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Gus Iversen, Editor in Chief | October 06, 2025
A Washoe County jury has awarded Saint Mary’s Health Network more than $510 million in damages after finding Universal Health Services (UHS) and its affiliates liable for fraud and other misconduct during a years-long campaign that targeted the Reno-based hospital system.
The verdict includes punitive damages and follows a multiweek trial in which jurors heard that UHS, based in Delaware, coordinated a plan to undermine Saint Mary’s operations, beginning in 2019 and continuing through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Saint Mary’s is part of Prime Healthcare, which acquired the 117-year-old institution in 2012.
According to court documents, the scheme involved soliciting physicians and senior leadership from Saint Mary’s, breaching contracts, and encouraging mass resignations that disrupted operations. Evidence presented included internal communications suggesting that UHS executives conspired to destabilize the facility. Jurors also reviewed testimony indicating that some of the defendants destroyed electronic records, which the court considered in its finding of fraud, malice, or oppression.
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“This case is about more than one hospital, it is about accountability and integrity in American healthcare and we commend the judicial system for bringing truth to light,” said Dr. Prem Reddy, founder and CEO of Prime Healthcare.
The case highlighted claims that UHS and several former Saint Mary’s leaders attempted to dismantle the organization from within, allegedly to benefit a competing provider network. The resulting damage, according to the lawsuit, jeopardized patient care and institutional stability.
Saint Mary’s CEO Derrick Glum said the ruling “affirms that the weaponization of corporate power, betrayal of physician trust, theft of proprietary information, and reckless endangerment of patients will not be tolerated.”
UHS has not publicly commented on the ruling as of press time.
The $510 million award is among the largest healthcare-related jury verdicts in recent years and could have broader implications for corporate conduct in hospital networks and physician employment practices.
