Newport News Behavioral Health Center

"I saw a TikTok depicting public records of children who died in the care of group homes. This place was mentioned as having a 17 year old girl die here as a result of medical neglect. This was in 2018. Makes me sick."

"My son was recently being held here & was sent back to the detention center without treatment because he refused talk to the dr when he first got there per Dr Berger. Although he is willing to start treatment now. Horrible doctor. I spoke to the doctor he stated my son was being disruptive while there as well. So that’s the reason I feel he sent him back NOT because my son is refusing treatment! Hope he gets his license taken. I have filed a complaint with the board of health. Also he said he asked my son about medication before & he refused, my son said that wasn’t true. Thinking back when my son first got there nurse Phylicia reached out to me to get some info on my son, she stated/insisted my son didn’t have any marks on him & I stated that’s not possible , when the nurse from the other facility told me he hit his head & was bleeding. So she said ok I will set up a zoom call for you to see. Guess what?!?! Boom a mark on his forehead!! These people are not good & don’t care or take anything serious! I pray it gets shut down or get better workers & doctors!"

"I used to be employed here and I’m leaving this review not for hatful purposes, but for constructive criticism. This facility puts way too much on the mental health technicians. MHT’s spend 12+ hours with the residents with little to no resources. The residents don’t have many activities so they begin acting up. When residents act out, other than them being reprimanded, they face little to no consequences. Staff is required to break up fights until help arrives, but this can be dangerous. I’ve gotten hurt multiple times and had to go to the ER because of residents attacking staff. This place is a treatment facility, therefore, if resident’s behavior is violent and they aren’t showing signs of improvement they need to be removed right away for the safety of everyone. There should be a designated team in place for violent behaviors of residents, that way other residents who truly are trying to receive help aren’t put in distress due to their violent peers. There needs to be stricter protocols for the residents, and more resources to keep the facility a safer place."

"This place is absolutely the worst in adolescent psychiatric care. There's little to no communication between staff and parents. CEO doesn't care either. I called him, he called back 3 days later, I missed the call by a few minutes, and called right back. Four days later, I still haven't received a call back. I begged for medication change and all they did was up one of my child's meds at bedtime. She's sleeping, hello is it going to matter? This is a fast acting medication so by morning, it will be out of her system. Her words to me on the phone were, mom even if I get into a fight, they won't keep me any longer. Really? So what's the point of the hospital stay if they can act up and nothing happen about it. Run the other way if they mention putting your child here. There is no treatment. They are making a killing on providing nothing more than housing for our children. Let's talk about the no visitation and only on the phone "family therapy". Where if your child refuses to cooperate it's okay. I was promised another session and never got it. There's nothing good I can say about this place."

"This place was horrible. The staff was EXTREMELY unprofessional, did not respect boundaries, and denied me help on multiple occasions when I begged to talk to someone without being called a “brat” or “immature” or pulling the age card saying I needed to “act my age”. The only person the who actually genuinely cared was Ms. Joy. She made me feel comfortable there. Mr. Wallace, Mrs. Chantel and various other staff were so uncanny to me and it was horrible. If you are looking for a healthy place to go to, whether it’s for your child or yourself, go to the children’s pavilion in Norfolk.. I went there and it genuinely helped and the workers there actually cared about and for the patients. Never again will you catch me in this place. This place reminds me of the saying “they just hire anyone”, because it seems like they do. I’d rather go utterly insane before being sent back there."