The Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation was established in 2005 as a result of the conversion of the non-profit Friends Hospital to a joint venture with Horizon Health Systems.

The Foundation takes its name from Thomas Scattergood, the 19th century Philadelphia Quaker minister who spoke out against the harsh conditions faced by the mentally ill in his era, and who advocated for a philosophy of “moral treatment.” This "moral treatment" model helped inspire the founding of the “Friends Asylum for Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason” by the Philadelphia Quaker community in 1813  as the nation’s first privately-run psychiatric hospital. Based on the Quaker belief that all humans have “that of God” within them, the Religious Society of Friends set out to create a special place in which those who suffered from mental illnesses could be treated with respect and dignity and be healed of their afflictions.