Portland, Ore.-based Willamette Valley Behavioral Health, a subsidiary of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services, intends to sue the Oregon Health Authority for rejecting its proposal for a 100-bed psychiatric hospital in Wilsonville, Ore., according to Oregon Live.
Willamette Valley Behavioral Health is accusing the state agency of engaging illegally with competing behavioral health providers to prevent its entry into Wilsonville.
"A very well financed, very experienced operator of psychiatric hospitals has been trying for more than a year to build a brand new facility at no cost to the taxpayers," Jason Conger, the lawyer representing WVBH, told Oregon Live. "It defies explanation that OHA would actually conclude there's no need for those beds."
Oregon Health Authority claims they rejected the proposal because the applicant failed to justify the need for the facility, according to the Portland Business Journal.
The OHA will charge Willamette Valley Behavioral Health $48,500 to produce the public records the facility seeks to pursue the lawsuit, according to Oregon Live.