Alan B. Miller to Step Down as UHS CEO; Company Names Successor

Universal Health Services on Tuesday announced that founder and CEO Alan B. Miller, one of the longest-serving chief executives in the nation, will be stepping down. He will be succeeded in January 2021 by his son Marc D. Miller, the current UHS president who was appointed to be the company’s next CEO by its board of directors as part of a previously agreed-upon succession plan.

Alan B. Miller will remain as the board’s executive chairman and as CEO of Universal Health Realty Income Trust, a real estate investment trust that has 71 properties in 20 states.

Alan B. Miller founded UHS with six employees in 1979. Today, the company has 90,000 employees and, through its subsidiaries, operates nearly 400 facilities in 37 states, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. Among the highlights of UHS’s growth in recent years was its 2015 acquisition of Foundations Recovery Network.

UHS had annual revenues of $11.4 billion in 2019, and is a Fortune 300 organization.

In February, Alan B. Miller was recognized by the data firm Statista as the second-longest serving CEO in the S&P 500, trailing only Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway.

In 2019, he was presented with the Admiral Charles LeMoyne Distinguished Civilian Award after leading UHS to expand its collaborations with military leaders and behavioral health experts. This includes establishing the UHS Patriot Support Program, which provided behavioral healthcare treatment for more than 7,500 active military, veterans and their families. Miller has also been named to the Forbes list of America’s Most Innovative Leaders.

“I am certainly appreciative of the success we have achieved,” Alan B. Miller said in a statement sent to BHE. “I was an entrepreneur intent on doing meaningful work and making a difference with my life. It is an honor to hand over the reins of this very successful company and know that every day, the team will continue to provide high quality care, save lives, and help families in their times of greatest need.”  

Marc D. Miller, who has served as UHS president since 2009, will take the reins as the organization’s next CEO in January. Marc D. Miller has had executive oversight of UHS’s Acute Care and Behavioral Health divisions, and he serves on the UHS and Universal Health Realty Income Trust boards of directors, as well as the UHS Executive and Finance committees.

In his 25 years overall with UHS, Marc D. Miller previously served as senior vice president of UHS and president of its Acute Care Division, and had stints in executive roles with several UHS facilities.

“UHS has an excellent leadership team – we are engaged and committed to delivering for the long-term future of the company,” Marc D. Miller said in a statement to BHE. “Our top priority is, and will always remain, the delivery of superior patient care in all of our served markets.”