Suncoast Behavioral Health Center, formerly known as Manatee Palms Youth Services, is a 60-bed psychiatric hospital in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

. Manatee Palms was a subsidiary of for-profit Psychiatric Solutions. The license for Suncoast Behavioral Health Center/Manatee Palms Youth Services was inactive from October 1, 2013, to August 19, 2014, for extensive remodeling. The state review indicated that while operating as a class-four hospital, the facility was placed on an emergency suspension and a moratorium on admissions was imposed effective April 16, 2010 for conditions determined to “pose an immediate risk to the health and safety of the patients.”

Overview

The hospital is an Intensive Residential Treatment Facility accredited with the TJC and

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

. Most of the referrals it receives are from Florida Medicaid. It is a locked institution for male and female patients aged 6–17, with on-campus school and sports facilities. Its specialty populations presently has a children's unit, an adolescent male behavioral unit and a Female Behavioral Unit.

History

Prior to becoming Suncoast Behavioral Health Center, the facility was known as Manatee Palms Youth Services. Manatee Palms changed hands twice in the decade 2000–2010. In 2000 it was purchased by Ramsay Youth Services, when that company acquired Charter Behavioral Health Systems of Manatee Palms and the corresponding real estate as a strategic investment. Then in 2003 Ramsay Youth Services was bought by Psychiatric Solutions. Manatee Palms Youth Services had been required to cease admissions twice by the State of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

due to widespread abuse and neglect. In April 2007, Manatee Palms instituted a voluntary moratorium on admissions, related to a state investigation into the hiring of staff members with criminal records, insufficient supervision of suicidal patients, and disintegrating physical facilities. Manatee Palms was fined $12,000 by the state, required to make millions of dollars worth of renovations, and to reduce its patient census to zero before reopening in May 2007. The facility has also been subject to media attention due to a number of incidents and lawsuits related to accusations that employees engaged in acts of sexual misconduct, employment of a sex offender accused of engaging in sexual misconduct, and accusations that employees used excessive force with patients.

References

{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1987 Buildings and structures in Bradenton, Florida Companies based in Manatee County, Florida 1987 establishments in Florida Psychiatric hospitals in Florida