A jury has awarded Reno, Nev.-based Saint Mary’s Health Network a $510 million verdict in a fraud case involving King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services.
Six things to know:
1. A Washoe County, Nev., jury found Universal Health Services of Delaware and other defendants liable for fraud and malice, according to a Sept. 29 news release from Saint Mary’s, which is part of Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare.
2. Prime and Saint Mary’s filed the lawsuit Jan. 15, 2021, with the jury ruling in their favor Sept. 26, 2025. The lawsuit alleged UHS illegally solicited Saint Mary’s physicians and employees, stole trade secrets and disrupted patient care by diverting patients from Saint Mary’s to UHS entities.
3. Saint Mary’s said these actions nearly destabilized the hospital. Saint Mary’s said in the release the $510 million jury verdict is one of the largest ever awarded in a healthcare fraud case.
“This verdict affirms that the weaponization of corporate power, betrayal of physician trust, theft of proprietary information, and reckless endangerment of patients will not be tolerated,” Saint Mary’s CEO Derrick Glum said in the release. “The verdict restores justice and allows our hospital’s mission to serve our community with compassion and dignity to endure.”
4. Defendants included UHS of Delaware and Pinnacle Management Group NV. Universal Health Services was previously dismissed from the lawsuit, according to a Sept. 29 SEC filing. The suit includes allegations of “intentional interference with contractual relationships and prospective economic advantage” tied to the 2021 departures of several Saint Mary’s physicians who joined Pinnacle Medical Group, UHS said.
5. The jury awarded $500 million in punitive damages against UHS of Delaware and lesser amounts against other defendants. It also awarded about $4.7 million in compensatory damages. UHS said in a Sept. 30 statement shared with Becker’s that it expects the punitive damages to be reduced to around $14 million under Nevada statutory law.
6. UHS of Delaware, Pinnacle Medical Group and the other named defendants intend to appeal the verdict, a UHS spokesperson said in the statement.
“We believe the evidence presented in this case demonstrated that the actions of the defendants did not violate any laws, nor warrant this verdict,” the spokesperson said. “These physicians and advanced practice providers chose on their own volition to leave St. Mary’s Medical Group and to form a new practice to benefit themselves and their patients. In our opinion, this case is and has always been a business dispute relating to providers’ ability to move to a new employer.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:29 p.m. Central time on Sept. 30 to include comment from UHS.
