Portland, Ore.-based Cedar Hills Hospital, owned by King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services, reduced its inpatient capacity from 98 beds to 64 beds and is laying off 45 employees, according to a July 28 report from The Lund Report.
Christopher West, regional vice president for UHS, confirmed the bed reduction, effective July 27, in an email to the publication, stating the hospital will continue operating three adult units serving crisis stabilization, acute mental health, substance use disorder and military program patients. He said the reductions were made to align services with “a sustainable long-term operating model” while continuing to meet community behavioral healthcare needs.
The cuts come weeks after Hillsboro (Ore.) Medical Center said it would eliminate its 21-bed Center for Geriatric Psychiatry Sept. 4, further reducing Oregon’s inpatient behavioral health capacity. Behavioral health leaders told The Lund Report the latest reduction adds pressure to the state’s already strained mental health system.
Chris Bouneff, executive director of the Oregon chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told the publication Cedar Hills has been reportedly “struggling with an increase in patients covered by the Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan, which pays lower reimbursements and because it’s a for-profit business.”
Cedar Hills has provided inpatient and outpatient mental health and substance use treatment services since 2008. UHS acquired the hospital in 2012 as part of its purchase of Ascend Health Corp. The company owns and/or operates 375 inpatient facilities, as well as outpatient and other facilities, and reported more than $17 billion in revenue in 2025.
Becker’s has reached out to Cedar Hills Hospital for comment and will update this story if information becomes available.
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