Pamela Higgins

Review of HCA Rockford Center

I had a traumatizing experience there in just 5 da...

I had a traumatizing experience there in just 5 days of being there on two separate occasions, inpatient. I will talk about the second time because it was the most traumatic. The second time I went there, I was 15, last year. I had been diagnosed with CRPS/RSD (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, which is an invisible chronic illness, with a very high pain level), my pain has gotten much worse since I was 13 (the first time I went there).

So I went there willingly because I was in such a depressive state, that I was willing to give them another chance. When I got there we were placed in a conference room to wait. My pain started to increase and so we tried to get someone to talk to. There was no one there to talk to in the area we were in. A doctor came through but he said that he just got there and walked out. After about 45 minutes of waiting in pain. There was another patient waiting in another room walking around freely. This place has homicidal AND suicidal people together.

Anyways, I was in so much pain that I didn't want to be there anymore, my pain outweighed my depression at the moment. I just wanted to go home and somehow cope with the pain and get it to go down. My mom started banging on the glass to get someone, anyone's attention. Staff and security guards saw her but ignored her yelling and banging. A nurse finally came by and said they would send someone over, but no one came. My mom called 911 because I got into so much pain. The EMS arrived. He was literally behind the glass door. My mom told him through the glass that I was in severe pain and needed help and taken to the hospital.

Let me make this very clear. Rockford staff do not care about physical health AT ALL. My mom told staff that she wanted to leave because this was unacceptable. We waited for too long, had been ignored by every staff, and I was in too much pain and they couldn't handle my condition. The staff would not let us leave and called the doctor, who refused to discharge me WITHOUT seeing me, meeting, or knowing about my health condition. Rockford staff refused EMS to assess me.

The door between us and the EMS guy was locked. I could see him but couldn't get out so I had a panic attack and dropped to the ground. I got myself together quickly though but I was crying in pain the whole time. He couldn't do anything ,THE STAFF DIDN'T LET HIM HELP ME. They kept us LOCKED IN THEY'RE FACILITY. I was angry, in pain, and locked in a place with NO medical attention.

At this point we were finally causing attention to staff. But they called the police because my mom was infuriated. My mom had to keep explaining to each new staff member that arrived, about my medical condition, which nobody knows what it is because it is considered rare. While my mom was talking to the police and 3 staff members, I started hyperventilating.

Long story short they didn't let me leave. I was wheeled into the teen girls unit after my mom was forced to give up because the police were on they're side. My traumatic experience did not end there. I can't fit the rest of my traumatic experience at Rockford on here, but the conditions are horrendous. I got sleep paralysis there, they do not clean the cafeteria, the floors are sticky and drinks spilled everywhere, the food is uneatable, it is disgusting and fake. People fight and get hurt.

Every staff member I told about my condition nodded and believed me, until I later found out that they pretended to believe me. They only believed me when they called my mom, and that was only ONE staff member that did that. Not ONCE did ANYONE call my doctor to confirm my chronic pain condition. They ignored it and then questioned why I walked so slowly in the hallways, (the pain is in my knees).

An adult male with some obvious mental disorder just WALKED into our teen girls unit and when they were getting him back to his unit all I saw was him running at me before staff shut a door between us. Another violent, mentally ill, teen boy BROKE A WALL DOWN. This is inhumane. SHUT. THIS. PLACE. DOWN.