Northlake Behavioral Health System Reviews

Nice clean place and the workers are friendly along with the patients.

Amazing non profit organization that helps people suffering from mental illness.

If i could give no stars then i would. Terrible service for families. My mother was in there for 12 days and heard from the doctor ONCE. And barely told us anything. We found out she was going home by my mother, not the doctor and couldnt find out any information no matter how many times we called. Very terrible communication and needs to be fixed.

The place was not very bad as people say I went here in late 2018 and thought that the place really helped me get my bearings for a while and helped me get in better moods by having friendly patients and a good staff who really cared for me and wanted me to be better and live a full life and I met a lot of good people and they made my stay better and I feel that if they kept the place cleaner then it would be a lot better but really needs more funding and for one last time the staff was incredibly kind and I didn't like the whole group time thing because I don't like talking about my feelings and have trust issues but the time spent just talking and observing everything there was a lot better than having my parents get mad because I couldn't tell them anything and didn't want to.

Taking care of mental health concerns is never easy. I found the staff to be responsive and understanding to the concerns and needs of my loved one. The programing was a good fit and I was satisfied with the care.

Only a few nurses actually care about their patients. Horrible place, if you have any family members there please take them out asap. Patients are doped up on meds the whole entire time, BEATS on patients at night, and doctor tries to keep the patients for no valid reason . Very unclean, unfit, and scary place to even spend one night!

Employees really care and work hard to make sure that my mom is taken care of.

If you'd like to see how under-qualified some 'staff' can be, this is the place for you! The staff were constantly cursing and acting generally unprofessional. Credit where credit is due, some of the staff seemed to actually care for the staff. However, they were the minority. While there, I witnessed more than one incident of a patient assaulting another patient, regular use of slurs used by patients against other patients (note that the patients were not confronted about this in the majority of cases), among other things. Sleeping was next to impossible on some nights, given how the staff members would constantly loudly chat with each other and/or play loud music while doing so. The food had the same quality as food from a school cafeteria; it was only meant to keep patients fed, and the actual quality of said food wasn't taken into account. Aside from that, the phone was borderline unusable for the majority of my stay, only finally being fixed days after it first broke. From what I've gathered, the owner is quite stingy with their money, which explains the condition of the hospital. Only one of the main psychiatrists seemed competent; one of them (who I will not name for the sake of their privacy) kept me for a day longer than needed and proceeded to threaten me with being kept longer under the guise that I was 'impulsive' after I explained to them how keeping me there another day wasn't in my best interest. Following that, I had what was basically a panic attack, and none of the staff seemed to care until I nearly fainted from an oxygen deficiency.

TL;DR: Do not go here if you had the option to do so. If you were looking to get a job at this hospital, I'd suggest to look elsewhere. Truly a horrid experience and a slap in the face to anyone who actually requires assistance with their mental health.

I got out of there on Friday and all i would do is eat, play cards and talk and the staff and all of them would curse at us patients they NEED to shut down because that place is the most depressing place i have EVER been to when you are inside it stink the place is disgusting as hell and there isnt anything good about it. The food is bad also they only serve milk as a drink and it never tastes good. And all the staff there are so rude like i will NEVER go back in there. The rooms are also VERY COLD. I got sick when i was in there my nose got stuffed and all they give is 2 blankets that stink and dont help warm you AT ALL. They are so rude like everybody kept complaining about the doctors because they kept giving attitudes at us patients and talk behind our backs and when we are there they give you some "shoes" that are just SOCKS and they make your feet really cold. They even took one of my sweatshirts and didnt give it back i dont have it because of them. And all the staff kept yelling at us like we were some pieces of trash? The doctors there are so bad they dont help at all they make everything even more depressing like what the heck? And the buldings are not connected so they make you walk without shoes when u first get there because they take everything away from you when u first get there so u walk in socks OUTSIDE and your feet get really cold its hard to sleep. Also when someone is coming to visit they have to wait OUTSIDE when inside there are tables and chairs the family can actially sit in. They left my FAMILY OUTSIDE WAITING AND IT WAS HOT THEY WERE SWEATING. Please DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN THERE SEND THEM SOMEWHERE ELSE.

My experience at northlake was a good one. The staff seem caring and really showed me that they wanted to help me get better. There were days where i didnt want to go to group, but they encouraged me and im glad they did. Ive learned better ways to cope with my depression. I also had a family member there prior to me being there. His mom said he came home a better person and how thankful she was to see the positive change in him. Thank you all for what you are doing to help people like us and not judge us.

They treat their employees like trash. The director of admissions, Dana Galloway is such a horrible person! The HR Department person, Nicole, dont know how to do her job. Dana shows favoritism to Nicole. THEY ARE TRYING TO GET RID OF THERE EMPLOYEES! Now they only have 2 employees for admissions; 1 day & 1 for night.

My child was there for 6 days. I never talked to a doctor or to a technician. They called me the day he was discharged and said I had til midnight to get him. I live 4 hours away and have a disability SO I can't drive. No changes and completely unreliable. More like a place to send your child without supervision.

I wouldn't recommend anyone to send their child to Northlake. My daughter went there for depression and came back home with a passion mark in her neck. She's only 13 years of age and was turned out by another girl which is very much so against my beliefs. My daughter also was choked by one of the staffs. The staff didn't report it. My baby claim that she is now confused to whether she like boys are girls. The hospital stay made my girl far off. Trust this will not be the end of this. How do a child go to a hospital for treatment and get expose to the other side of the world? My baby said how the staff stayed on their phones. How they were on facebook sitting out of camera view so they wouldn't be caught on their phones. This place totally neglect my child. Now this has to follow her because it has impacted her livelihood and has introduced her to something that most parents fear. I don't know if my daughter and the child was sexually active and because there is no cameras in the room no one could say. I'm very angry about the situation, not only angry but bothered daily. It's against my beliefs! The COO apologized along with other staff stating they sorry and that they messed up big time. Yes, you guys did. I don't know how long this will follow my baby are me. They better offer us 1.8 million or more or this place will be shut down. It's major to me. This is my child, her lifestyle. I'm angry! My girls went in the place liking boys although I don't' allow any of that activity, but come out confused to whether or not she like girls. Disturbing.
The only reason they get one star is because I wanted to share my baby story.

This is an amazing place....that it is allowed to remain open given the hostile takeover leadership Tony Shir and his mo or mo-in-law Diana. Neither has any experience in managing hospitals or healthcare. Before Tony was an investment specialist, He was a professional ball room dancer. He will sure be dancing now! Diana knows how to do physician billing but running admissions!!!! Ridiculous The hospital is in the dark ages. Staff are abusive to patients and the Supervisors do nothing because they are afraid people will leave. That leaves a cadre of incompetent irresponsible nurses who never leave the nursing station. Patients come in with lice and bedbugs and scabies which fester for days because the nurses refuse to treat them.. The Supervisors and the current DON had to come to me to handle the situation because they were uncomfortable . Who will handle it now. The facility will revert back to a total lack of accountability with incompetence rewarded.
Sadly there a number of good people wiorking there. I predict they will be closed in less than a year. Good people run don t walk to your next job. People will be on the street and the incompetent leaders will put them there.

I was released recently from this horrible facility. The doctors and techs make fun of the patients and toyed with your mental illness. One nurse that tried to toy with me was Brittany. They talk loud so you can't go to sleep. And they slam lots of doors. And one of the workers was throwing rocks outside my window to make me freak out and stay locked up longer. I wish I could give them zero stars for their neglect and horrible attitudes. They curse entirely too much and just completely unprofessional. I will say there were some cool nurses that took care of me. I thank God for them. I don't think I could have made it without the other patients and their motivational talks. And I enjoyed the groups and church services. They seriously need to work on their professionalism.

Very disappointed. Staff rarely returned phone calls as to family members status or to assist with paperwork. When the phone call was finally returned (10 days later) extremely rude and even more unhelpful.

I just called this place horribly worried about a patient being treated here and was answered by a woman having an apparently great time! She was laughing when she answered. Laughed like she just heard the funniest joke ever! For quite some time I sat on the phone confused and scared saying, "excuse me? Hello???" FINALLY, she takes a deep breathe and asks me what I needed. WELL LISTEN. MY BEST FRIEND, MY SISTER IS STUCK IN YOUR FACILITY AND IM WORRIED SICK ABOUT HER. She's ill and I can't get to her! And you are going to answer the phone laughing????? Nothing is funny about this! I'm so worried about my loved one. No one should call a mental health facility and hear 20 seconds of uncontrollable laughter!

I have a family member in this place , been there since last Monday ! We were told they were just going to keep him for 72 hours which was a lie. It s been a week and they are still holding him there , treating him like a dog ! We ve been calling up there trying to get him released all they do is lie and say Dr. Rodriguez is going to call us back but we never get a call and when we call for him he s never there ! I contacted my lawyer because I will not allow this place to hold another person in there for a paycheck ! They are very rude, ghetto, & disrespectful !!! This will be the last paitient y all neglect !!!! Im giving it my all to shut this dirty place down !!!!

My son was recently discharged from this place and my experience was not good!! Another patient was bullying my son and he got assaulted!! I made several phone calls to try to get my son released because I didn't feel that he was safe More

This was THE exact place my 16 yr old daughter needed to be to get her mood stabilized just recently. Even though the staff, therapists, & Dr's have strict rules they were fantastic helping my family with anything & everything they could to further our daughter's treatment. Thanks to all who were there for her & our family!

Absolutely terrible professionalism; employees ("techs") could often be heard mocking patients behind their backs, and the doctor failed to call back with important medical information despite contacting him repeatedly. There were a few kind staff members, but they in turn were screwed over by the hospital's lack of organization.
If you care about your patient, do NOT send them here.

This place needs to be shut down poor nurses,cleaning needs improvement and est. They sent me to long term treatment and knew my insurance didn t cover it. Smh

This place is infected with bats. I have a relative that was bitten and my family wasn't notified until days later. Trash!

I can get better care on my own. Therapy is brief and half-hearted, there s no communication between the staff and the patient s PCP and Therapist and, therefore, the exit process is onerously difficult and tedious. They won t answer the phone. They didn t do what they were supposed to (daily notification for one week), didn t provide the level of care they were supposed to, and it seems that the only reason they switched the medication was so they could keep her 3 days longer for observation (see also: more money). She has been out of immediate danger for seven days. Now, according to them, the only reason they refuse to release her is because they have to get her paperwork ready. And that was when I spoke to them two hours ago. I can t get through to them over the phone and they still haven t called me back. This is horrible. Definitely would not recommend this place. They aren t here to provide medical care. They re here to make money.

Went there for a week 3 years ago it s a good place

This place kept me against my will, screamed at me at night, didn't believe a girl when she said she was having a seizure, which she did 5 minutes later, gave me medicine that numbed my entire face, tried to keep me for extra time, kicked a child out because her insurance ran out, had mold growing on the wall that got my friend sick, gave me uncooked food that made me vomit, did not give me headache medication for my migraines, and overall treated us like prisoners, all in 5 days..

My friend was there for a few days and I definitely see the improvement in him

Have worked here for over 3 years and still love it!!!

This was a good place when i was there they had bad days and they had good days the staff that work in there try to hype you the best they could keep it up.

My son had his nose broke by another child on his first day there. I asked if they contacted law enforcement, they explained to me they do not do this. I asked what happened and it was explained to me that the child who struck my son had problems with loud noises and he was placed in his room to calm down because he was getting angry. There were children running in and out of his room picking on him. My son was not involved in this. When the other child who struck my son opened the door he was punched in the face and received a nasal fracture

From age 12 to 15 I was in and out of behavioral facilities and this is the facility I was sent to and held at for AN ENTIRE YEAR. This place left me with not only PTSD, but an eating disorder. The portions are filthy, wouldn't feed them to my dog. The staff was fairly pleasant, they cant get too personal with you but most were as passionate about their jobs as they could be. The majority of my time was spent locked in an awkwardly shaped hall with several bedrooms. Sexuality and threat weren't a concern when you were placed with a room mate, which resulted in me nearly being molested by a girl twice my size. Noise and excitement of any kind are not allowed. Books are locked away. The only form of "true" entertainment was a television which led to fights over what to watch. The tv was always stuck on either MTV or TLC which can drive anyone insane. I will not say that I was tortured here but I was not treated fairly or with respect. I was forced to ask male staff for a pad which made me uncomfortable and when I expressed it I was told that i lost my simple freedoms the moment i tried to overdose. Male staff was never touchy or overly conversational but to assign them to a female ward knowing that there are troubled young women in there who may have problems or may be triggered by the presence of men is wrong and irresponsible. Not only is it unsafe and inconsiderate to the patients but it can put the male staff in a sick situation if any patient ever got upset with them and decided to lie. Another issue with this place is the lack of privacy. I understand that this place is for people with issues such as suicide but there was more than one occasion where I was mid shower and staff would barge in without knocking. Or another instance where i was writing in my journal and the staff confiscated it saying they needed to make sure i wasnt plotting. Then when theyd finaly given it back they blurted one of my entries about a boy and laughed. Nearly every single day of your time being here will be spent sitting on those rubbery couches in that cold ass room with strange girls you do not know and staff who are there for a check, waiting for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, waiting to take your medicine, and waiting for the activities director to make her rounds and drop off sets of playing cards. you will go to bed at 8:30 pm and if you argue or disagree they will dope you up on a sleep inducing shot that knocks you out. Then they will make you sit in an empty room called the "quiet cell" and wait for you to either go to sleep or stop crying and they will escort you to your room where you will sleep for 4-5 hours and if youre lucky, when you wake up, they will not have let the other patients pick what they want from your plate. To the parents of children who are there/being sent there: please do not do this to your children. find anywhere else except northlake behavioral. the only reason i left in a year is because my parents withdrew me. please remember that places like these get PAID to hold your children and at some point your child goes from just being a patient to a paycheck.
i still have nightmares about being back in this place. it was scarring and there was frequent fighting. careless staff left a pen around and a girl got stabbed with a pen in a fight. if northlake is your only option, get your child on prescription and get them out. This place is not a cure, it will only scare your children out of reaching out for help.

They change my life completely the males don't get as much help as females because they don't know how to act and can't join on the things we do Mr.Ben is the most helpful and Mr.arnell is the best therapist for males and females - keionna

These recent positive reviews are totally fake! Im pretty sure someone had family or friends in Chicago write them. If Northlake is such a great hospital why would you have to recruit people to write fake reviews? That's how you know this place is not right. This place is definitely a joke. I have family members that suffer with mental illness and I would never recommend this place to them. No way

A father with three children was just released yesterday. No way to pay for medicine or continue with therapy. Thank you for allowing this to happen. Thank you for letting bipolar schizophrenic out on the street. What kind of help did you administer? He is exactly the same as he left.

Northlake Behavioral Center is understaffed, dirty and smells, total lockdown of all doors. My husband and I went to visit a child we care very much about, not our own. We waited over an hour because there was not enough staff to man the desk and take care of the patients, 2 of whom were trying to harm themselves. There were 3 families inside and another 2 outside. It was raining and the mosquitoes were eating them up. The kids get half hour of group therapy and on some days a visit with the doctor. They all came out crying , traumatized by what they had seen that night and every night. The place should be shut down. They can't take care of the patients properly. This will make them worse not better. How can anyone send their child to such a hellhole. She begs us to go home and we have no control. Sickening situation. May God be with them and help them all get to a safe place.

I was just discharged today after a 5 day stay in the lowest security unit. This place is not perfect but I believe for the little funding they have, the staff does it's best. The food is equivalent to school lunches, ok, not very seasoned but it's proportionate and fills you up. They had plenty of snack times, which were small things like Graham crackers, snack cakes, fruit, and served decaf coffee several times a day. That boosted morale in the unit for sure. There's not much to do except for group once or twice a day, go outside and listen to music/play basketball, read and watch TV. You see a doctor or psychiatrist once everyday for a few min, and the techs are pretty cool.

I stayed here in June of 2017. I got there on a Friday night and left on a Monday morning. We did nothing but sit around and watch TV the entire time. I went to ONE therapy session the day I left. That was all. The boys were having to share a unit with the girls at that time due to construction. The only things separating the boys from us was a metal door which BROKE from them pounding on it almost constantly. The one and only thing this place taught me is that I never want to ask for help again, because this place did nothing but scare me.

Poor treatment for patients, doctors don't listen to your medical problems.social worker was the only one that listed and helped

Hate this hospital. They lost my cloths. No soap to take a shower. Have to be in bed by 10 pm to bad if you wake up to use the bathroom and can not go back to sleep. Look at the wall and no tv between 10 pm and 6 am for patients. Would not recommend. They did not tell my husband that I could get snack at night if he would put money for me therefore I was denied going to snack machine.

Just got released from here today. Was there since last Thursday. A horrible place. Most of the staff walked out friday because they didn't get paid like they were suppose to. Some of the other staff just complained or didn't help you when you needed it. I forgot the doctor name, but he was horrible. Definitely do not go to this place if you need help, you'll come out more depressed than when you went in. Also like the others said, it's freezing in there and all you have is a thin little blanket.

I've been here twice. My first visit wasn't a good experience at all. Let me begin by noting that this place has no structure whatsoever. I was there for 9 days dealing with depression and when i asked to speak to a counselor(the third time), I was fussed at for "asking the same question," when i was told that something would be set up for me shortly. ...I never spoke with a counselor. Being the normal emotional 15 y/o female, I asked if it would be okay if i stayed in my room for a while to cool down. Soon after, i was confronted by a woman who told me i was being lazy and that my behavior would be recorded and that my stay would be prolonged.. Another day, it was time to take our medicine, so we lined up as usual with our small paper cups of water. Most of the girls on our unit took meds at the same time, but the nurse asked me to come 1/2 an hour after everyone else. The nurse behind the enclosed desk called my name and asked me to take my meds and unlocked the door to allow me to go into the hall to do as i was asked. Usually, she would open the door and let me through, but it was known that i am a trustworthy patient. As I pushed open the unlocked door, a tech named Empress began to yell at me telling me to "sit my skinny ass down" because "she can't let me out of her sight." Agitated from the disrespect, i fussed back saying that i was doing as i was told. She then chased me down the hall to the nurse's station pulling on my arm and calling me names until the nurse explained that I wasn't running away. After that, Miss Empress was rude to me for the rest of the night by talking to other patients saying that she was mad at me for getting her in trouble. She was also making fun of other patients behind their backs saying that they looked like "Emo raggedy ann dolls" and "cockroaches." We called to report the incident and received no help. Also, we were given time to use the phone to call family and friends... multiple nights i didnt get to use the phone because other patients went over the time that was assigned to them for phone use, which took time from the overall time allowence. Therefore, the phone was cut off before i could use it. This also happened to other patients, so i learned not to fight for my right to use the phone because you won't win.

Long story short, i went into this hospital depressed and i left this hospital depressed even more. I went there for help with the mindset that nobody could help me and i left with assurance that i was correct. If i could give this place 1/100 of a star, i would.