Universal Health Services 10-K 2020-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(MARK ONE)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File No. 1-10765

UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (610) 768-3300

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Class D Common Stock, $.01 par value

(Title of each Class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates at June 30, 2020 was $7.0 billion. (For the purpose of this calculation, it was assumed that Class A, Class C, and Class D Common Stock, which are not traded but are convertible share-for-share into Class B Common Stock, have the same market value as Class B Common Stock. Also, for purposes of this calculation only, all directors are deemed to be affiliates.)

The number of shares of the registrant’s Class A Common Stock, $.01 par value, Class B Common Stock, $.01 par value, Class C Common Stock, $.01 par value, and Class D Common Stock, $.01 par value, outstanding as of January 31, 2021, were 6,577,100; 77,836,686; 661,688 and 18,191, respectively.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for our 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2020 (incorporated by reference under Part III).

UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC.

2020 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K is for the year ended December 31, 2020. This Annual Report modifies and supersedes documents filed prior to this Annual Report. Information that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in the future will automatically update and supersede information contained in this Annual Report.

In this Annual Report, “we,” “us,” “our” “UHS” and the “Company” refer to Universal Health Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries. UHS is a registered trademark of UHS of Delaware, Inc., the management company for, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc. Universal Health Services, Inc. is a holding company and operates through its subsidiaries including its management company, UHS of Delaware, Inc. All healthcare and management operations are conducted by subsidiaries of Universal Health Services, Inc. To the extent any reference to “UHS” or “UHS facilities” in this report including letters, narratives or other forms contained herein relates to our healthcare or management operations it is referring to Universal Health Services, Inc.’s subsidiaries including UHS of Delaware, Inc. Further, the terms “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company” in such context similarly refer to the operations of Universal Health Services Inc.’s subsidiaries including UHS of Delaware, Inc. Any reference to employees or employment contained herein refers to employment with or employees of the subsidiaries of Universal Health Services, Inc. including UHS of Delaware, Inc.

PART I

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Our principal business is owning and operating, through our subsidiaries, acute care hospitals and outpatient facilities and behavioral health care facilities.

As of February 25, 2021, we owned and/or operated 360 inpatient facilities and 39 outpatient and other facilities including the following located in 38 states, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico:

Acute care facilities located in the U.S.:

Behavioral health care facilities (334 inpatient facilities and 15 outpatient facilities):

Located in the U.S.:

Located in the U.K.:

Located in Puerto Rico:

As a percentage of our consolidated net revenues, net revenues from our acute care hospitals, outpatient facilities and commercial health insurer accounted for 55% during 2020, 54% during 2019 and 53% during 2018. Net revenues from our behavioral health care facilities and commercial health insurer accounted for 45% of our consolidated net revenues during 2020, 46% during 2019 and 47% during 2018.

Our behavioral health care facilities located in the U.K. generated net revenues of approximately $584 million in 2020, $554 million in 2019 and $505 million in 2018. Total assets at our U.K. behavioral health care facilities were approximately $1.334 billion as of December 31, 2020, $1.270 billion as of December 31, 2019 and $1.224 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Services provided by our hospitals include general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services and/or behavioral health services. We provide capital resources as well as a variety of management services to our facilities, including central purchasing, information services, finance and control systems, facilities planning, physician recruitment services, administrative personnel management, marketing and public relations.

Available Information

We are a Delaware corporation that was organized in 1979. Our principal executive offices are located at Universal Corporate Center, 367 South Gulph Road, P.O. Box 61558, King of Prussia, PA 19406. Our telephone number is (610) 768-3300.

Our website is located at http://www.uhsinc.com. Copies of our annual, quarterly and current reports that we file with the SEC, and any amendments to those reports, are available free of charge on our website. Our filings are also available to the public at the website maintained by the SEC, www.sec.gov. The information posted on our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report. Our Board of Directors’ committee charters (Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating & Governance Committee), Code of Business Conduct and Corporate Standards applicable to all employees, Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers, Corporate Governance Guidelines and our Code of Conduct, Corporate Compliance Manual and Compliance Policies and Procedures are available free of charge on our website. Copies of such reports and charters are available in print to any stockholder who makes a request. Such requests should be made to our Secretary at our King of Prussia, PA corporate headquarters. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K relating to amendments to or waivers of any provision of our Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers by promptly posting this information on our website.

In accordance with Section 303A.12(a) of the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual, we submitted our CEO’s certification to the New York Stock Exchange in 2020. Additionally, contained in Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2 of this Annual Report on

Form 10-K, are our CEO’s and CFO’s certifications regarding the quality of our public disclosures under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Our Mission

Our company mission is:

To provide superior quality healthcare services that

PATIENTS recommend to families and friends,

PHYSICIANS prefer for their patients,

PURCHASERS select for their clients,

EMPLOYEES are proud of, and

INVESTORS seek for long-term returns.

To achieve this, we have a commitment to:

Business Strategy

We believe community-based hospitals will remain the focal point of the healthcare delivery network and we are committed to a philosophy of self-determination for both the company and our hospitals.

Acquisition of Additional Hospitals. We selectively seek opportunities to expand our base of operations by acquiring, constructing or leasing additional hospital facilities. We are committed to a program of rational growth around our core businesses, while retaining the missions of the hospitals we manage and the communities we serve. Such expansion may provide us with access to new markets and new healthcare delivery capabilities. We also continue to examine our facilities and consider divestiture of those facilities that we believe do not have the potential to contribute to our growth or operating strategy. In recent years our behavioral health services segment has been focused on efforts to partner with non-UHS acute care hospitals to help operate their behavioral health services. These arrangements include hospital purchases, leased beds and joint venture operating agreements.

Improvement of Operations of Existing Hospitals and Services. We also seek to increase the operating revenues and profitability of owned hospitals by the introduction of new services, improvement of existing services, physician recruitment and the application of financial and operational controls.

We are involved in continual development activities for the benefit of our existing facilities. From time to time applications are filed with state health planning agencies to add new services in existing hospitals in states which require certificates of need, or CONs. Although we expect that some of these applications will result in the addition of new facilities or services to our operations, no assurances can be made for ultimate success by us in these efforts.

Quality and Efficiency of Services. Pressures to contain healthcare costs and technological developments allowing more procedures to be performed on an outpatient basis have led payers to demand a shift to ambulatory or outpatient care wherever possible. We are responding to this trend by emphasizing the expansion of outpatient services. In addition, in response to cost containment pressures, we continue to implement programs at our facilities designed to improve financial performance and efficiency while continuing to provide quality care, including more efficient use of professional and paraprofessional staff, monitoring and adjusting staffing levels and equipment usage, improving patient management and reporting procedures and implementing more efficient billing and collection procedures. In addition, we will continue to emphasize innovation in our response to the rapid changes in regulatory trends and market conditions while fulfilling ou

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We are subject to numerous known and unknown risks, many of which are described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report. Any of the events described below could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are not aware of, or that we currently deem to be immaterial, could also impact our business and results of operations.

Risks Related to Business Operations

A significant portion of our revenue is produced by facilities located in Texas, Nevada and California.

Texas: We own 7 inpatient acute care hospitals and 22 inpatient behavioral healthcare facilities as listed in Item 2. Properties. On a combined basis, these facilities contributed 16% of our consolidated net revenues during each of 2020, 2019 and 2018. On a combined basis, after deducting an allocation for corporate overhead expense, these facilities generated 13% in 2020, 14% in 2019 and 12% in 2018, of our income from operations after net income attributable to noncontrolling interest.

Nevada: We own 8 inpatient acute care hospitals and 4 inpatient behavioral healthcare facilities as listed in Item 2. Properties. On a combined basis, these facilities contributed 17% of our consolidated net revenues during 2020, 18% in 2019 and 17% during 2018. On a combined basis, after deducting an allocation for corporate overhead expense, these facilities generated 17% in 2020, 23% in 2019 and 24% in 2018, of our income from operations after net income attributable to noncontrolling interest. Effective January, 2020, United/Sierra Healthcare in Las Vegas, entered into an agreement with a competitor health system that was previously excluded from their contractual network in the area. As a result, we believe that our 6 acute care hospitals in the Las Vegas, Nevada market, will likely experience a decline in patient volumes. However, we have entered into an amended agreement with United/Sierra Healthcare related to our hospitals in the Las Vegas market that provided for various rate increases that began in January, 2020. Although we estimate that the unfavorable impact of the projected declines in patient volumes should be largely offset by the favorable impact of the increased rates, we can provide no assurance that these developments on the Las Vegas market, will not have a material adverse impact on our future results of operations.

California: We own 5 inpatient acute care hospitals and 7 inpatient behavioral healthcare facilities as listed in Item 2. Properties. On a combined basis, these facilities contributed 11% of our consolidated net revenues during each of 2020, 2019 and 2018. On a combined basis, after deducting an allocation for corporate overhead expense, these facilities generated 20% in 2020, 17% in 2019 and 16% in 2018 of our income from operations after net income attributable to noncontrolling interest.

The significant portion of our revenues and earnings derived from these facilities makes us particularly sensitive to legislative, regulatory, economic, environmental and competition changes in Texas, Nevada and California. Any material change in the current payment programs or regulatory, economic, environmental or competitive conditions in these states could have a disproportionate effect on our overall business results.

Our revenues and results of operations are significantly affected by payments received from the government and other third party payers.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from third-party payers, including the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Changes in these government programs in recent years have resulted in limitations on reimbursement and, in some cases, reduced levels of reimbursement for healthcare services. Payments from federal and state government programs are subject to statutory and regulatory changes, administrative rulings, interpretations and determinations, requirements for utilization review, and federal and state funding restrictions, all of which could materially increase or decrease program payments, as well as affect the cost of providing service to patients and the timing of payments to facilities. We are unable to predict the effect of recent and future policy changes on our operations. In addition, the uncertainty and fiscal pressures placed upon federal and state governments as a result of, among other things, deterioration in general economic conditions and the funding requirements from the federal healthcare reform legislation, may affect the availability of taxpayer funds for Medicare and Medicaid programs. In addition, the vast majority of the net revenues generated at our behavioral health facilities located in the United Kingdom are derived from governmental payers. If the rates paid or the scope of services covered by governmental payers in the United States or United Kingdom are reduced, there could be a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

We receive Medicaid revenues in excess of $100 million annually from each of California, Texas, Nevada, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Illinois and Massachusetts, making us particularly sensitive to reductions in Medicaid and other state based revenue programs as well as regulatory, economic, environmental and competitive changes in those states.

In addition to changes in government reimbursement programs, our ability to negotiate favorable contracts with private payers, including managed care organizations, significantly affects the revenues and operating results of our hospitals. Private payers, including managed care organizations, increasingly are demanding that we accept lower rates of payment.

We expect continued third-party efforts to aggressively manage reimbursement levels and cost controls. Reductions in reimbursement amounts received from third-party payers could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and our results of operations.

If we are not able to provide high quality medical care at a reasonable price, patients may choose to receive their health care from our competitors.

In recent years, the number of quality measures that hospitals are required to report publicly has increased. CMS publishes performance data related to quality measures and data on patient satisfaction surveys that hospitals submit in connection with the Medicare program. Federal law provides for the future expansion of the number of quality measures that must be reported. Additionally, the Legislation requires all hospitals to annually establish, update and make public a list of their standard charges for products and services. Also, the No Surprises Act, adopted as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”), creates additional price transparency requirements beginning January 1, 2022, including requiring providers to send health plans of insured patients and uninsured patients a good faith estimate of the expected charges and diagnostic codes prior to the scheduled date of the service or item. If any of our hospitals achieve poor results on the quality measures or patient satisfaction surveys (or results that are lower than our competitors) or if our standard charges are higher than our competitors, our patient volume could decline because patients may elect to use competing hospitals or other health care providers that have better metrics and pricing. This circumstance could harm our business and results of operations.

An increase in uninsured and underinsured patients in our acute care facilities or the deterioration in the collectability of the accounts of such patients could harm our results of operations.

Collection of receivables from third-party payers and patients is our primary source of cash and is critical to our operating performance. Our primary collection risks relate to uninsured patients and the portion of the bill that is the patient’s responsibility, which pri

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None.

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Executive and Administrative Offices and Commercial Health Insurer

We own various office buildings in King of Prussia and Wayne, Pennsylvania, Brentwood, Tennessee, Denton, Texas and Reno, Nevada.

Facilities

The following tables set forth the name, location, type of facility and, for acute care hospitals and behavioral health care facilities, the number of licensed beds:

Acute Care Hospitals

Inpatient Behavioral Health Care Facilities

Outpatient Behavioral Health Care Facilities

We own or lease medical office buildings adjoining some of our hospitals. We believe that the leases on the facilities, medical office buildings and other real estate leased or owned by us do not impose any material limitation on our operations. The aggregate lease payments on facilities leased by us were $82 million in both 2020 and 2019 and $81 million in 2018.

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The information regarding our legal proceedings is contained in Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements - Commitments and Contingencies, as included this Form 10-K, is incorporated herein by reference.

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Not applicable.

PART II

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Our Class B Common Stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UHS. Shares of our Class A, Class C and Class D Common Stock are not traded in any public market, but are each convertible into shares of our Class B Common Stock on a share-for-share basis.

The number of stockholders of record as of January 31, 2021, were as follows:

Stock Repurchase Programs

In July, 2019, our Board of Directors authorized a $1.0 billion increase to our stock repurchase program, which increased the aggregate authorization to $2.7 billion from the previous $1.7 billion authorization approved in various increments since 2014. Pursuant to this program, which had an aggregate available repurchase authorization of $559.6 million as of December 31, 2020, shares of our Class B Common Stock may be repurchased, from time to time as conditions allow, on the open market or in negotiated private transactions. There is no expiration date for our stock repurchase programs.

In April, 2020, as part of various COVID-19 initiatives, we suspended our stock repurchase program. We are planning to resume stock repurchases, subject to approval by our Board of Directors, during the second quarter of 2021.

As reflected below, during the three-month period ended December 31, 2020, no shares were repurchased pursuant to the terms of our stock repurchase program, since as mentioned above, we have suspended our stock repurchase program as part of our various COVID-19 initiatives. During the three –month period ended December 31, 2020, 49,525 shares were repurchased in connection with income tax withholding obligations resulting from the exercise of stock options and the vesting of restricted stock grants.

During the period of October 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, we repurchased the following shares:

Dividends

We have a history of paying quarterly cash dividends to our shareholders. In April, 2020, as part of various COVID-19 initiatives, we suspended declaration and payment of quarterly dividends. Our Board of Directors have recently approved resumption of quarterly dividend payments, of $0.20 per share, beginning in the first quarter of 2021.

Our Credit Agreement contains covenants that include limitations on, among other things, dividends and stock repurchases (see below in Capital Resources-Credit Facilities and Outstanding Debt Securities).

Equity Compensation

Refer to Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters, of this report for information regarding securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans.

Stock Price Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total return on the stock included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and a Peer Group Index during the five year period ended December 31, 2020. The graph assumes an investment of $100 made in our common stock and each Index as of January 1, 2016 and has been weighted based on market capitalization. Note that our common stock price performance shown below should not be viewed as being indicative of future performance.

Companies in the peer group, which consist of companies in the S&P 500 Index or S&P MidCap 400 Index are as follows: Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc., Community Health Systems, Inc., HCA Healthcare, Inc., LifePoint Health, Inc. (included until November, 2018, when it was acquired by Apollo Management) and Tenet Healthcare Corporation.

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The following table contains our selected financial data for, or as of the end of, each of the five years ended December 31, 2020. You should read this table in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report and in Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

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Overview

Our principal business is owning and operating, through our subsidiaries, acute care hospitals and outpatient facilities and behavioral health care facilities.

As of February 25, 2021, we owned and/or operated 360 inpatient facilities and 39 outpatient and other facilities including the following located in 38 states, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom and Puerto Rico:

Acute care facilities located in the U.S.:

Behavioral health care facilities (334 inpatient facilities and 15 outpatient facilities):

Located in the U.S.:

Located in the U.K.:

Located in Puerto Rico:

As a percentage of our consolidated net revenues, net revenues from our acute care hospitals, outpatient facilities and commercial health insurer accounted for 55% during 2020, 54% during 2019 and 53% during 2018. Net revenues from our behavioral health care facilities and commercial health insurer accounted for 45% of our consolidated net revenues during 2020, 46% during 2019 and 47% during 2018.

Our behavioral health care facilities located in the U.K. generated net revenues of approximately $584 million in 2020, $554 million in 2019 and $505 million in 2018. Total assets at our U.K. behavioral health care facilities were approximately $1.334 billion as of December 31, 2020, $1.270 billion as of December 31, 2019 and $1.224 billion as of December 31, 2018.

Services provided by our hospitals include general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services and/or behavioral health services. We provide capital resources as well as a variety of management services to our facilities, including central purchasing, information services, finance and control systems, facilities planning, physician recruitment services, administrative personnel management, marketing and public relations.

Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors

You should carefully review the information contained in this Annual Report, and should particularly consider any risk factors that we set forth in this Annual Report and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). In this Annual Report, we state our beliefs of future events and of our future financial performance. This Annual Report contains “forward-looking statements” that reflect our current estimates, expectations and projections about our future results, performance, prospects and opportunities. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, the information concerning our possible future results of operations, business and growth strategies, financing plans, expectations that regulatory developments or other matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition, our competitive position and the effects of competition, the projected growth of the industry in which we operate, and the benefits and synergies to be obtained from our completed and any future acquisitions, and statements of our goals and objectives, and other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “appears,” “projects” and similar expressions, as well as statements in future tense, identify forward-looking statements. In evaluating those statements, you should specifically consider various factors, including the risks related to healthcare industry trends and those set forth herein in Item 1A. Risk Factors. Those factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from any of our forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or our good faith belief with respect to future events, and is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements. Such factors include, among other things, the following:

| | • | the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted and is likely to further adversely impact us, our employees, our patients, our vendors and supply chain partners, and financial institutions, which could continue to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In an effort to slow the spread of the disease, since March, 2020, at various times, most state and local governments mandated general “shelter-in-place” orders or other similar restrictions that require or strongly encourage social distancing and, face coverings, and that have closed or limited non-essential business activities. Some of these restrictions remain in place. Additionally, evidence suggests that individuals may be deciding to forego medical care delivered in traditional venues. These dynamics have manifested themselves in our hospitals in, among other ways, reduced emergency room visits, elective/scheduled procedures and acute and behavioral health patient days. While such measures are expected to assist in responding to the recent outbreak, self-quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, and suspension of voluntary procedures and surgeries have had, and will likely continue to have, an adverse impact on the operations and financial position of health care provider systems due to increased costs (including labor costs which have been pressured during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a shortage of clinicians and increased wage rates resulting from increased demand for those services), actual reduction and potential reduction in overall patient volume, and shifts in payor mix. Despite these measures, there have been waves of escalated COVID-19 cases at various times, including the fourth quarter of 2020 and into the first quarter of 2021, in many states in the U.S., including many states in which we operate hospitals. Recently, COVID-19 vaccinations have begun to be administered and while we expect the administration of vaccines will assist in easing the number of COVID-19 patients, the pace at which this is likely to occur is difficult to predict. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken in response thereto impact our business, results of operations and financial condition will depend on numerous factors and future developments,

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We manage our ratio of fixed and floating rate debt with the objective of achieving a mix that management believes is appropriate. To manage this risk in a cost-effective manner, we, from time to time, enter into interest rate swap agreements in which we agree to exchange various combinations of fixed and/or variable interest rates based on agreed upon notional amounts. We account for our derivative and hedging activities using the Financial Accounting Standard Board’s guidance which requires all derivative

instruments, including certain derivative instruments embedded in other contracts, to be carried at fair value on the balance sheet. For derivative transactions designated as hedges, we formally document all relationships between the hedging instrument and the related hedged item, as well as its risk-management objective and strategy for undertaking each hedge transaction.

Derivative instruments designated in a hedge relationship to mitigate exposure to variability in expected future cash flows, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Cash flow hedges are accounted for by recording the fair value of the derivative instrument on the balance sheet as either an asset or liability, with a corresponding amount recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) within shareholders’ equity. Amounts are reclassified from AOCI to the income statement in the period or periods the hedged transaction affects earnings. From time to time, we use interest rate derivatives in our cash flow hedge transactions. Such derivatives are designed to be highly effective in offsetting changes in the cash flows related to the hedged liability.

For hedge transactions that do not qualify for the short-cut method, at the hedge’s inception and on a regular basis thereafter, a formal assessment is performed to determine whether changes in the fair values or cash flows of the derivative instruments have been highly effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of the hedged items and whether they are expected to be highly effective in the future.

The fair value of interest rate swap agreements approximates the amount at which they could be settled, based on estimates obtained from the counterparties. When applicable, we assess the effectiveness of our hedge instruments on a quarterly basis. Although we do not anticipate nonperformance by our counterparties to interest rate swap agreements, the counterparties expose us to credit risk in the event of nonperformance. We do not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading purposes.

During 2015, we entered into nine forward starting interest rate swaps whereby we paid a fixed rate on a total notional amount of $1.0 billion and received one-month LIBOR. The average fixed rate payable on these swaps, all of which matured on April 15, 2019, was 1.31%.

When applicable, we measure our interest rate swaps at fair value on a recurring basis. The fair value of our interest rate swaps is based on quotes from our counterparties. We consider those inputs to be “level 2” in the fair value hierarchy as outlined in the authoritative guidance for disclosures in connection with derivative instruments and hedging activities.

The table below presents information about our long-term financial instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates as of December 31, 2020. For debt obligations, the table presents principal cash flows and related weighted-average interest rates by contractual maturity dates.

Maturity Date, Fiscal Year Ending December 31

(dollar amounts in thousands)

As calculated based upon our variable rate debt outstanding as of December 31, 2020 that is subject to interest rate fluctuations, each 1% change in interest rates would impact our pre-tax income by approximately $26 million.

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Our Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Income, Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity, Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income, together with the reports of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, are included elsewhere herein. Reference is made to the “Index to Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedule.”

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None.

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As of December 31, 2020, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), we performed an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) or Rule 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Based on this evaluation, the CEO and CFO have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that material information is recorded, processed, summarized and reported by management on a timely basis in order to comply with our disclosure obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the SEC rules thereunder.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting or in other factors during the fourth quarter of 2020 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining an adequate system of internal control over our financial reporting. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, management has conducted an assessment, including testing, using the criteria on Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013), issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Our system of internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Based on its assessment, management has concluded that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013), issued by the COSO. The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm as stated in its report which appears herein.

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None.

PART III

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There is hereby incorporated by reference the information to appear under the captions “Election of Directors”, “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” and “Corporate Governance” in our Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2020. See also “Executive Officers of the Registrant” appearing in Item 1 hereof.

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There is hereby incorporated by reference the information to appear under the caption “Executive Compensation” in our Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2020.

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There is hereby incorporated by reference the information to appear under the caption “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Executive Compensation” in our Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2020.

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There is hereby incorporated by reference the information to appear under the captions “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” and “Corporate Governance” in our Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2020.

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There is hereby incorporated by reference the information to appear under the caption “Relationship with Independent Auditors” in our Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after December 31, 2020.

PART IV

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(a) Documents filed as part of this report:

(1) Financial Statements:

See “Index to Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedule.”

(2) Financial Statement Schedules:

See “Index to Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedule.”

(3) Exhibits:

*Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

Exhibits, other than those incorporated by reference, have been included in copies of this Annual Report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Stockholders of the Company will be provided with copies of those exhibits upon written request to the Company.

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None.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

February 25, 2021

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES, INC.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULE

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Universal Health Services, Inc.

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Universal Health Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the related consolidated statements of income, of comprehensive income, of changes in equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, including the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the accompanying index (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.

Change in Accounting Principle

As discussed in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for leases in 2019.

Basis for Opinions

The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the tra

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