D. R. N.
1/5
I needed help. However, they had surprisingly little to offer. I was originally in such a bad place that I couldn't even wait for the first appointment with a new psychiatrist in order to get help on my own.
I'm better now, but I was only helped by 3 things from this place: earlier access to necessary meds, remembering old coping skills I had forgotten while left to my own devices, and self-reflection, a skill I had already previously acquired. I had already figured out what I needed aside from the meds all on my own by the second or third day; I was stuck there for 7 despite asserting and able to prove the prior...
Certain staff members will talk down to or yell at you instead of trying to understand what sort of problems you may have or give you any compassion or help. While it is true that there are people there who care, they're stretched so thin that staff could suddenly disappear if the slightest thing changes, exposing patients to unknown dangers or avoidable problems. Most staff also don't know anything about communicating important information to each other, let alone relevant information to their patients. Actually getting even underwear is a rarity here.
Medicine is often late and you might get withdrawal symptoms before your pills, emergency or no. It happened to me.
Near the end of my stay, there was a patient that required constant supervision due to their policies. Said patient was left unsupervised multiple times due to staff shortages.
There were 3 iso patients in my wing with communicable diseases like flu, pneumonia, or covid and you could see them frequently standing at their doorways in the halls because there literally was no other way for them to get attention from the staff; one even walked all the way to the nurse's station on the opposite side. Mask or no mask, that is NOT okay. In addition, certain staff members interacting with iso patients didn't even bother to wear PPE properly or at all.
Their groups are an absolute joke. For the 7 days I was there, I had a total of 1 helpful group session and that was solely because I had a chance to actually stretch and get some exercise in, a rarity beyond pacing in the bare, short hall or the small, bare, cage-like outside area on the roof. The rest of the groups were either pointless music therapy that involved things like coloring or "Name that Tune;" or fragmented lessons about choices and recovery that covered concepts I had already managed to realize all on my own.
As bad as the groups are, the idle times that made up most of each day were atrocious with VERY little to do beyond coloring or TV or blaring music. If they decide to do a "reset," then you could easily be stuck in your room with practically squat, a very bad situation for many with mental health problems...
You will NOT get a good night's sleep here. The rooms were very cold, the mattresses thin, and the blankets provided less warmth than their towels while their pillows were almost as thick as blankets. In addition, night patrol staff use an alarm that blares VERY loudly every 15 minutes to remind them to do their rounds despite the vibration option on said alarm and will not be shy about shining a light in your face, waking you up.
On my last day, I shared my frustrations with a staff member who actually seemed to care and they agreed with my concerns. They also confided in me that the place was actually much worse than what I had experienced and told me that not too long prior to us talking (March 20, 2025), a patient had died of staff negligence. Obviously, I will not be divulging that staff member's identity. They also told me that talking with me was actually more helpful than talking with any of the therapists. Let that sink in: a patient that did not go to medical school was more effective than one of their professional therapists.
They don't care about your needs. They don't care about your skills. They don't care about your health. Run away from them screaming as loud as you can before they become a danger to your sanity...
