John Muir Behavioral Health Center's Online Review Report Card

This place is a nightmare. I do not recommend you ever sending or allowing anyone you love to be in this place. The psychiatrist don't actually do evaluations, they just hold you and recommend all these random medications. They don't care to see any progress and if you and your family speak up for your mental health they hold you the full 72 hours and then release you without a discharge evaluation. This place is gross and not up-kept and I plan to file a formal complaint especially because one of the doctors told my husband he was going to see to me staying past the 72 hours. They continue to push medication on me after stating that I was being held on suspicion of OD and prescribed me sleeping medication when I never said I was having trouble sleeping. This place is truly horrible and not even real help! It honestly deserves 0 stars!

overall really good, had a great time the only time i was sad was because Benjamin told me something.

This place should be shut down. I was sent here in 2016 at 18 years old, against my will, due to severe medical malpractice. I woke at my local hospital to paramedics racing to get me in a van, only to wind up at John Muir Psychiatric Hospital. Upon arrival, the nurses kept referring to me by a name I have never heard before - immediately, they took that to mean I was psychotic. That is, until the staff at the front desk informed me that a nurse mixed up the paperwork, and the paramedics grabbed the wrong patient. The staff said "There's nothing we can do, but we'll try to get you a patient advocate." The nurses here treat you on a level of insanity, and they will put you on a longer stay if you try to speak up for yourself. Even though I was wrongfully brought, the nurses forced me in a solitary, locked room with a much older woman diagnosed with severe schizophrenia. When I tried to ask about help, the nurses immediately shut me down - my parents had no idea where I was, as they were meant to pick me up from my local hospital. That first day, the nurses struggled to make up false patient paperwork to place me as a patient, and I was not permitted phone privileges. Because they did not have even my name right, they were unaware of my allergies, so I couldn't eat and was forced me to take massive dosages of medication that made me feel like a literal zombie. I could barely function. When I finally got the chance to make a call, the nurses required that they listen in to the conversation to ensure I didn't share about malpractice. I finally managed to share that I was at John Muir and my parents came immediately. They were furious with the staff, who said they were doing their best to "figure it out." My family brought me food I could actually eat per my allergies, but the moment my parents were told they had to leave, I was immediately disciplined for not providing the nurse with the number of the exact caloric intake. The nurse refused to let me eat, and I was punished me with a larger dose of more medication. I could barely wake up, and threatened with electric shock therapy for my "inability to join morning group therapy." When I asked to stop taking the medicine as I could barely function, the nurse told me that they would force a feeding tube to get the medication in my body - the staff was more than happy to show it to me. This hospital, "behavioral center", is an absolute scam - they will force anyone with insurance to come and stay as long as possible. Once the psychiatrist has you on forced medications, the hospital staff will threaten legal action if you ask to leave - which is hard to do when you have been forcefully thrown in a corrupt mental institution and required to take medicine. Absolutely the most traumatic experience of my life and the lives of my parents, too. Total medical malpractice, disregard for staff sexualizing patients - this hospital will take full advantage of you. Do not go, this place is full of lies. If a patient advocate volunteer tries to come and help a patient, the staff will take away resources and find ways to create blockades to make more money and prevent patients from retaliation. Absolutely horrible, I wish I could give this review a more negative rating. As someone who has since actively worked in mental health, it is beyond me how such malpractice can occur without this place being shut down. These are disorganized, grown adults and allegedly "trained staff" who are simply there to take advantage of patients and get a paycheck. Absolutely awful.

I never leave reviews but remembering this place brought so much anger I couldn't help myself. I was admitted here for a week when I was 16. I'm 20 now. I'm sure much has changed, but I will never forget the environment that was encouraged and created here. staff not only turned a blind eye but encouraged this 'race to the bottom' / 'who has it worst' mentality. -one girl did not wear the sports bra part of the uniform we were given to a therapy session and she was slut shamed by a male volunteer or member of staff infront of a group of preteens/teenagers. -one person who was forced into prostitution at a young age and had outbursts (which you think is to be expected in this kind of facility) was frequently misgendered and dead named & once yelled at infront of a group of people by a volunteer that they were a 'lost cause' and 'not worth it.' are you kidding me? lost cause? calling a CHILD in a mental hospital a lost cause? how irresponsible and disgusting. I would hope that while applying to this kind of job you would have some sympathy for the people you would be dealing with. the care was fine at most. I ended up from what I could tell getting the best of it while I was there because I was polite and kept my head down. I was given 4 new medications in my week here. when i went back to my regular psychiatrist neither of us could understand why. whoever took my vitals upon arrival jokingly commented under her breath that I must not have wanted it (to die is my best guess??) because my cuts weren't even that deep. It is incredibly depressing to me to think about how kids were treated in here. Especially as someone who now works in behavior analysis with kids who struggle with emotional regulation, what went on here was cruel and unacceptable. No matter how fed up you are, as an adult who has signed up for this job it is your responsibility to put your best foot forward. Shame on those who couldn't do that. You are in the wrong field. When a kid comes to you for help under no circumstance should you ever treat them with this much malice. I wont lie though, it worked. I always tell people my experience was so miserable I would do anything from going again and that included getting better.

I was a patient in the Blossom Unit and words cannot describe how horrid my experience here was. I went there voluntarily, but they unlawfully detained me for over a week and refused to let me go. They kept making up excuses as to why I had to be there, none of them valid. They kept putting me on new medications and upping my dosage 2 days after starting just so they could extend my stay. Legally, I should have been able to leave when me and my family decided, since I was there voluntarily. But they did not let me leave. Not only did they unlawfully detain me past my hold without probable cause, they threatened to call CPS on my family because my mother say "fuck" and "bitch" to the doctors and nurses after we found out they put me on a 5250 without probable cause. Dr. Singh specifically was the worst. It states in our patients rights that there has to be probable cause for them to hold you past your 5150. Even the other nurses couldn't find out why they held me past my 5150 to put me on a 5250. They only then let me out when I had a court hearing set up, where the judge would have determined whether or not they had actual probable cause (which, of course, they didn't and that's why they avoided the hearing and let me go). I hadn't even cried while being there, until I found out about all the stuff they were putting my family through and all of the threats. I had to speak to supervisors while I was there and they couldn't even do anything about what the psychiatrists were doing to the patients, as the supervisor wasn't higher than them. Him and some other nurses suggested I call the Medical Board of California and report him. Dr. Singh needs to be removed from that office. And don't get me started on some of the nurses shit-talking the patients. I was actively trying to gain weight during the time I was admitted to the hospital, and the nurses would talk behind my back and call me "anorexic" just because I am naturally thin. I'm sorry you guys are just mad because your BBLs are botched, don't take it out on us patients though. Also all patients are supposed to see their psychiatrist and social workers daily, me and every other patient in there only saw them about twice-3 times during our week+ long stays. This place needs a full staff reset, if not completely shut down.

DO NOT GO. I was thirteen when I went to this place, It was so traumatizing. no therapy, no help, no speaking, no fun, YELLING ,THROWING UP!! SCREAMING!!! this is the worst place to go to, ever. they don't let you outside if you 'don't socialize enough' with their fake ass grass and nothing to do, I have a vitamin d deficiency and they did NOT care. They tried to make me stay longer for no specific reason and wouldn't tell my aunt, they only let me go because it was the law to. honestly worst experience of my life, they don't even provide decent education for IEP students like me. They don't care, they. Do. Not. Care. About. YOU!

When you look at reviews of this place, see when they were written. They used to be a 4-5 star place (visits between 2003 and 2015, bipolar disorder) and have gone downhill. I was told they could accommodate my BIPAP machine by their ER. I'm not terribly upset that it turns out they couldn't accommodate a BIPAP machine, mistakes are made, but how it was handled: After being transferred to the behavioral health inpatient unit on Grant Street, that first evening I asked for my BIPAP machine and the nurse walks in with a CPAP machine. I simply said, calmly, "that's not a BIPAP machine. That's a CPAP." the charge nurse literally threw a tantrum, berating me in front of other nurses and patients. "That's it! I'm DONE with this patient! I've been tending to his needs all day! I'm behind on my charting!!!" My only prior interaction with I told her I'd failed CPAP, doesn't work for me and BIPAP was medically necessary for me to breathe/sleep at night, and asked to be transfered to a facility that could handle it so I could sleep. "We don't DO transfers," another nurse said. Which is actually a lie. They pushed an AMA on me at 11pm on a Sunday. I took it even though the ethical thing would have been for them to transfer me to another facility. In a way, I was glad to get out of there and received much better care at Herrick in Berkeley. But what they did was irresponsible, unprofessional and dangerous. Wouldn't send my worst enemy there now. So sad, John Muir used to have a decent psych unit. UPDATE: Numerous out and out lies in my chart. Unbelievable. John Muir should be ashamed. I hope they fix the problems here... Changed from two stars to one because of the lies in the chart notes.

Meetings, pills, and sleeping. That's what this was about. Walking around like a zombie. Had a few meetings. Presentation was good. Tried to go back for follow up meetings after release. Was told only current patients.

IOP/PHP mental health track Review This program is a blessing. I chose to join the program during a very difficult time with the holidays, extreme grief and a very toxic work environment. I needed to hit reset and find my own strengths again. The therapists are the best around. Kind, patient and beyond brilliant. The variety of the curriculum was engaging and informative. I had never tried group therapy before and now I realize why it is so valuable. Especially working with likeminded people to find mental health and support each other. Many people, including myself, expressed early on that maybe their problems "weren't big enough" to belong there but that just isn't the case. If you are finding that depression or anxiety has made your life become unmanageable, this is the correct program. There is a screening process before beginning the program, which is consistently full or on a wait list, so I'd imagine if someone didn't belong there, they wouldn't let them waste anyone's time. I felt supported and guided to build my self esteem back up after some pretty gnarly abuse in the workplace. It helped me find my strengths and make health changes to my career, which turned out better than my previous role. I also felt supported to start letting go of items that I didn't need but held on to because of close loved ones who've passed. It's healthy to hold on to some mementos, but I was being burdened and I started the process of getting my freedom back. There were many reasons that people were in this program but we all related to each other with the singular fact that we chose to seek help to support ourselves, and drew parallels when sharing our stories. I will never forget this experience.

i called in a 911 for my daughter and Carmen answered the phone..She was an angel in the dark..she worked quickly to get my daughter accepted and transferred correctly from the hospital. I was able to contact her for any questions I had and she was so kind and patient. After my daughter was transferred she was treated with such care and as a parent you can rest knowing that the staff there cares. Its clean and the meals she bragged about,,,Dr. Cindy Le diagnosed my daughter for the first time after 20 years of NO ANSWERS...I am forever grateful to her wisdom and caring. May Gods blessings be among all of you...Your AMAZING.