Valleywise Behavioral Health Center – Phoenix

"My loved one said this place "wasn't horrible" and he was there against his wishes because it was mandated by court order so knowing he doesn't want to be there but still said it was decent eased my mind a bit. I understand they are mandated by strict regulations, guidelines and protocols as well as HIPPA laws so by law are only able to tell me so much so I don't fault them for being limited on what they could or couldn't tell me. I also used to work at the VA hospital so I have understanding of what they deal with on the daily. Having now experienced this from a patient/loved one of a patient perspective, I recognize a lot of flaws and dysfunction in general for how the entire mental health process works. Its not as surprising to me now why there are so many untreated mentally ill people living on the streets. They seemingly make this entire process, which is already stressful, scary and frustrating, even more unnecessarily difficult and just aggravating to go through. That's not specific to this facility, but to most mental health institutions in general. The system itself is just very flawed. I would never wish this on anyone and what I do fault this facility for, is the rudeness, lack of compassion, annoyance and tone of some employees. Most were super helpful and my husband said he really liked the psychiatrist (McKnight) and actually seemed to be open to talking to him more, which was surprising to me because he's so stubborn and especially when he's in a manic/psychosis frame of mind. Knowing that he had a doctor he liked and was now willingly participating in treatment was a big relief. Where I was a bit annoyed was a few very rude staff members over the phone. I understand the laws, I'm not asking for patient specific information that you can't give me, im just asking about how to navigate this from here. What happens next, how long does it typically take for a court date, if I was the witness will I be contacted, ect? Will I get to voice to someone, anyone evaluating my husband of my concerns? I kept getting badgered about a code which I know I need, but how do I get it, if you took his phone and he's in a state of psychosis so I don't even know if he is lucid enough to remember my phone number??? I don't need you to confirm he's there, I already know he's there, I just need someone to give him a note/message with my phone number and let him know to call me with the stupid code. If you don't, how do you expect me to get this code? My husband is not a drug addict or criminal or anything of the sort, which seems to be attributed to and assumed of in people with his condition. The stigma and treatment given to him and myself was making me pretty pissed off. Would you treat a cancer patient or patient with diabetes like this? Would you treat their family like this?? My husband has no more control over his condition than they do theirs. Unacceptable of the staff that was rude, they should be given better training or get a new job if you can't handle these kinds of patients or it's too much to ask to answer a few non patient specific questions. To the staff who were actually kind and compassionate and helpful, thank you. Just being nice and taking a minute to listen to me and explain what you legally could, helped me a lot. I know it's easy to get in a frustrated mood/tone dealing with what you do, the fact that you didn't do that and took the time to help, I very much appreciate you. The ride ones need to do better. There are more people involved than just the patient and being rude because you hate your job, not helpful to anyone."

"If you are travel do not come here they lied to over 100+ travelers about the location. When we got here they told us we were going to be going to be working from the Phoenix location and after CPI training told us we have to go to all 3 facilities when we were originally told we were only going to be working from one. Also they have Behavior Health technicians doing the work of CNA without certifications or licenses and caring for patient that are 60+ years of age. Not to mention some of the BHT are being allowed to draw blood with no TRAINING or phlebotomy and this hospital is nothing but a homeless shelter that they are billing Medicaid for. Patients are getting worse and not better and nurses could care less. No wonder they rebranded under the name as Valleywise when it’s nothing but THE COUNTY hospital!!"