Emerald Coast Behavioral Hospital — Attraction in Panama City

I am a therapist and poet by trade To seek help myself, I was afraid Many violent choices were made In a direct assault platoon, during house raids Regarding war, there is nothing poetic I was a young special operations medic I felt pain for both ally, and enemy Wounded children too, in my memory

I fought very hard to earn my degree My trauma causes some to question me College is tough, no lesson is free And a social worker is all I wanted to be

It was very stressful, when symptoms returned I had coping tools, much I'd learned But even coworkers were becoming concerned I thought suffering was the karma I'd earned

Our mental health VA is not the best They're poorly trained, overworked, and stressed Word limits in documents mean they write down less No matter how many of your demons you confess

A check box doesn't tell the story Of yes, suffering, regret, death, but glory So we question if it matters we served As disability ratings pyramid, and curve

They never told me about a voluntary admit Or that Optum / VA would be billable for it They sent police to my house, when I cried for help So the next time I craved death, I committed myself

The staff were compassionate, and very kind Reassured my truth was no delusion of the mind They looked at my medication, quickly exclaimed "These dosages barely have an effect on the brain!"

Years of time wasted with my local VA Became relief of symptoms, in just 5 days I did not have to petition, to be released from my stay And all ethics and patient rights, they strived to obey

It's really to their credit, I'm doing so well And I didn't lose my job, I'm happy to tell No background check, since police weren't involved And it seems like some traumas are finally resolved

It's possible one day I may need them again When riddled with grief, I pray for my end But so far so good, according to family and friends And now I have providers who don't minimize, or offend

In addition to notes the VA can't refute Rendering their discredit and poor documentation moot It's crazy to think, the VA gaslit and lied So many appeals falsely denied

Yet now I'm at peace, because my life's not at risk I know a local sanctuary, that will always exist

If you ever reach the point, where it's too much to bear You may doubt the VA, but Emerald Coast truly cares Don't let them tell you it will end your career Remember that death is the comrade of fear

Your life is more precious than a system's that broken You're a survivor, not a politician's re-election token

And below I've included another poem, too It's for the people I met, and possibly you:

Fallen Soldiers Rejoice

Active Duty, prior service War-weathered, striving for purpose Surviving despite feeling worthless Seeking peace for us all, in these verses Separate goals, needs, and treatment plans All united to cope, and understand From various walks of life and commands Linking hearts, to march forward, and advance Diet, sleep, tales of struggle & hope Learning from each what helps to cope The youngest as valued as oldest who served Old & grinning, stories & curse words All share that common bond Of sometimes struggling to go on The mission isn't worth it, if the march isn't long So though you may feel broken, still, you are strong Rest in this sanctuary: Safety, and space Compassion of staff so clear on their face Providers assess the work to be done Watching over you, through struggles that come So please don't doubt you are brave for your choice Because when soldiers seek help, fallen soldiers rejoice!

I love you. If you need help, go get it. Don't let anyone or anything stop you, because you deserve victory in your battle. (Certificates Included to Lend Credibility to...

Would give zero stars, but doesn’t give the option… my child is there now but I am trying to get him transferred to another hospital because it is just unacceptable the way my child has been treated here. Many issues with communication, they never contact me whenever there is an issue, they will lie and say they tried to call, but I never see any missed calls on my phone… the nursing staff are very rude and my son has complained many times about a nurse named Lindsay and someone named Frances. I bought three brand new suits of clothing for my child so he can be comfortable during his stay here only for him to call me two days later crying because he didnt have any clothes. The nurses lied to me and said that his clothes were kept in a locker so I asked if that was the case, then why was he denied access to clean clothes… so the next morning I went up there and asked for them to physically show me his clothes so I could have some peace of mind knowing he still had the brand new clothes I had bought for him.. they wouldn’t do that. I reported it to the risk manager and patient advocate and later they called and let me know that somehow they let him give away some clothes and other clothes were stolen from him… I asked where was the inventory sheets when the other children left with his clothing, they didn’t have an answer for that but promised me that the clothing would be replaced… that never happened. Two days later he is wearing the same clothes I saw him in the last two visits. I asked again about it and was told that it can’t be fixed in five minutes. I asked them how would they feel if their child was in a place like that and all their clothes came up missing and their child had to wear the same clothes for a week straight and once again they couldn’t answer that question. Also any time any incident occurs I never get a phone call. They lie and try to tell me they do call but I never see a missed call on my phone and his emergency contact is never notified.. not to mention he told me they put him in a corner and didn’t explain why. He is 14, not 3. Asked to talk to administration about the issues several times and they won’t let me so it looks to me like there is more to it than what I already know and they are probably hiding a lot more going on… but since they will not allow me to go up the chain of command, I will just let everyone see on here. Either they are hiding a lot of things or just being negligent and turning a blind eye. It’s so sad to trust a hospital with our loved ones for them to get treated like this is...

Been to this hospital twice but I'm going to talk about my last experience and why this place and Life Management needs to closed down. One there are elderly in these facilities with dementia that do not get taken care of properly. Pretty sure that the lady that I met last year that they were letting sit in her own feces and urine died there. I was put in the old room she was staying in and it still smelled like death in the walls of that room. Staff was treating a mute boy like an animal. Doctors were only trying to push pills wasn't actually listening to what was happening to patients. Met several young people that had been in and out since age 5. A girl came in that was literally suffering from being molested and was treated like an animal. I was the one that had to get her to calm down because male staff was being horrible to her, helped said staff get her into bed after she hyberventilated and passed out, literally couldn't believe how they just threw her on the bed like she was a rag doll didn't even make sure she was okay or anything. Another lady passed out and busted her head, was only gone long enough to throw stitches in her head, didn't examin her. Also was interviewed by several different officers and staff members for some kind of investigation that was started while I was there for all the complaints patients and families were making against hospital. Oh also after being transfered to day unit I was preyed on by a sex offender, which I told staff about and all they could say was oh we know about him. Also had my insurance company come knocking on their door wanting to know why I was their when nothing was wrong with me. They also couldn't keep any kind of schedule because they had patients rioting from each side of the hospital. They didn't even have enough food to feed the patients and they weren't giving them their medical medicines that they need to regulate their bodies. One guy on day unit his blood pressure was so high from not having his medication that I was surprised he didn't go into...