More allegations about Acadia Healthcare (Nasdaq: ACHC) have surfaced in the press, this time reporting sexual assault at one of the company’s behavioral health hospitals.

A male patient at Acadia-owned Options Behavioral Health Hospital raped another patient with severe mental illness, according to reporting by Mirror Indy. A nurse had reported to higher-ups that the male patient was wanted for failing to register as a sex offender, per the article, but the company failed to take action. 

“What happened wasn’t an isolated case,” the article, which identified nine reported rape cases, read. “It’s part of a troubling trend of widespread allegations of abuse at the facility, involving both adults and children, patients and a therapist.”

Options is a psychiatric hospital in Lawrence, Indiana, that offers inpatient treatment and intensive outpatient programs (IOP) for adolescents and adults, as well as detox services.

Acadia maintains that its staff follows industry best practices, including patient placement and monitoring, and has a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior in its facility.

“Due to patient privacy laws, we cannot discuss specific patient care. However, the handful of allegations cited do not accurately represent the standards of care and practices at Options Behavioral Health,” Acadia spokesperson Tim Blair told Behavioral Health Business in an email. “Our protocol is to thoroughly investigate any allegation raised and take all appropriate actions to protect our vulnerable patient population and employees.”

Former employees alleged that Options failed to supervise patients, resulting in multiple incidents of assault that the facility would rely on police to resolve, according to Mirror Indy. Former patients allege that they were held against their will, assaulted by staff, pressured to take naked photos and threatened with court orders when they tried to leave the facility.

Allegations that Acadia focuses more on the quantity of patients than quality care are nothing new. Earlier this month, a New York Times report found that Acadia falsified medical records that the company uses to bill health plans and failed to provide government-required counseling alongside methadone dispensing. 

“Acadia’s business is built on volume,” the NYT article read. “Its counselors carry caseloads that are sometimes more than double the limit set by state regulators, according to employees and inspection records. With so many patients, the clinics can become assembly lines, offering little more than a cup of methadone.”

The article also alleged that clinic directors receive bonuses based on patient enrollment – leading to patients who were not diagnosed with opioid use disorder receiving methadone. Counselor performance reviews also reportedly included rewards or punishments for the number of patients they saw – in some cases, receiving a plush goat (connotated with the phrase “greatest of all time”) when they met their weekly patient targets.

“The handful of past allegations and anecdotes cited in this story are either false or omit material context, and when cherrypicked and pieced together, paint an inaccurate picture of our standards, practices, and quality of care for our patients,” Blair said in a statement. “We patently reject these claims, including allegations employees are pressured to enroll patients, falsify records or overbill for services.”

“With thousands of well-trained and qualified employees, tens of thousands of satisfied patients, and hundreds of satisfactory audits and independent inspections, we are proud to meaningfully improve lives,” the statement continued.

Amidst allegations of dangerous or neglectful patient care, Acadia has taken to posting patient testimonials on its site. The company has posted six such testimonials since October, weeks after it published a statement that said recent media reports about the company painted a “false picture.”

In October, the New York Times published an article that alleged that the company held patients against their will, even when not medically necessary. 

The company was also one of several behavioral health companies listed in a U.S. Senate Finance Committee report highlighting claims of abuse and indignities to patients in youth residential treatment.

Acadia has experienced a financial impact from the multiple rounds of negative publicity and government scrutiny. In September, Acadia was fined $19.85 million by the U.S. and state governments to resolve allegations of endangering patients and knowingly and falsely billing for medically unnecessary behavioral health services. 

Company executives acknowledged lower-than-expected patient volume growth in October due to bad publicity in its Q3 earnings call. The company said it expects negative impacts to be “largely temporary.”