How UHS’ Alan B. Miller built a successful hospital in the middle of nowhere

Forty years ago, Alan B. Miller founded Universal Health Services with six employees, one telephone and one hospital contract. Today, under Miller’s leadership, UHS operates through its subsidiaries a broad portfolio offering hospital-based and ambulatory care, behavioral health, insurance, a physician network and various related services. UHS employs 87,000 people across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.K., serving over 2.6 million patients annually. How the system grew was the result of Miller’s boldest move.

WHAT WAS YOUR RISKIEST DECISION? Buying land and building a hospital in the undeveloped desert of the Las Vegas Valley in the late 1990s. The developer of Summerlin and I shared a vision, and he sold me land right in the center of the future city. While access was available initially only via a dirt road, Summerlin quickly became a thriving master-planned community, consistently ranked No. 1 of its kind in the nation.

WHY WAS THAT MOVE RISKY? Standing in the undeveloped desert near Las Vegas, I saw great possibilities—but as an entrepreneur seeking to build a state-of-the-art hospital and be fiscally responsible, I knew my bet had to pay off. Following the purchase of Valley Hospital in 1979, we identified Las Vegas as a key growth market—and as a company, we have continued to grow our assets there since, most recently with the additions of Henderson Hospital in Henderson, Nev., and the ER at Green Valley Ranch, a free-standing emergency department affiliated with Henderson Hospital delivering superior quality, immediate and convenient emergency care close to where people live and work.

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE FROM THOSE INVOLVED? At the groundbreaking in 1996, a tumbleweed blew across the desert sand—I heard someone whisper, “Should we really be out here?” While perhaps not evident to some at the time, the investment was one of our smartest business moves. Today, Summerlin Hospital Medical Center is a 485-bed hospital, accredited chest pain center and primary stroke center, on a 40-acre campus that includes two medical office towers that provide a variety of outpatient services. Over the years, we expanded our presence to create what is today our largest system—the Valley Health System—an integrated delivery network comprised of six acute-care hospitals, two behavioral health facilities, several pharmacy locations, free-standing emergency departments, a bariatric-care center, six medical office complexes, a network of 400-plus primary-care physicians and the Prominence Health Plan.

Our strategy is to build or acquire hospitals and related healthcare delivery points in growth markets, invest in the people and equipment needed to allow each state-of-the-art facility to thrive, and become the leading healthcare provider in each community we serve. We have successfully done this in a number of key growth markets including Florida, Southern California and Texas.

ANY ADVICE FOR EXECS IN SIMILAR POSITIONS? Keep healthcare personal. Always put patients (customers) first and at the heart of all the decisions you make. We established the company’s mission in 1979. Forty years later, it remains an essential foundation of our company and guides us in delivering compassionate care to patients and families.

DESCRIBE YOUR LEADERSHIP STYLE: I believe in hard work, perseverance and building the right team. It is important to build trust and to inspire and influence people to accomplish our bold organizational goals.

HOW WOULD OTHERS DESCRIBE IT? I believe they would say that I have a strong commitment to quality, hard work, and that I take the long view and calculated risks in making decisions that drive the company’s future.