failed repeated safety inspections in 2015.

In an effort to prevent the termination, on August 3, 2015, Timberlawn sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) in federal district court. However, on August 13, 2015, the court said it lacked subject matter jurisdiction and declined to issue the TRO. The TRO ruling provided the following details about the situation:

A patient death by suicide at the Dallas . . .