Franklin-Based Psychiatric Hospital Operator Accused Of Insider Trading

A chain of psychiatric hospitals and addiction clinics headquartered in Franklin is being accused of misleading investors.

Acadia Healthcare is facing a shareholder lawsuit in federal court, alleging $1 billion of insider trading proceeds to top officials.

The lawsuit targets ousted chairman, Joey Jacobs, as well as the company’s former president and several key directors. The shareholder cites a litany of news articles from around the country highlighting understaffing and regulatory violations at some of its nearly 600 facilities as top executives gave investors a rosier outlook, artificially inflating share prices.

The lawsuit also alleges trading violations, pointing out that several company officials sold shares on the same day in August 2017, just before disclosing some of the company’s troubles. At its high point in 2015, Acadia shares topped $80. They’ve since fallen to $32 per share.

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See the 84-page lawsuit

Jacobs was
forced out in December and replaced by Debbie Osteen, formerly of Universal Health Services’ behavioral health division. She’s spent the last few months studying Acadia’s operations and has scheduled
a call with investors Thursday morning to reveal her plans for the future of the company, which is one of the largest behavioral health providers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

Psychiatric Solutions, which Jacobs founded in 1997, came under scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department for alleged shareholder fraud
when it was sold to Universal Health Services for $2 billion in 2010.

Acadia has not responded to WPLN’s request for comment on the insider trading lawsuit.