Upmc Western Psychiatric Hospital's Online Review Report Card

Do not go here if you need mental healthcare, emergent help, or any other reason. I sought medication coverage while I found a new psychiatrist because my previous one had left me without refills. I was told by the head of the ER, Nolan Hugh's, that they don't do that even if it puts patients in danger of mentally deteriorating dangerously. I asked for a psychiatrist to see as a patient asap and he casually told me there was a month wait and no they still didn't care if emergently needed medication. He said I could go inpatient, but I'd have to detox off my narcotic. Meanwhile I was not on a narcotic. My dad and I sat there while he stared at us blankly and kept repeating that I needed to detox off my narcotic to go inpatient where they still wouldn't provide medication for at least one to two weeks. My dad, a doctor finally got angry and told Nolan I wasn't on a narcotic, which he should have seen from my medication list and I was not there to detox and go inpatient. We left terrified of that hospital and of the lack of knowledge of the head of the ER. He had no understanding of pharmacology or classes of drugs nor the danger of stopping them abruptly. On a second scary note, I met a medical resident of Western psych who didn't know what TMS was and thought it was electro-shock therapy. Didn't know about ketamine for depression, and thought medical cannabis caused schizophrenia. I was left truly in shock of their outdated knowledge, dangerous practices, and lack of care for patient safety. I found a psychiatrist who told me after hearing this to never go to Western psych. Only ever go to a normal hospital ER for mental health emergencies because Western psych was so dangerous for patients.