Best experience for medication stabilization. Nurses were super helpful, as well as the numerous, highly qualified mental health technicians. They made you feel safe, and understood when you need it the most.
If you expect your counselors to read your file, or anything you fill out in group - This is not the place for you.
If you would like group leaders who are consistently late and have no plan for the day expecting us to come up with something, and have zero contact with group members outside of group - This is probably the right place for your needs.
If you would like to see a nurse practitioner or psychiatrist within four days of admission - this is not the place for you.
If you would like to feel supported by the staff at the facility you are giving hundreds of dollars to DAILY - this is not the facility you should choose.
However!
If you would like an intake process that lasts 15 minutes, only to be told later they usually last an hour - This just might be your spot!
If you would like to feel continually in crisis with no assistance, despite this being the place you GO for help - This is your place!
If you would like to feel like you came out significantly worse than when you went in and then get to pay thousands of dollars you don t have for the privilege - Wow are you in for a treat!
Oh, speaking of that payment, good luck actually making it. The website doesn t work and nobody answers in the billing department.
The options for mental health care for people in crisis are abysmal in this town, this country.
If this is your option, go here! You ll no doubt have a better experience than me. Wouldn t be difficult. If you have other options, maybe try that first. I hope things get better for you.
Avoid at all costs. You couldn t pay me to come back here, forget getting *me* to pay them again. I had a mental health crisis that landed me in the ER, and the ER referred me here. The staff psychiatrist misdiagnosed me, prescribed meds with horrible side effects to treat something I didn t have, and ignored my input throughout. The intake staff told me (in the middle of a prolonged panic episode) that I might never recover or get well again. No hyperbole, I was told my brain might have permanent, irreversible damage without ever having any sort of diagnostic testing or imaging done. When I offered to contact former mental health providers to obtain previous treatment records, the staff told me they had no bearing on my present condition . Turns out they were wrong, as after I transferred out of this place I was properly diagnosed as suffering from conditions I d been treated for earlier in life.
It felt like something out of a Ken Kesey novel being here.
I just got home today from a 10 day stay at cedar hills. I have never been treated this poorly by a facility in my life. During my assessment it was made evident that I needed to be admitted (suicidal ideation and severe depression) I also knew I needed to be admitted as I was in desperate need of medication management. I explained to the staff that I am a non binary individual, and gave them my preferred name, told them my dead name legal name so that there would not be a mix up for insurance purposes- and explained to them that I preferred they/them pronouns- this was not respected by MANY staff members, I was dead named about a thousand times- even by the therapists and scoffed at upon attempting to respectfully correct them, and even educate them on how to address me. (Example- I may have two names listed, I understand that it s confusing, in the future when you see that try asking what name do you prefer I call you so that you don t upset someone ) This caused me a great deal of discomfort and really hindered my success here. I believe that this is a training issue/ personal issue with a lot of staff members. I had a few questionable encounters with staff members, for instance; when you take a shower at cedar hills- they round every 15 minutes to ensure your safety. If you are showering you are required to show your face and hands to the staff members. I am ok with this, however; I asked an RN named Don for my towel and hygiene bin and took it to my bathroom, got undressed and within a minute Don knocked on the door and asked to see my hands and face- I told him that I needed a minute to get dressed because I wasn t decent (it is also in my chart that I have sexual trauma so this encounter was VERY triggering) he yelled SHOW ME YOUR FACE AND HANDS and then decided to overstep my personal boundaries and attempt to pull the curtain in my bathroom- this put me into an automatic fight or flight response, I threw on my shirt and showed him my face and hands to have him laugh at my crying, panicked face. He scoffed and walked away. After my shower I gave him back my hygiene bin and demanded to speak to his supervisors and asked him to show me the policy on shower checks- because I wanted to know it what instance staff were allowed to expose patients bodies, in a shared recorded room. He again, treated me like I was less than human stating that he is not allowed to show me their policies- and only after yelling at him did he call his supervisor. After talking with said supervisor she asked if I would prefer that she take Don out of our unit for the night (I was on the north unit) I said yes please and instead of removing him he actually worked overtime on the unit, causing me to feel extremely unsafe and unable to ask for my night meds, use the bathroom or anything else until he left. There is a therapist on the unit named Killian who treats patients terribly, and is unwilling to create a fair therapeutic space for patients during covid. With a full unit of 24 only 12 are allowed in a group at a time meaning 2, 30 minute sessions, instead of letting 12 in, doing therapy and having a next group come in and starting over for the patients- he would let 12 in, and if people left, others could come in at the end without starting over leaving many of us only getting the end of the sessions closing statements this very much hindered my success- as I didn t get the opportunity to benefit from group therapy if he was the one offering it that particular day. There were more instances where I felt deeply saddened by some of the staff here, however; I want to just note that this hospital is HORRIBLY unorganized, VERY unsanitary, and POORLY managed. I am an understanding person, who works in the healthcare field- but the RNs that work here at undertrained, non empathetic, and just plain rude to the individuals under their care. The mental health techs were GREAT! Lyndsay, Kirsten, Alex. Thank you. Therapists Lizzie and Jessica were amazing. I hope that everyone else employed here can learn from the 5 of you.
I spent a little bit of time at Cedar Hills and I really enjoyed my stay, the staff were super friendly and kind. Definitely like a 5 star hotel. Cedar Hills Hospital helps you get back on your mental health and possibly feet if needed. Cedar Hills can prescribe medication for all sorts of different types of problems, thats why I enjoyed my stay. Recommended 5/5 star rating!
Do not go here if possible. They mistreat you. The staff conjugate and laugh at patients when they have medical episodes. The staff do not help with rehabilitation. The environment is chaotic and staff do not help with making it safe for everyone to heal. I was always cold there. The staff are not empathetic, caring or attentive. They get fuel from being cruel to clients. They watch the cameras and laugh at people when they undress. I did not get all my belongings that I came with. The food is not good here. You don't get a breather to go outside. You have to nearly beg for your hygiene box. It was loud there because a guy was in isolation room for 3 days screaming and begging to get out. It was traumatizing. The staff are cold hearted and detached emotionally making it difficult to trust that they genuinely care. If you raise concerns they gaslight your experience, talk over you and belittle your credibility. Its dark and gloomy. My experience as a patient was below on star.
If I could give this facility zero stars, I would. I spent six days here and I hated every single one of them. I felt so alone and not one of my problems were really addressed. Just shoved medication down my throat and eat tasteless food and sleep the day away or attempt to at least. Getting checked on every five minutes it seemed while trying to sleep or other patients having episodes that were ignored. I hope I never have to go back to this awful place.
When I was recently inpatient, I was severely suicidal due to overwhelming anxiety symptoms such as hives ect, was having severe rage episodes and required two different types of a type of benzodiazpines and and an antipsychotic/ sedative to try and get my emotions stabilized. I had an amazing Pyschiatrist and had loved working with him on a previous stay of mine. I was physically attacked by another patient, who also exacerbated my symptoms, yet stayed the course in belief that at least I would be discharged with my medication. I even called the police to report an assault, yet when staff was spoken to the police were told " no one say that" despite having two employees hold me back from charging back at her, and numerous cameras. As a survivor of lifelong abuse, I was trying to advocate for myself by even making that phone call, as obviously staff could not control her from assaulting a few patients., and my experience was discounted which broke my heart, in turn making me more full of rage. I stayed the course to discharge instead of just leaving against medical advice, as when you do so you are discharged without your medication. The whole point of my stay was to get stabilized on medication for my anxiety and was finding it difficult to get appointments and be prescribed outside of the hospital. I was told ' I was making bad decisions" when I was ripping paper and screaming trying to get out my frustration instead of self harming. I hadn't self harmed since I had been there before. I had my personal belongings taken away " for safety" despite having blankets in the room if I was to try anything. After spending most of last year homeless and losing my belongings, this set me over the edge even more so. Definitely not therapeutic. As a matter of fact, my last stay there, they just dropped me off on the street downtown, knowing I had nowhere to go. The doctor who discharged me ( I was so excited to leave!!), was not my normal doctor and discharged me with all meds EXCEPT the anxiety/ agitation meds, and even my muscle relaxers for the pain of the panic attacks. I felt even more hopeless after leaving and trying so hard to be sober and not self medicate, take the correct avenues, ect just to have been further traumatized. Still am suffering. Don't go here. Some of the staff is amazing, but this experience was heartbreaking.
Is this place an insurance scam?! I was transferred to Cedar Hills Hospital after originally checking myself in to another facility for alcohol detox. On my first night at the first facility I was woken and told my insurance wouldn't cover where I was at. I was put in a medical transport car and sent to Cedar Hills. When I got there I realized Cedar Hills is mainly a mental health facility and I became uncomfortable with all the papers they wanted me to sign and the procedures that would be in place to CHECK MYSELF IN. I asked to call my fiance and my father before proceeding if I decided to proceed at all. They immediately declared that I was being "combative" and locked the doors, denied me any calls for the night, and placed me on a minimum 5 day hold! For VOLUNTARY alcohol detox! I've never heard of such a thing. Yet I met someone else there who was facing the same situation.
While I was there some of my personal belongings (clothes, overnight bag, etc) came up missing, both locked up with staff, and in my room, never to be recovered.
I got out, thoroughly traumatized from being locked in and everything else that happened while I so vulnerable. I was worse off and I drank again. I detoxed on my own when I was able and now I'm sober, no thanks to that place. If they are so desperate that they have to lock you in to get you to stay or to fill their beds - SCAM!
I have never, ever in my life been so horrifically mistreated the way I was at the psychiatric facility in Cedar Hills. This is not my first or longest stay at a psychiatric ward but it wins by a landslide for the most horrific conditions, treatment and staff. These are QUITE LITERALLY abusive conditions. Staff are completely overwhelmed and desperately in need of help. There is no organization or communication between patients, doctors and nurses. Nurses regularly mix patients up and give them other patient's medication, or never give them their medication to begin with. The atmosphere feels manic during the day. I was never given any of my prescribed psychiatric meds for my multiple day stay and nurses missed 95% of my scheduled doses for intestinal medication. There's no segregation for those with more severe illnesses. The patients who physically attack others and throw themselves at the glass are kept in the same rooms as the less severe patients. My first night there I wasn't able to sleep at all due to patients wailing in the hallways, being loudly destructive of facilities, and my own roommate violently waking me up by grabbing my feet and digging her nails into my skin. When patients become violent, staff have little training on what to do and respond in a disorderly manner. They allow patients to scream and claw at the walls and their own skin for excessive periods of time. Many patients visibly distressed/injuring themselves/in pain and in need of medical attention sprawled in the hallways or on their beds. Poor hygiene of both patients and living quarters. Mold and mildew in abundance in the bathrooms. Some patients being obviously unbathed. Food and drink residue and open food containers left everywhere for days. Medical Doctors and Psychiatrists were practically non-existant. Even when present they never had their orders followed up by nursing staff in a timely fashion. Patients with special needs like wheelchairs or physical medical conditions were not able to have their special needs accommodated well. There is so, so much more I could write about this place but simply don't have the space.
cedarhillshospital.com
