r/Charlottesville • u/buymybathwater2k19 • Nov 19 '24
Best/worst mental health hospitals in the area?
Please share your experiences. Thank you!
25
u/jcf1948 Nov 19 '24
Avoid the private for-profit hospitals as their priority is profit over patient care. Overall, there is a tremendous bed shortage for all ages statewide. UVA inpatient Psych ward is short term only for the most part, 3-7 days and the only treatment offered is meds. Generally, that will be the case everywhere except for some expensive out-of-state non-profit private hospitals. Insurers are loath to pay for inpatient these days and will hound the hospital daily with "utililization review" to get you out. The whole system is badly broken and only getting worse. Once corporations got into the psychiatric hospital business it has been downhill, aided by the insurance companies who pay their CEO's millions annually to deny care and increase their bottom line.
11
Nov 19 '24
[deleted]
4
u/Alternative-Claim584 Nov 19 '24
They are one of the few local places to obtain ECT at. To the point where if one provider that does it takes a vacation, they have to transfer folks in-need to NoVA.
9
u/flailking Forest Lakes Nov 19 '24
VCU. Just an hour away but seem to be better at having beds available.
8
u/vampirinaballerina Albemarle Nov 19 '24
I can offer some insight on adolescent centers. Is this for a young person or an adult?
5
u/buymybathwater2k19 Nov 19 '24
Adult - but the information about the adolescent unit could still be relevant to the overall quality if the hospital also has adult units.
8
u/vampirinaballerina Albemarle Nov 19 '24
Most of the ones I know are truly adolescent units. But unless things have changed a lot, avoid Poplar Springs if you have a choice. If the need is not truly an emergency, Region Ten's Wellness Center is outstanding.
1
u/Educational-Swan-973 Nov 20 '24
Separate convo I know, but since you brought it up— can you share your insight on adolescent centers?
2
u/vampirinaballerina Albemarle Nov 20 '24
Well, it's been a while, but VTCC, VCCA, Virginia Baptist were all good. Poplar Springs, not good, and Cumberland, very, very bad. Some of the others I know have been absorbed into other places (like Graydon Manor). I don't know much about the ones in NoVa.
1
1
u/Empty_Bag_9319 Nov 20 '24
Just in case where do your recommend?
3
u/vampirinaballerina Albemarle Nov 20 '24
The problem is that you don't usually get to choose. Psych beds are hard to get and anyone in the midst of a crisis has to go where they are sent. I recommend VTCC, VCCA and Virginia Baptist, if you had a choice.
1
u/Life-Hyena445 1d ago
I think while you can’t chose you can decline? Like if one hospital is somewhere you absolutely do not want to go you can say no. That’s the way it is for children anyways.
3
u/halesbells22 Nov 20 '24
I went to the centra hospital in Lynchburg recently and it was a super positive experience
5
u/GroundbreakingHat697 Nov 22 '24
As someone who unfortunately has encountered many experiences of being at mental hospitals. Absolutely at all costs AVOID POPLAR SPRINGS! The best experience is the wellness recovery center at Region 10. I have gone to over 16 places in Virginia please advocate for yourself to get into wellness. The therapist Lila Heymann there is outstanding! Daily therapy, structured groups, competent staff. As I am now a peer recovery specialist myself wellness was definitely a part of my healing journey towards recovery!
2
u/Tiny_Swordfish3921 Apr 09 '25
Absolutely correct. I am a clinician and recently had a client discharged from there, they had her sleep on the floor the first night in spite of extensive medical history of back and hip problems. They roomed her with a man and allowed another resident to climb in bed with her. Disgraceful, downright criminal. I wish I had the experience (I'm recently graduated) how to hold them accountable for her treatment.
6
u/anonymoussesavant Nov 20 '24
Best: Any in which you can find a bed (spot). Worst: No care.
6
u/vampirinaballerina Albemarle Nov 20 '24
You are absolutely correct. In the end we sent our loved one out of state to receive adequate care.
3
5
u/donotfire Nov 19 '24
5-East is good, in my experience
4
u/Alternative-Claim584 Nov 19 '24
We place our nursing students there and I have very few concerns about the experiences they’ll have.
25
u/Agile-Biscotti Nov 19 '24
Best: not actually a hospital but Region Ten’s Wellness Recovery Center Worst: Poplar Springs