Throughout the years, Hartgrove Hospital, as well as Universal Health Services (UHS) as a whole, has faced multiple investigations. One such investigation occurred in 2010 by the University of Illinois Chicago, while another was conducted by the United States Senate just two years ago. UHS has had to settle several multi-million dollar claims related to allegations of sexual abuse.
A man who claims he was sexually assaulted as a child at a behavioral health center in Chicago is now sharing his story. John Doe, now 35 years old, alleges that he was attacked at Hartgrove Hospital located on the West Side of the city when he was a young boy. According to his attorneys, Doe is among nearly 100 former patients from Universal Health Services facilities across the state whom they represent. These individuals, now adults, allege that they were sexually abused as children by staff members at those facilities.
The building at 520 N. Ridgeway Ave. is called Garfield Park Hospital, part of a network of over 300 inpatient mental health care facilities for children, adolescents, and adults operated by the Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services company. In 2001, it was known as Hartgrove Hospital. Doe reported that he was sexually assaulted just two days after beginning his extended stay at the facility.
In the lawsuit filed this week on Doe’s behalf, his lawyers assert that Hartgrove Hospital, which has since moved to a new location on the West Side, has a longstanding history of child abuse that they allege continues to this day.
In a statement to ABC 7 News, the alleged victim said, “My mother felt that I needed to get some help for my behaviors; at the age of 11, I was sexually abused just two days into my months-long stay. It was almost an everyday occurrence while I was there. If they took more than one of us, they said they would have a group session. They would force us to do things to each other. They walked in, and they laughed. It was a joke or a game. They would walk back out.”
In response to the allegations presented in the lawsuit, the legal representatives for Hartgrove Hospital argued against the claims on Thursday. The attorneys mentioned that while their client recalls faces and a few first names, they expect to fully identify those who harmed him long ago through the discovery process.
