Engemann Student Health Center

"Helpful. Safe. Health a priority. Thankful. For those with mental health issues that come here for anxiety and already have a therapist they work with, if you accidentally say too much, they will call DPS officers to handcuff you and then send you off somewhere. You will be put in hand cuffs and shipped off somewhere. It would have been better for me to be alone, go back to my apartment with my roommate, done therapy, the next week, and then hoped for the best. The university wants nothing to do with a student in need in a circumstance like this nor will they follow up or make comment, and you and your family (Mom and Dad, or both, will have to deal with everything afterwards). We're not upset about this, just there has to be a better system to help students that are having a hard time. Many people that are having a hard time refuse help and suffer in silence anyways. My family did not deserve the concern they had to have by sending me to some psych facility nor did the medication at Las Encinas really resolve anything. Also for reference I understood I was LGBTQ+ at the beginning of university at my time beginning in Spring of 2015 so I should have just come out or began to find peers so I can speak of this comfortably and feel okay."

"USC STUDENTS: IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE A SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS, GO ELSEWHERE. IF THEY WANT TO SEND YOU TO LAS ENCINAS HOSPITAL IN PASADENA, DO NOT GO. I graduated in 2018, and I'm still dealing with the effects of this. The way the staff treated me for mental health was inefficient and at times deeply harmful. I was looking for help to get an excused absence for classes due to my poor mental health, and they sent me to Las Encinas, stating I could leave whenever I felt better. I ended up being forced to stay there for 4 days, essentially was cut off from my entire support circle, and was given a $1000+ debt on release. I called the center while audibly crying because I received another $200 bill from the same hospital (the doctors all billed me separately from the hospital because they weren't employed under the hospital itself, they were contracted or something similar) and was told that $200 is not that big of an expense. I was literally living IN DEBT and had ZERO INCOME. On a separate appointment, the employee I was talking to told me they were upset that the psych/therapist they outsourced me to was failing me. They did not accept ANY of the responsibility for sending me there. Another time, I came to meet my counselor at USC for a mental health emergency and was left waiting for over an hour. When I finally left the building, they called me asking me to come back, saying that it was an error due to the employees' shifts. I never went back. I found out after graduating that they sent ANOTHER student (a friend of mine) to Las Encinas after my complaint. So I doubt they changed this system. In fact, since COVID, I would guess they've gotten worse. I kept quiet about this for a long time, but I don't want anyone to go through the same issues I had. Don't take the risk. I'm still dealing with the trauma they gave me, and at least you won't pay money just for someone to sit there and gaslight you for 30 minutes."

"Couple negatives to start of with. No Walk-Ins. Reception on the second floor seem like they can't be bothered. Other than that, I have had a great experience here every single time! It's usually easy to get appointments easily and quickly. Doctors seem very competent and caring. Frequently, I will get test results within 24 hours which is a lot faster than any place I've gone to previously."

"Staff is nice, but the logistics of this facility are horrible!!! First of all: how can there be no walk ins? If I suddenly fall sick and start throwing up, why do I have to wait for an appointment? Secondly, why are they closed during the holidays? Can’t I fall sick during the holidays? Lastly, why won’t they prescribe anything that actually help?? By being too cautious all they did was extend the duration of my sickness and even worse: I got all my friends sick."

"Unless you're a massive hypochondriac, no one really wants to visit the Health Center until absolutely necessary. Still, the staff here are excellent. I've been in for a suspected fracture, food poisoning and a mandatory tuberculosis test, and everyone I encountered has been consistently kind and extremely good at their jobs. I experienced the most painless blood drawing in my life here."