After having read the reviews, I was horrified tha...

After having read the reviews, I was horrified that daughter was taken to this hospital by emergency personnel. She'd been hospitalized at other places before & I was sure that this place would set her back rather than help her. I was wrong. I had issues in the beginning w/the daytime front desk person making me jump through hoops just to be connected to a social worker, but eventually that all got ironed out. They gave her a safe environment to get her symptoms under control & to monitor her reactions to the new medications that Dr. Saben put her on (the prior ones weren't working very well) & they didn't release her until she was stable. Some reviews mentioned terrible food, but my daughter said it tasted good & was well balanced. I suppose it's a matter of personal taste. Due to Covid-19 & the need to be careful, they don't allow you to bring things from outside the hospital to your loved ones, nor can you visit. They also don't have a lot of things to do for patients, aside from coloring/drawing, reading, watching TV or listening to the radio. They do have group therapy, but my daughter's specific situation made her not want to do any of those activities. But there were a couple very nice nurses who spent time talking w/her, encouraging her & advocating on her behalf. Maria was one of them. Since she's been home, I've seen much improvement from what led her to the hospital in the 1st place. She still has a way to go, but this hospital gave her a chance. She hated it there. But psych hospitals are not going to be pleasant places to be for anyone, given the very nature of what these places are for, especially now during a pandemic, when there are even more stringent protocols in place. Some reviewers mentioned rude staff. My daughter did tell me that a couple people were in fact rude. That was my experience too, but by & large, the majority of those I spoke w/on the phone & who were working w/my daughter were kind, helpful & caring. Those I spoke with were genuinely interested in receiving the information I was giving them because they were trying to give my daughter the best help they could & considered my background information to be helpful. I'm sure I was annoying to some nurses & a couple social workers because I was passionately advocating for my daughter & I called often. But I had the sense that they genuinely cared & were trying to help. For a hospital that had only 1-1/2 stars when my daughter was first admitted, I would say that she received the best treatment at this hospital, out of the other places she's been to, including those with better review ratings. Dr. Saben having changed her meds & keeping her there long enough to observe their efficacy, has changed my daughter's outlook & given her hope. She still has a long way to go, but she's not so tormented by her illness as she had been previously & she's finding joy again. I gave this hospital 4 rather than 5 stars only due to some minor yet frustrating communication issues & because when you have someone with severe enough mental illness that they need to be hospitalized, you should have enough variety of things for them to do that they aren't feeling worse from being alone w/their thoughts instead of getting better. I was genuinely & pleasantly surprised that this place was better than I expected. Much appreciation to social workers Charysse & Frank & to nurse Maria & Dr. Saben. It was clear they really cared & were trying to help.