Behavioral Health News

Psychiatrist Brian Hyatt, MD, chair of the Arkansas State Medical Board, resigned after the state's Medicaid inspector general found "credible allegations of fraud," the Arkansas Democrat Gazette  reported March 3. 

Frank Fortunati, MD, vice chief and medical director of psychiatry and behavioral health at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital since 2016, died March 5 at 58 after a battle with cancer.

Demand for behavioral health care has dramatically increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth is constructing a new inpatient unit at its Aurora campus, NBC affiliate KOAA reported March 6. 

Behavioral health is primed to be the biggest area for growth in healthcare over the next decade, and hospital executives are adjusting their strategies accordingly, with 80 percent saying they plan to hire more behavioral health providers in 2023.

Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, Durham, N.C.-based Alliance Health, and the county of Mecklenburg have teamed up to open a new behavioral health urgent care center in Charlotte, N.C., WFAE reported March 2. 

Liberty Township (Ohio) police arrested six adolescents after a riot at behavioral health hospital Belmont Pines, according to a report from CBS affiliate WKBN.

A 61-year-old Texas physician and companies he owned and operated are paying $3 million to resolve claims they improperly billed Medicare, the Justice Department said March 3.

North Little Rock, Ark.-based BridgeWay mental health hospital was ordered to pay $2.5 million to a former patient who was allegedly raped by one of its workers when she was 14, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported March 3. The hospital admitted wrongdoing as…

BetterHelp, a virtual mental health company owned by Teladoc, agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $7.8 million over allegations it shared customer health data with third parties, Politico reported March 2.