Electing to seek a career with more purpose and firmly believing that healthcare is the highest calling, Alan B. Miller founded Universal Health Services (UHS) in 1979, launching what has become one of the most respected hospital management companies in the world, a perennial member of the Fortune 500 and an employer awarded for providing highly meaningful jobs. With its Corporate Offices located in King of Prussia, Pa., UHS today operates, through its subsidiaries, more than 350 acute care hospitals and behavioral health care facilities, including residential treatment centers, freestanding emergency departments and ambulatory surgery centers, in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. UHS facilities and their currently more than 83,000 employees provide critical healthcare services to more
than 2.6 million patients annually.
Alan B. Miller, Founder & Ceo, And Marc D. Miller, President
Since 2009, Mr. Miller is joined at the helm by his son, Marc D. Miller, who currently serves as president of the company. “Joining the business was a choice I consciously made. Growing up I was exposed to the healthcare industry, of course,” Marc Miller says. “Under my father’s leadership, UHS has defined and implemented a very successful business approach by maintaining its focus on the patient – it’s an inspiring story.”
Defining “the Consolidator”
UHS was among the first to successfully define – and prove – the business model as a consolidator. Reflecting upon the company’s very successful history of steady expansion, Marc Miller describes a healthy combination of organic growth and acquisition. “UHS strategically builds hospitals – and expands its existing hospitals – in rapidly growing areas as well as underserved markets in need of high quality providers.
UHS has also experienced significant success acquiring existing facilities that have a promising future, but under previous ownership did not have sufficient capital, or the clinical expertise, to appropriately support their communities. That’s our business model.”
The People Make the Company
“You need the best people, and you need to keep them motivated and engaged on a growth trajectory. That has always been my philosophy,” says Alan Miller. Further testament to the company’s focus on attracting and retaining the best talent at all levels in the organization are the various public accolades UHS has earned. Fortune has consistently listed UHS as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies, a list chosen by more than 15,000 senior executives, corporate directors and industry analysts.
Total Patient Care
Providing a unique combination of acute care and behavioral health services enables UHS to address patients’ physical and psychological needs under one coordinated, organizational umbrella. “We are equipped to provide total patient care, which addresses not just physical health but mental and emotional health, as well,” says Marc Miller.
The Future of Healthcare Delivery
What’s on the horizon? “The most successful healthcare providers will be those who can offer the most clinically integrated, outcome-focused, accessible and cost-efficient care that delivers consistent and quantifiable value,” says Marc Miller. “It starts by continuing to recruit and retain the most talented, forward-thinking professionals in the industry, but it will also involve long-term investment in systems
that expand our ability to enable operational efficiency and provide coordinated care however and whenever it’s needed.”
While the company contends that brick and mortar hospitals will continue to serve as primary hubs of care delivery for many years to come, integrated telemedicine and other digital care platforms will enable greater access, flexibility and efficiency across geographies.
Additionally, UHS is prioritizing affiliations in the aftercare space involving nursing homes, rehabilitation and other related services. “We’re thoughtfully preparing ourselves to be not only involved with – but a key contributor to – the integrated network model as it becomes more prevalent,” says Marc Miller.
