The scandalous tie between North Tampa Behavioral Clinic and hospitals has been well-established by a federal investigation and media reports. Following are links that will give you a broader understanding of the way Sarasota Memorial Hospital and North Tampa Behavioral Clinic endanger patient health.
Freely Accessible Articles:
Acadia to Pay $179M to Resolve Securities Class Action, Behavioral Health Business, November 11, 2025. Acadia Health, parent of the notorious North Tampa Behavioral Clinic and now North Port Behavioral Health, continues to pay for abusing patients and lying about it. The company, which operates hundreds of facilities nationwide, has agreed to pay $179 million to shareholders who claim the company lied to them about its crooked operations, which caused the stock to plummet when the rot was revealed. The shareholder settlement dwarfs the $20 million fine Acadia Health paid to the Justice Department for admitting patients who didn’t belong in its facilities, providing substandard care, and keeping patients longer than necessary to bilk insurance companies. The company’s shareholder value continues to drag the bottom as investigations into its harmful practices continue and abused patient lawsuits continue to pile up.
After years of abuse allegations, Options Behavioral Health is shutting down, Mirror Indy, September 12, 2025: After years of promising to fix patient abuse problems at its Options Behavioral Health facility in Indiana, Acadia Healthcare is closing the facility. But, unfortunately for the Indianapolis area, the company isn’t pulling out of the region completely. Its opening a new facility under a new name on the other side of town.
Acadia Healthcare: Earnings Selloff Surprising, But Now Is Not The Time To Buy, Seeking Alpha, August 7, 2025: It’s encouraging to see Acadia Healthcare continuing to get punished in the stock market. The company’s stock plummeted 75% in the last year. And some analysts believe it could fall even farther. The problem isn’t only weak earnings, its the fact that the government is still investigating the company for admitting patients who don’t belong in its facilities, providing substandard or no care, and keeping patient longer than necessary to bilk insurers. I’m the victim of all three abusive practices. Acadia Healthcare is also the subject of many malpractice and shareholder lawsuits.
At Options, someone attacked a girl but no one called 911, Mirror Indy, July 29, 2025. Acadia Healthcare facilities continue to rack up malpractice lawsuits. Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy does an excellent job of reporting on the latest lawsuit involving a 13-year-old female patient who was attacked by another patient. The girl’s head was slammed against the floor but no one at Option’s Behavioral Health Hospital called 9-1-1, so she could get the medical evaluation and care she needed. This is the same type of treatment I experienced when Sarasota Memorial Hospital – Venice sent me to Acadia Healthcare’s North Tampa Behavioral Health Clinic. Neither facility gave me the critical care I needed for clean fractures in my brow, eye socket and cheek sustained in a fall. Lets hope malpractice lawsuits will expose the wrongdoing and force the facilities to acknowledge they have a problem and fix it.
Letter: The alarming pattern of abuse at Acadia Healthcare facilities, Springfield Daily Citizen, May 29, 2025. An attorney who filed a lawsuit on behalf of 28 patients against Acadia Healthcare, parent company of notorious North Tampa Behavioral Healthcare, wrote an informative letter to the editor describing how Acadia Healthcare has an established pattern of abusing patients. Kayla Ferrel Onder says in her letter that “This isn’t just about individual bad actors or one-off incidents. It’s about a business model that seems to put profits ahead of care – and the cost is being paid by people in their most vulnerable moments.” She’s calling for reform so more patients aren’t abused by Acadia Healthcare.
Suicides and rape at an Illinois mental health center owned by company with similar problems in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 22, 2025. The Salt Lake Tribune published a New York Times article that discusses patient abuse at an Acadia Healthcare facility in Illinois. Timberline Knolls is accused in lawsuits of being understaffed, hiring a worker with a criminal record that includes domestic violence and gun charges who allegedly raped two patients, failing to supervise two patients who committed suicide, and leaving a medication out in a common area that was accessed by a child who almost died. Timberline Knolls closed earlier this year.
Records: MeadowWood delayed CPR for 9 minutes before death, News From the States, April 14, 2025. News from the States published a follow-up article that suggests the patient who died at Acadia Healthcare’s MeadowWood Behavioral Health Hospital may have died because staff at the facility found him unresponsive and didn’t provide CPR for 9 minutes. The article is based on information Spotlight Delaware received from the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services that said eight nurses weren’t current in their CPR certification. This is a violation of federal law.
Lawsuit: Mom claims Delaware detox facility is negligent in son’s death, News from The States April 8, 2025. The mother of a 33-year-old son who died in Acadia Healthcare’s MeadowWood Behavioral Health Hospital, filed a lawsuit charging the facility’s staff with negligence in her son’s death. After being admitted to the hospital in 2023, David H. Tymitz was put on a Valium detox protocol and staff was instructed to check on him every 15 minutes. Late one night, they found him dead in his room. The cause of death was “adverse effects of methadone intoxication”. Several Acadia Healthcare facilities have been charged with abusing patients.
Lawsuit filed against CenterPointe Hospital alleges patient was sexually assaulted by another patient, ABC 17 News, Columbia, Missouri, March 25, 2025. Acadia Healthcare, parent company of the North Tampa Behavioral Health clinic, is facing yet another lawsuit alleging patient abuse. In the latest suit, a patient claims that they were sexually assaulted by another patient who had a history of abusing others. The lawsuit charges CenterPointe Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, and Acadia Healthcare failed to adequately protect the patient who filed the suit.
Lawsuit: 3 girls were sexually abused by Detroit youth treatment facility supervisor. Detroit Free Press, March 11, 2025. Patient lawsuits against Acadia Healthcare, parent company of the North Tampa Behavioral Clinc, continue to mount. Read this article about 3 girls who allege they were sexually abused by an Acadia-run clinic in Detroit and you’ll understand why the company’s predatory practices have to end. Anyone near the soon-to-open North Port Behavioral Health clinic needs to be wary of the company’s dangerous track record of abuse.
More lawsuits filed against Options Behavioral Health allege facility operated ‘like a prison’. Two more patients have filed abuse lawsuits against Acadia Healthcare-owned Options Behavioral Health in Indiana. The lawsuits allege Acadia operated Options “‘like a prison’, drugging patients into submission, threatening them with involuntary detention orders, and holding or releasing patients to maximize reimbursement.” Since last September, 10 patients have filed abuse lawsuits against Options Behavioral Health. Having been dumped at Acadia-owned North Tampa Behavioral Health by the ER doctors and nurses at Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice, I don’t doubt any of the allegations.
144-bed behavioral health hospital opening in North Port. Business Observer, March 5, 2025. Acadia Healthcare, parent company of the notorious North Tampa Behavioral Health clinic, is opening a new facility in North Port, Florida. North Port residents need to be wary of the new North Port Behavioral Health. Acadia Healthcare paid a $20 million fine to the Justice Department, which had accused the company of admitting patients who didn’t belong in its facilities, providing them with substandard care, and keeping them longer than necessary to bilk insurance companies. I experienced all three deficiencies when Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice shipped me off to the North Tampa Behavioral Health clinic without treating dangerous facial fractures I sustained in a fall.
Patient alleges Colorado behavioral health center held him longer than necessary to get paid more. The Denver Post, March 3, 2025. Yet another patient lawsuit filed against Acadia Healthcare, owner of the notorious North Tampa Behavioral Health clinic. Denver patient Jonathan Benitz filed suit against the Johstown Heights Behavioral Health clinic for holding him longer than necessary to bilk insurers. North Tampa Behavioral Health clinic, where Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice dumped me without treating my serious facial fractures — has been accused of similar patient abuse.
Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health — subject of multiple Denver7 Investigates reports — will close in March Denver7, February 7, 2025. Acadia Healthcare-owned Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health is closing after multiple media and state investigations. Patients accused the facility of abuse, providing substandard care, and keeping them longer than necessary to bilk insurers. Acadia also owns the notorious North Tampa Behavioral Health clinic, which has also been accused of wrongdoing.
Acadia Healthcare Sex Abuse Lawsuit Lawsuit Information Center, January 14, 2025. The Lawsuit Information Center is encouraging victims of patient abuse at Acadia Healthcare, parent company of the notorious North Tampa Behavioral Clinic, to submit their complaint on the center’s website. The site will then refer patient victims to an attorney who will evaluate their case. Acadia facilities have been accused by many patients of abuse, admitting patients that don’t belong there, providing substandard or no care, and keeping patients longer than necessary to bilk insurers. Acadia Healthcare also faces numerous federal and state investigations and a shareholder lawsuit.
State Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Unit recovers over $2.2 million from Acadia Healthcare for violations Florida’s Voice, January 28, 2025. Acadia Healthcare, parent company of the notorious Tampa Bay Behavioral Health Clinic, forked over $2.2 million for the state’s Medicaid program from Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. following violations. The company was fined for submitting false or fraudulent claims for inpatient behavioral health care services to Medicaid and Medicare. As I experienced first-hand, thanks to the ER doctors and nurses at Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice, Acadia Healthcare’s facilities admitted patients who didn’t belong there and kept patients longer than necessary to bilk insurers. The company also provided substandard care that contributed to patient harm.
Suburban Chicago mental health treatment facility to close its doors next month CBS Chicago, January 17, 2025. Acadia Healthcare, parent company of the notorious North Tampa Behavioral Health Clinic, is closing its Timberline Knolls mental health treatment center in Lemont, Illinois. The facility, like North Tampa Behavioral Health Clinic, has been accused of abusing patients. Several patients have accused staff of sexually abusing them. Acadia Healthcare paid the Justice Department $20 million for admitting patients to its facilities who didn’t belong there, providing substandard care, and keeping patients longer than necessary to bilk insurance companies.
Florida veteran says he’ll never seek treatment at VA again after being improperly Baker Acted WPTV West Palm Beach, January 14, 2025. Reporter Katie LaGrone continues WPTV’s excellent reporting on the price patients pay when hospitals, like Sarasota Memorial Hospital, improperly force patients to Baker (or Marchman) Act themselves. The latest report discusses a second case of Don Stiff, a former U.S. Marine who was railroaded into treatment by a VA hospital, even though he didn’t need to be held against his will. “At first, I didn’t know what was going on,” Stiff told the reporter. “But I figured it out pretty quick when I couldn’t leave. I’m like what did I say? I’m thinking to myself what the heck did I do?” Florida needs to investigate what’s going on in VA hospitals, and public hospitals, like Sarasota Memorial Hospital, that are abusing the law to strip patients of their rights, often at great cost to their physical and mental well-being.
Multiple Sexual Assault Cases Reported at Acadia Healthcare Facility, Company Denies Systemic Issues Behavioral Health Business, December 20, 2024. Behavioral Health Business published an article based on excellent reporting by MirrorIndy.org about widespread allegations of abuse at Acadia-owned Options Behavioral Health Hospital in Indiana. According to Behavioral Health Business, “Amidst allegations of dangerous or neglectful patient care, Acadia has taken to posting patient testimonials on its site. The company has posted six such testimonials since October, weeks after it published a statement that said recent media reports about the company painted a ‘false picture.'” As someone who, thanks to the “compassionate” doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice who refused to treat three clean breaks in my face — brow, eye socket and cheek — but instead railroaded me to North Tampa Behavioral Health Clinic, an Acadia owned facility, I can tell you with great certainty Acadia is admitting patients who shouldn’t be there, providing substandard care, and keeping patients longer than necessary to bilk insurers.
Options and Acadia sex abuse allegations: What you need to know. Former patients and employees described widespread abuse and other problems at the mental health facility MIRRORINDY.org, December 13, 2024. MIRRORINDY, a non-profit investigative journalism organization in Indiana, reported extensively on alleged wrongdoing at Options Behavioral Health Hospital, which, like the notorious North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic is owned by Acadia Healthcare. In a series of articles, patients report receiving the same abuse that led Acadia to be fined $20 million by the Justice Department. The clinic was accused of admitting patients who didn’t belong there, providing substandard care, and keeping them longer than necessary to bilk insurers. The Mirrorindy expose goes even further by interviewing patients who were allegedly physically, mentally and sexually abused. That Acadia is still in business is stunning. That hospitals like Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice is sending patients to its facilities is truly shocking.
Young veteran’s Baker Act at a Florida VA hospital raises questions about use of state law: Family and friends believe what happened to Jordan Hunkin at the VA pushed the young Marine over the edge WPTV, December 13, 2024. WPTV West Palm Beach ran an article on its website about a Marine with battle-related PTSD who voluntarily sought help at a Florida VA hospital only to be shocked when the hospital Baker Acted him, which took away his rights for 72 hours. After he was released, he never sought the help he needed and committed suicide six months later. Jordan’s family and friends are demanding a wider investigation into what went wrong. As someone who had a similar experience at Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice, I can tell you they’re right. The Baker Act is being abused at Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice and the facility they shipped me off to, the notorious North Tampa Bay Behavioral Health Clinic.
National Chain of Drug Clinics Deals in Deceit: Acadia Fakes Records, Times Inquiry Finds The New York Times, December 8, 2024. The New York Times continues its excellent investigative series revealing patient abuse and insurance fraud at Acadia Healthcare facilities. The latest article discusses how patients who aren’t eligible to receive methadone are given the drug so Arcadia can fraudulently bill insurers. It also reveals that the company routinely bills patients for psychiatric counseling that they never received. Federal and state investigators are looking into Acadia’s practices. The Justice Department fined the parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic $20 million for admitting patients who didn’t belong in its mental health care facilities, providing substandard care, and keeping them longer than necessary to bilk insurers.
New Whiteland woman’s lawsuit marks the fifth filed against mental health facility WRTV Indianapolis, December 3, 2024. An Indiana woman is the latest to file a patient abuse lawsuit against Options Behavioral Health and its parent company, Acadia Healthcare, which is also the parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Health Clinic. Maria Reagan claims she was held against her will, never saw a psychiatrist, and was there longer than medically necessary. Five patients have filed similar complaints against Options Behavioral Health and Acadia Healthcare.
ACHC STOCK NEWS: Acadia Healthcare Stock Plummeted 16% – Contact BFA Law about its Class Action Lawsuit if You Suffered Losses Global Newswire November 2024. Bleichmar, Fonti & Auld law firm reminds shareholders that they have until December 16 to join the class action lawsuit against Acadia Healthcare, parent of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. “On September 1, 2024, the New York Times published an article titled “How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients.” The New York Times’s “investigation found that some of that success was built on a disturbing practice: Acadia has lured patients into its facilities and held them against their will, even when detaining them was not medically necessary.” On this news, the price of Acadia stock fell…”
Acadia Healthcare Lawsuit Attorneys: Were you wrongfully committed or detained by Acadia? Hilliard Law, posted here November 26, 2024. Hilliard Law is searching for patients who have been abused at Acadia Healthcare facilities, including North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. “Can You File an Acadia Healthcare Lawsuit?
“You may be eligible to file an Acadia Healthcare lawsuit if:
- You stayed at an Acadia Healthcare facility or a facility of one of its subsidiaries;
- You were kept at that facility for at least 5 days; and,
- You did not require to be kept that long; or,
- You protested being kept at the facility but were kept against your will.
“We are also available to help people who were physically or sexually abused at an Acadia Healthcare facility. Under such circumstances, the duration or legitimacy of your stay at the facility will likely not be a determining factor for eligibility.”
Acadia Healthcare holds patients against their will to maximize insurance payouts, according to the New York Times Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, posted here November 26, 2024. Law firms are preparing to represent patients who have been abused by Acadia Healthcare, parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. “We are investigating Acadia Healthcare for abuses beyond the insurance fraud described in the Times article, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. If you or a family member have experienced abuse while under the care of Acadia Healthcare, we urge you to contact a survivors’ rights lawyer at Lieff Cabraser today about your case and potential recovery. You can call us toll-free at 1 800 541-7358.”
Acadia Healthcare Stock Hits 52 Week Low Investing.com, November 8, 2024. Investors continue to dump Acadia Healthcare stock after the New York Times and federal and state agencies began investigating the firm’s 50+ behavioral treatment centers for admitting patients who didn’t belong there, providing sub-par care, and keeping patients longer than necessary to bilk insurers. Acadia is the parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic, where I personally witnessed the truth in the allegations. In my experience, private healthcare institutions are held to a higher standard than public providers, like Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Shareholders can demand reforms.
First Came the SEC, Now Investors Raise Allegations Against Acadia Healthcare Law.com, November 1, 2024. Investors are filing a class-action lawsuit claiming that Acadia Healthcare didn’t disclose how it profited from its mental health treatment centers, including North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. “The plaintiffs claimed the defendants, Acadia and top executives, misrepresented the ‘strength and drivers of the company’s demand and patient referrals,’ citing a rise in the destigmatization of mental illness and excellent patient care. However, the defendants allegedly played up the patients’ symptoms, altered their medical dosages and unlawfully kept patients against their will in inpatient care in order to charge insurance companies more.”
“Tortured and held hostage”: Father files lawsuit against mental health facility WRTV Indianapolis, October 29, 2024. The parent of a 12-year-old girl filed a malpractice lawsuit against Acadia Healthcare, parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. The lawsuit alleges that a local behavioral facility owned by Acadia drugged the girl and kept her against her will. Her father told the TV station “She was tortured and held hostage.” Both her parents said they filed the lawsuit in part to warn the public about what’s going on at the facility. (Sounds kind of familiar.)
Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) Stock Plummets Again on Report Veteran’s Affairs Department Investigation Accesswire, October 25, 2024. The Hagens Berman law firm issued a press release that states the recent announcement that the US Veterans Affairs Department has become the latest federal agency to investigate fraudulent behavior by Acadia Healthcare — parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic — caused the company’s shares to plummet 12%. Acadia stock has seen other recent declines as federal and state agencies investigate claims that Acadia Healthcare executives used deceptive tactics to admit patients into their facilities who didn’t need mental health treatment and kept them captive for financial gain, rather than necessary medical treatment.
ACHC Investors Have Opportunity to Lead Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. Securities Fraud Lawsuit Morningstar, October 22, 2024. Law firms are enlisting investors to join a class action lawsuit against Acadia Healthcare Company, parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. The lawsuit makes the same allegations that federal agencies have made against the chain of clinics: Admitting patients who don’t belong in a treatment center, providing subpar care, and keeping patients longer than needed to bilk insurance companies. (Sarasota Memorial Hospital is a public hospital chain, so it won’t face a securities fraud lawsuit for inappropriately sending patients to North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic.)
Company that Owns Pasco County mental health facility to pay nearly $20M in fines WFLA, Tampa, October 4, 2024. WFLA investigative reporter Brittany Muller continues her excellent series of pieces on Acadia Healthcare and North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic. “William Crowell said he was held against his will for ten days at North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital in Wesley Chapel. The company that owns the hospital now has to pay $19.85 million settlement, but Crowell said it’s definitely not enough for his mental anguish that he endured.”
Tampa Bay woman says she was stuck in mental health facility, kept their for money WFLA, Tampa, September 22, 2024. The patient sued Acadia, parent company of North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic, for false imprisonment. “A confidential settlement was reached last year, but she says that memories of her stay still haunt her.”
Mental health counselor says she felt pressured to keep patients at Pasco County facility for insurance benefits WFLA, Tampa, September 21, 2024. “A mental health counselor said she felt pressured to keep patients at the Pasco County facility where she worked because the company put profits ahead of patient needs.”
Dementia patient spends 50th anniversary in a mental hospital after Baker Act detention WFTS Tampa Bay, February 8, 2024. A Pasco County man with dementia was railroaded to North Tampa Behavioral Health. He was Baker Acted, which means he could be held for 72 hours, which is against Florida Law. He was kept for four days in North Tampa Behavioral Health. He thought he was in jail because the clinic wouldn’t let him leave.
New CEO hired at psychiatric hospital following Times report Tampa Bay Times, May 6, 2020. “The former chief executive was an ex-NFL player. Regulators determined he was unqualified for the job.”
Lawmakers call for investigations into Wesley Chapel psychiatric hospital Tampa Bay Times, October 7, 2019. “The calls for action follow a Tampa Bay Times report on problems inside North Tampa Behavioral Health.”
The Baker Act is supposed to protect patients, not profits Tampa Bay Times Editorial, September 27, 2019. Five years later, North Tampa Bay Behavioral Clinic is still exploiting patients. According to the Tampa Bay Times editorial board, “The state should investigate North Tampa Behavioral’s treatment of its patients and the profits the hospital made at their expense. … The Tampa Bay Times’ Neil Bedi found that North Tampa Behavioral makes huge profits by exploiting patients held under the Baker Act. He reported that the hospital cuts patients off from their families and often abuses provisions of the law to hold patients longer than the minimum time, running up their bills — up to $1,500 a night — while they are unable to fight back or seek outside help.”
You’re trapped, they’re cashing in Tampa Bay Times, September 18, 2019. “More than two thousand people arrive each year at North Tampa Behavioral Health in extreme crisis. They are checked in under a state law that lets mental health centers keep people who might hurt themselves or others for up to 72 hours. But when that time is over, some patients find themselves held captive by the place that is supposed to protect them. … Each night they stayed, more money flowed into the psychiatric hospital.”
Subscriber-only Articles:
Leaders of Mental Health Giant Promised Big Bonuses to Deal With Federal Investigations The New York times, April 24, 2025. Facing federal and state investigations over alleged patient abuse — including suicides and sexual assault — Acadia Healthcare offered its top officials huge bonuses to defend the company. CEO Chris Hunter alone received $1.8 million. CFO Heather Dixon received $300,000.
Veterans Dept. Investigating Acadia Healthcare for Insurance Fraud The New York Times, October 18, 2024. “The Veterans Affairs Department is investigating whether Acadia Healthcare, one of the country’s largest chains of psychiatric hospitals, is defrauding government health insurance programs by holding patients longer than is medically necessary, according to three people with knowledge of the inquiry.”
Acadia Healthcare Says It Faces New Federal Investigations The New York Times, September 27, 2024. “The news of the federal investigations came a day after the Justice Department announced that Acadia had agreed to pay nearly $20 million to settle claims that it had defrauded government health insurers by holding patients longer than medically necessary and admitting people who didn’t need to be there.”
Acadia Hospitals Reach $20 Million Settlement With Justice Dept. The New York Times, September 26, 2024. “Under the settlement Acadia has agreed to pay the federal government as well as four states — Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada — to resolve allegations that the company had violated state laws.” A whistleblower said “a hospital executive shredded medical records when state investigators showed up to look into patient complaints.”
How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients The New York Times, September 1, 2024. “In at least 12 of the 19 states where Acadia operates psychiatric hospitals, dozens of patients, employees and police officers have alerted the authorities to records reviewed by The Times. … Some patients arrived at emergency rooms seeking routine mental health care, only to find themselves sent to Acadia facilities and locked in.” To show patients should remain the hospital, Acadia would coach employees “to use certain buzzwords, like ‘combative,’ in patients’ charts to make the case.”
Sarasota Memorial Hospital Has A Dangerous Secret 