Laurel Ridge Treatment Center on the far North Side plans to lay off 648 employees starting in June, after the federal government terminated its Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
Laurel Ridge Treatment Center
After losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding, San Antonio’s Laurel Ridge Treatment Center is planning to lay off hundreds of employees.
“As a result of this regulatory action, we must implement a workforce reduction,” Laurel Ridge CEO Ashley Sacriste said in a statement.
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The hospital is “deeply disappointed by this outcome and recognizes the significant impact it will have on our dedicated team members and the communities we serve,” she added.
The psychiatric hospital sent a letter to employees, notifying them that it plans to lay off “approximately 648” workers from its facility at 17720 Corporate Woods Drive on the far North Side, starting June 26. The letter was shared online by media outlets KABB-TV and KSAT-TV.
“None of the employees who are losing their jobs has a right to claim another job at Laurel Ridge,” the letter reads.
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READ MORE: Feds cut off Medicare, Medicaid funding to Laurel Ridge in San Antonio
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“Support resources are being provided to impacted employees during this transition period, including career fairs.” Sacriste said. “The organization is committed to treating all affected patients and employees with dignity and respect throughout this transition. Laurel Ridge is committed to continuing to provide services to individuals in the greater San Antonio region and will be pursuing the process of regaining deemed status with CMS.”
On April 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Laurel Ridge that it would be terminating its Medicare provider agreement on April 30, stating the hospital “has failed to substantially comply with Medicare and Medicaid health and safety participation requirements.”
Sitting on 29 acres, Laurel Ridge is described as “one of the largest freestanding psychiatric hospitals in the United States,” according to its website.
The 330-bed facility, owned by Fortune 500 company Universal Health Services Inc., has had several federal inspection reports filed over last year, raising concerns regarding its patient safety.
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Public Health Watch reported that three patients died inside the facility in 2025 alone, yet in the previous four years, it had only one reported patient death, according to police, state and federal records reviewed by the publication.
Several inspection surveys from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last year revealed the facility’s failure to follow patient safety protocol.
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A May CMS survey stated that a 44-year-old man with a mild intellectual and developmental disability died while sleeping in seclusion in March. The patient was admitted with an observation level of every five minutes, yet “continuous observation when the patient was locked in the seclusion room did not occur per policy and procedure,” according to the report. Ahead of his death, there was a 23-minute gap between patient observation rounds.
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In October 2025, a 26-year-old woman who was experiencing heroin withdrawal died. The medical examiner ruled that she died of natural causes, but Laurel Ridge staff did not check on her regularly throughout the night.
There also have been several reports of inadequate staffing and failure to appropriately screen patients for contraband, for which the facility received “Immediate Jeopardy” citations, after “placing all patients at a significant risk of harm, serious injury, or potential death,” according to CMS surveys from May and August.
In 2024, Jacob Cuellar, who had been the facility’s CEO, was arrested on charges of sexually abusing a juvenile. As of the day after his arrest, he was no longer listed as the CEO. Current CEO Ashley Sacriste took over shortly afterward.
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Universal Health Services also owned Austin Lakes Hospital, which permanently closed in 2022 amid criticism of patient safety and quality of care.
In 2020, the company and Turning Point Care Center, one of its Georgia facilities, paid $122 million to “resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act for billing for medically unnecessary inpatient behavioral health services, failing to provide adequate and appropriate services, and paying illegal inducements to federal healthcare beneficiaries,” according to the Department of Justice.
Universal Health Services operates more than 340 inpatient behavioral health facilities, making it one of the largest providers of behavioral health services in the U.S. and the U.K.