Oceans Behavioral Hospital Greater New Orleans: Westbank Campus

"Terrible facility! I was brought here after having a suicide attempt in which I almost died earlier this year. I was only kept for 3 days. Upon admission there was no assessment, I had to wait til the next day and even then it was extremely brief. I’m 19 years old and I was put on the unit with mostly elderly patients. When I asked if I had been put in the wrong unit they told me they hadn’t put me on the side with the patients my age because a lot of fights break out on that side and they thought I was too vulnerable to handle it. I lay in my room for hours at a time and no one came to check on me. No one checked on me all night to make sure I was alive and breathing or anything. The food was awful, it tasted like slop. I didn’t even eat my whole stay. We had coffee only one day and that was disgusting too. Staff was rude and wouldn’t get me anything I asked for and got mad at me for crying. I also observed them yelling at the elderly patients and those who were too gravely disabled to be able to eat, communicate or care for themselves. I was supposed to have an EKG while there and they didn’t do it and lied and told my family they had when they called to check on me. There was only 10 minutes of phone time a day that’s it. I was there for the weekend and there’s no counselors or social workers there on the weekend so I had to wait til I was almost discharged to receive any therapy. For the one day I got it there was no individual therapy and the group sessions weren’t that great. I felt like it was designed for children. They forgot to have the coroner see me and that’s why l was released so fast even though I had just had a major attempt. I barely even saw the doctor, I think I talked to him twice for a few minutes. Upon discharge I received no referrals to outpatient care. DO NOT go here or bring your loved ones here. They will not receive any help they may come out worse than before."

"10/27/23 edit: Despite the email I sent to Oceans at their request on this review, no response or update from Oceans. This is around a month after sending the email. I don't think this is the right place to send someone suffering from anxiety and depression and suicidal feelings, at least, not if recovery is the goal. The facility is frightening. Patients are allowed to run up and down the halls yelling profanity. Patients get belligerent with the nurses, and the nurses shout back at them. My husband passed a message to me that my psychiatrist wanted to coordinate with the facility's psychiatrist, so I asked six different staff members for a release of information form. None of them provided me a form or directed me to the correct individual to obtain a form. The staff told my husband that they didn't know why they would need to speak to my psychiatrist since they have their own. I was also approaching six months of pregnancy and was and am visibly pregnant. While the facility had a urine sample from the hospital that sent me to them, a therapist still felt the need to ask my husband if I really was pregnant. I was so stressed by the facility and found it difficult to enter the common area between the patients and nurses arguing, my anxiety and autism, so I became dehydrated and began having pelvic pain. I reported the pain to a nurse who asked if I was having any physical pain. One nurse spoke to my husband and seemed offended I didn't tell her. I was pretty much only speaking when asked direct questions. They did send me to the nearby Ochsner where it was discovered I was having contractions and premature labor. To be fair, I did not remotely suspect that. The pain was nothing like contractions. This happened while my husband was visiting. Oceans would not tell my husband what hospital they were sending me to, and they said he wouldn't be allowed to go. They said they'd call and update him soon. Fortunately the care at Ochsner was fantastic, my husband (who just followed the ambulance) was allowed to be with me in L&D, and baby is fine after several days of a magnesium IV. Oceans did not call my husband until over a day later. They had no information to give him besides the hospital I was in. As far as they knew, until that point, he was sitting at home with no idea where I was, only knowing I was sent to a hospital for pelvic pain. Ochsner also worked with me so that I would not have to go back to Oceans as the OB recommended a low stress environment. My husband contacted Oceans to get my personal items they still had, and after they had no luck finding them all day, he suggested that he'll have to ask the sheriff to help locate my sentimental gold necklace. A few minutes after that conversation, they found most of my things, but not my underwear or a dress my husband brought me. Bizarre. All in all, I do not recommend this facility for anyone who needs mental healthcare. Edit: After receiving the response below, I emailed this review to the provided address along with the following introduction. I'll edit again if there seems to be any reason to do so. I don't know for what purpose you want this emailed, but here is the review of my time spent at the Oceans facility in New Orleans. Also note that my husband made unsuccessful attempts to contact the patient care advocate while I was under Oceans' "care." I also did not mention that nurses allowed a new patient to have the names and room numbers of other patients so that he could open up those rooms to call others for vitals. Upon calling one patient, he loudly proclaimed that patient looked like a "sea walrus" multiple times to the amusement of the nurses. This same patient was allowed to encourage others to go to group therapy by loudly declaring that (paraphrasing) patients should come talk to the group and not the voices in their heads. It was confusing to me that patients would be approved to open the doors of others' rooms, insult them, and make disparaging comments about mental health."

"I never will admit that I'm a crazy person! Thank you oceans Gretna louisiana. It's a new facility that needs repair,which makes it way harder on the staff. The Staff Black or White are great people,and go way over board on treating patients like their own family. Very comforting place to be mentally repaired."

"I was admitted to this facility over2 yrs ago now and it was because I was in a place in my life where I thought all hope was lost I had a lot guilt after my mother passed away I wanted to die! I was at behavior for a week and half and I must say it was just what I needed I cannot say enough of how much care and understanding and interest of the staff to help and bring about my understanding of me and why I tried and wanted to kill myself, it was intense to talk in a group and to know you are not alone and I also revived one one with counselors. T I would only give 5 stars for this place for me it was the best place for me at that time in my life!!"

"This is a terrible place and has hurt my entire family by murdering my grandfather. Unfortunately my grandfather was having mental and emotional problems and (without my family’s prior understanding of the terrible circumstances at this hospital) was transferred here. In less than 36 hours, my grandpa had mysteriously went into cardiac arrest- 2 hours after they called complaining to me that he wouldn’t take his meds and was being “troublesome”. I am 100% positive they forced too many meds down my grandfathers throat to make him be quiet and settle down, knowing that too much psychiatric meds can put any person into cardiac arrest ESPECIALLY an 83 year old man. He was very healthy and happy prior to this. This place needs to be shut down ASAP. On top of everything the rooms are dark and depressing and you can literally hear people screaming and crying in the rooms. My grandpa would still be here if it weren’t for this disgusting place."