Fort Lauderdale Behavioral Health Center

"Getting down to anything that needs to be done will take 5 people to go through and begging for anything to get done. I highly thank the people I spent time with and certain staff like miss keisha for actually caring about the patients staffed at this facility. Many staff including the doctor can care less about your issues and listen to you. Just being thrown medication without any help about your mental health issues. This place is underfunded as hell. Limited activity, supplies, and terrible food. Some lunch staff would throw fits over dietary accommodation. Don’t volunteer to come here."

"This concern is in regards to my family member, an adolescent intake approximately 12:15a on Saturday 2/10, previous stay at Memorial West Hospital 9:00a on Friday 2/9. I have made several attempts to contact someone inside Ft Lauderdale Behavioral Center with my concerns. Prior to being moved to this location, I informed the hospital that my family member does not have insurance and requested a public facility. The hospital attendants stated they would look into this for me and came back to say, it's fine and wouldn't be a problem. To my understanding, that meant she would be sent to a public facility. On Monday 2/12 at 11:17a, I received a call stating that this was a private facility and because my family member had no insurance there would be billing of $750 per day. I IMMEDIATELY began making phone calls to find out who I needed to speak with about this and get it rectified. I was unsuccessful in speaking with anyone to get progress on her being moved to a public facility nor getting closer to hearing other options. I briefly spoke with someone in billing of possible options, but only that.. possibilities, nothing for my specific situation. I went by Monday afternoon to drop off more clothes and asked to speak with someone regarding our situation. I was able to speak with a Tatiana who informed me that I would need to outsource and initiate a transfer on my own as she could not be transferred from this facility to another facility being that there is no reason as to why the same services cannot be performed. I began making phone calls, initially to Memorial West which was her ER visit location and was eventually transferred to Memorial Regional. I explained my situation yet again and the gentleman I spoke with told me that I should not be outsourcing on my own that the facility should be doing this. He told me to reach out to Ft Lauderdale Behavioral Center again and ask for Darinka the new CNO. I have left Darinka between 3-4 voice messages since Monday after 4pm. In the process of this I have reached out several times trying to get somebody; anybody to give me a call back, that is able to actually assist me. I have been transferred to ext 2041, 2043, 2071, 2072, 2076 and other people where the extension was not given; like Darinka Pozo whose voicemail is set up for Mariam Force. Syla called me yesterday around 12p and informed me that my family member is denying suicidal thoughts and regrets the attempt. I asked her when the 72 hour hold started and she said Saturday, I asked why she was being held until Saturday 2/17? And she told me that since it was a severe attempt, that is why. I told her I wanted to speak with someone about this as I needed further clarification on the hold as this was not communicated to me. She transferred me to a Joe Goldman who I have now left 2 voice messages for and again yet to receive a response. I care about my family member and want to get her the help she truly deserves, but I am NOT going to let her be used unknowingly in some kind of ploy where NO ONE returns a phone call and seems to be avoiding responding to further delay the process. I will be posting this concern to other platforms as well in hopes to get some kind of response or transfer initiated ASAP."

"This facility is horrible. The staff should consider other lines of work. I heard two of them say aloud, they are anxious to get out of this place. They lack the proper temperament to truly help this patient population. This is a prison, not a treatment centre. Their 'rules' are all about control, not treatment. The behaviour patterns displayed by the staff made this apparent. I was told I should take my grievances to the patient advocate, who was conveniently never available. Someone would do well to decommission this facility. It is not being used properly."

"My sister was there in treatment for two weeks about a month ago and l left numerous messages for Director Stacy on the 4th floor and Case Manager Flo and both of them never had the common decency and professionalism to return my phone calls. Their attention to follow up with Family members are horrible and deplorable. I wouldn’t recommend this facility to anyone to seek help for a member of their family."

"If you care for your loved ones, don’t allow anyone to take them here. This place is deplorable. The waiting room is tiny, mixed with people going through withdrawals, total mental breakdowns, mental illness, aggression, murderous thoughts. The security and the nurses are all cruel, cold, and neglectful. Before I even turn the corner I hear the most hateful comment ever. “Oh gosh you brought in more work for me.” the nurse belted down the hall. The wait is 10 hours to be evaluated to be admitted or not. your only contact is with the security, who refused to look for a second blanket for this old lady feeling sick from her withdrawals. I gave her my blanket for a bit until the nurses finally came back around and found that blanket the security refused to look for. I haven’t eaten in 20 hours, so I asked for food around 5 pm.. 6pm.. then 7pm and each time, “it will come soon”. Even asking for water it’s a whole attitude for them, as if giving water to another human is such a strenuous task for someone watching YouTube all day. The beds are like rocks. The pillows are so thin it’s almost demoralizing to lay your head to rest. You needed 4 blankets that didn't even cover you all the way and I’m just 5’5. The shower water is freezing. You have people singing and throwing up (probably from being all doped up from their doctor), and I was put in the less critical side. Even the cafeteria people were cold and unkind, this one guy wanted another 3 sausages and they denied him because they said they need to feed 3 floors… I gave him mine… ridiculous that they ration the food for the patients but I’ve seen the staff loud up their plates like a thanksgiving take out plate. Jared Gains, the doctor, prescribed me medicine without seeing me first and/ or discussing with me what type of medicines he was trying to pump into me. When I finally met him he told me I would leave the next day and he then threatened to extend my stay since I wasn't saying what he wanted me to say. He wanted me to match what the others wrote about me when I knew exactly what I said since I was smart enough to never accept the drugs they were trying to drug me up with, I still had my wits and brain together. I will now and forever be my best help, this man is a dangerous doctor that should not work on HUMANS. Even the actual therapist who did the 3rd round of “what's our goal” group session was unprofessional. We all didn’t want to speak. She then assured us “what we say in this room stays in this room”. She lied of course and totally tried to mix up my words (a pattern at this facility and the hotline). In the session she asked us to close our eyes and then open them and imagine a world without our problems. I criticized her methods, “What you are saying is fantastical thinking. No one should ever just close their eyes and just imagine things going away. Everyone needs to learn how to manage their problems.” With the doctor she broke her assurance and said “In the group session” Which I said “I thought what happens in the group sessions stays in the group sessions?” She then just says “I meant the hospital.” No she didn't, she's a therapist, it’s their job to carefully say what they need to say, she even said so herself when someone asked her what they should specifically do with their career. She then told the doctor “She said she wants to learn to manage her emotions and her problems.” When I started to clarify that I was actually criticizing her methods the doctor started to get more and more testy. I asked the doctor to calm his tone. It felt like I was arguing with an ex boyfriend and his friend is just egging it on. I wasn’t even the only one with these experiences. Others also told me the doctor threatened to keep them if they didn’t comply with what he wanted them to say. The story of my 2 day experience is going on 20 pages now, it only covers the 1st 10 hours so far. I predict about 100 plus pages of my actual review of this place. This is the short google review for now, since google is limited, I plan on finding a method to publish the rest."