St Luke’s Behavioral Health Center

This place had the most RUDE nurse named JIM in AP4. He was a smart ass who
Always had something condescending to say. He was arrogant as well and spoke down to every patient. He has NO business working with mentally ill patients. I am only brushing the surface here with this guy. I will never ever go back to this horrible place.

Unfortunately, my sister transferred to St. Luke’s from a different hospital. After only a couple of days, she showed rapid deterioration of her faculties. Even her manner of speech changed. She became a different person and looked sickly and yellowish in color. They gave her someone else’s clothes that were about 40 sizes too big and appeared to be from the late 1960’s. They were so old they were moth-​eaten. She had her own clothes there, but the attendant told me they would not permit her to wear them for some unknown reason.
While I was visiting her one evening, my sister had to use the restroom. The attendant told her she could only leave the room once, and if she did again, we had to terminate our visit. As my sister had an upset stomach because of the food she had eaten, she felt the need to go again after a few minutes. The attendant told us to say goodbye, and I was not permitted to see her again that night.
While in the waiting room, I could hear other patients on the inside screaming, throwing things, banging and kicking on walls and doors, cussing, etc. There was general pandemonium going on for the entire duration of the visit. One patient who was also in the waiting room with us visiting with relatives cried loudly and incessantly the entire time I was there. There was no privacy, which made for a most distressing visit.
Even though we weren’t permitted in patient quarters, it sounded just like an insane asylum. This was unit 5.
Avoid this place if you can help it. Believe me, it’s frightful.

Appalling conditions. They put people in wards in the basement where there is no sunlight. The rooms are run down and dirty. The showers and bathrooms are completely disgusting. I would have rather relieved myself outdoors. But you have to earn the privilege of even going outside. The mirrors are warped so you can’t clearly see the deterioration of your condition from having stayed there. Once you are behind the doors of the ward, the only way you will leave is if the doctor in there gives you the okay to be released, meaning they could hold you for as long as they wanted, even though the paperwork they have you sign gives you the impression you can leave at your own choosing.
The therapy there is remedial and was of little to no value there. Most of it is group therapy where you talk about feelings and is not geared toward a specific individual’s needs. You see the psychiatrist for 10 minutes a day, if that. His job is only to prescribe you medication in a wait and see what works and what doesn’t work fashion.
The beds are made of a very hard plastic and it is almost impossible to get any sleep in here which is not conducive to a healthy state of mind.
They run the place more like a business rather than a care facility. Providing the lowest possible care at the highest possible price. I saw what they charged my insurance for a 2 night/​3 day stay and it was criminal. Upon entry they try to extract money from you but don’t allow you to see the conditions where you will be staying in first. The intake and exit process has a lot of inexperienced people running it.
Other patients had told me they had been there for weeks, months on all sorts high dosages of painkillers and antipsychotics. Places like these are in a position to take advantage of patients for their own profit. This place is a business first and a health care provider last! One man was undergoing electric shock therapy and he would laugh randomly and tell random jokes throughout the day as if each one were an electric shock to his brain. It was painful to see.
The food is also disgusting. The only thing that didn’t taste gross was the fruit and the drinks. It’s basically powered eggs everyday and then some nasty slop at night. Even the oatmeal is gross.
When I was released I looked like a totally different person. Like a beggar. I ran out of there as quick as possible. They tried to get me to fill out a survey but words cannot describe or a survey cannot say what a horrible experience I had in this place.

They have quality therapy people and many good and solid people working there that have a genuine concern and compassion for the clientele they serve. The problem is that it is not adaquetely staffed in numbers in the units. NURSES are more concerned with having power and control because they can rather than help. The administration is more concerned in the financial matrix rather than support their staff and that is both Nurses and Techs as well. Sadly there is a minority number of people on staff that are basically lacking of social skills and professionalism that bring down the quality of the work environment. I do not enjoy giving this rating and the caution to NOT work there but for the small minority that bring it down I have to give this low score. I hope that soon it can become a place that is a recommend work environment to work in.

After my dad was admitted to the hospital, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Kara, the head nurse.
Out of 50 nurses, I can count on one hand the nurses who can identify Hypothyroidism and what to do about it.
She took the time to talk with my dad and explain the test results that showed his Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) reading was about HALF of what it should be.
The doctor put my dad on Synthroid, which is a CHEMICAL and NOT natural Thyroid drug, but at least they identified the MAJOR reason he was admitted to the hospital in the first place. He will be switching to NATURE Thyroid once he gets out and can see his NATUROPATHIC doctor.
P. S. Anyone admitted to this ward should check their body temperature, If it’s below 98.6 then you have Hypothyroidism.
Ask the staff to do a FULL BLOOD TEST for Hypothyroidism.
TSH
T3
T4
Reverse T3