Valley Behavioral Health — Local services in Fort Smith

*EDIT I know you guys at Valley see this, and the fact that you reply to reviews with "this is disheartening" or other things like that, but then never do anything about it is wrong! I hope that place gets shut down, and I really hope that the patients that are forced to be stuck there to make y'all money will actually get to go to a REAL mental facility. I have been a patient at this hospital several times in my life, and I've always been mistreated. Every Time. Whether it's the nurses being horribly rude, the doctors not giving any sort of help, or just the fact that not one patient is EVER treated like a HUMAN. For example, you are given a handbook with your "patient rights" inside. It lists things like what clothing you are allowed to bring and other things that patients sre allowed to have/know. I've been admitted into the adolescent acute unit once (2012) And although they have a new name now, "Valley" seems exactly the same as it's former name "Vista". From that stay, I clearly remember having "shut up" as well as other rude statements yelled at us, and everyone on the unit was between 14-17 years old. They were hateful to everyone, they'd laugh when something was clearly wrong with one of us, and I saw them chase, tackle, restrain and violently give a 14 year old child a shot in the leg. They missed where they were aiming the shot, and ended up shooting the medicine into the boys muscle, which made him unable to walk correctly, he could hardly use the leg that was injured. Another time during that same stay, the staff that were watching us got annoyed and told us all to shut up, again yelling, and to sit still. A boy spoke up after a few minutes, saying "We all have some kind of mental issue that doesn't make it easy to be quiet and stay still" to which he was yelled at to shut up, again. More recently I have been to this hospital a lot of times, (because they were the only hospital I could go to) but ive seen no improvement. The staff weren't yelling anymore, but the hospital was always filthy, they were all rude (except for a handful of people(mostly techs)) and treated the patients as if we were just nothing, hardly anyone is ever treated woth humanity and kindness. They would call us liars, and deny us medication when needed, and used the excuse "it's shift change" so the nurses didn't have to do their jobs, while the techs actually took care of everything for them. The doctors and nurses were professional liars. I remember a specific doctor "Ashley" I don't know the last name, but she wore glasses, and usually had her hair in a ponytail. This is the doctor I saw most often, and after a while she got to know me, which she then decided that she didn't care any more. She was rude, and always cut me off when I tried to tell her what was going on or if I had a question. One stay she accused me of being on drugs. They do a blood test the morning after you admit, and the doctor reviews it, then they usually report it to the nurse if you have anything in your blood. One day during that week, doctor Ashley came in to my room to talk about my care plan. After asking me a couple questions, she says "by the way, your results came back positive. " I asked if she meant pregnancy, and she said "No, I mean the drug test. We found Meth in your system" I was very shocked because I had/have never done any drugs, besides medicinal marijuana, and I asked what she meant. She repeated what she said again, and this time with a rude attitude, then proceeded to laugh at me and call me a liar when I got offended and answered that I had not ever done meth. That was one of the many times I've personally had problems with them, but if you ask anyone that has ever been there, they'd tell you more horror stories than me. They mistreat and ignore patients, lie about discharge dates and care plans. They've stolen personal property from me, as well as others. The staff high up in the system (because I'm actively trying to get my girlfriend out of there) are very rude, and belittle you, tell you lies, and do anything to...

This is my story, my information, my thoughts and experiences. I am a previous acute wing patient. I was seventeen at the time and my psychiatrist recommended my mother put me in inpatient treatment. I am manic depressant, bipolar and often struggle with social anxiety. Not once have I ever cut myself, took medication to feel "high" nor have I done any street drugs. I was so depressed to where I would wake up feeling "dead". I also have/had night terrors. Depression literally kills you, it gets you down and you don't wanna make an effort to move forward. Yet, I wasn't harming myself or anyone else. I begged my mother to not check me in and to let me go to counseling, but she didn't ever budge. I had a session with the lady at the front desk, and she assured me that the doctor makes the decision to be checked in or not, not my parent(s) or I, myself. I sat by myself for a long time, I cried and cried to the point of making myself physically sick. The woman then brought me dinner, keep in mind this is at roughly 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. That's when she told me I was being admitted. That's when I broke. The one thing I never wanted to happen, was happening. I felt like my whole world was crumbling down. My mother and I then had to leave and meet up with another woman who works the night shift on that wing. She asked me a series of questions which involved nightmares, medications, sexual behaviors, etc. My mother answered every single question, because I couldn't speak for myself at that point. Then, I was asked to be strip searched, cough and squat as well, just like any other facility. Then I said goodbye.

I sat down for what seemed like hours to only cry by myself until one of the guys my age offered me something to drink and a snack. The facility only serves healthy snacks and drinks. The lobby or common area serves water all day long. When snack time rolls around you get offered juices and milks. If you're like me, they have you on a Non-Concentrated Sugars Diet (NCS.) It's honestly not as bad as it sounds. You get a lot of fruit, while other kids may get offered cookies or crackers. The only other restriction on food there is Finger Foods (FF.) You'll only get FF if you could possibly harm yourself or others at that time with a plastic utensil.

You'll be asked several times a day how you're feeling. If you feel suicidal or feel like harming others. When you're angry or upset, you can pace back and forth up and down the halls, but only after you've received permission. Otherwise, you can get yourself into a lot of unnecessary trouble.

In the mornings after breakfast and after dinner and medication they have Hygiene time. You'll get this plastic box with your name on it. It'll come with a disposable toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, lotion, a bar of soap, and body wash/shampoo. Ask your parents or guardians to bring you your own shampoo & conditioner. I left with my hair being very brittle, breaking off and even falling out.

You're allowed two and most times just one towel and a wash cloth when requested. You must take them out and put them in the laundry closet after you've showered. It's considered contraband if left inside you and your roommates room. GIRLS ONLY You can't have a box of tampons, pads or wire bras. It's another form of contraband.

Contraband includes: Shoelaces Jewelry Makeup (optional on different "levels") Boxes of femine items Strings Hoodies Yoga pants or anything form fitting. Just pack baggy clothes to be safe. Jeans are allowed though.

School; There's a good chance you'll be split into teams, such as A & B. The A-Team will go to class in the morning and B will go in te afternoon. You'll line up by the front door and count. Ladies first, the first will say one, then two and so on. After the girls are finished counting the boys will continue the count with the number the girls left off of.

Activities; You and your wing's behavior decides whether you get to participate in activities or not. If one person ruins it, it's all over. You may get to go outside to play on...

I am giving 1 star because there is nothing lower. In 30 years of psychiatric therapy, I have only received worse treatment from the government VA Hospital facility in St. Cloud, MN. The in-take staff totally misrepresented what services I would receive, placed me in morning group talk therapy only, which was worse than useless in dealing with my crippling and immediate dissociative issues & actually has made my symptoms worse, not better, as the whole facility is run like a jail - with constant reminders everywhere that all the doors are locked, you are under constant staff supervision and monitoring at all times, and surrounded on all sides by patients who are very low functioning mentally ill persons that might become hysterical or even physically dangerous at any moment, without any warning.

The two mornings I spent there, and the near total apathy of the staff when I asked for help in finding appropriate therapy for my condition after it was blatantly obvious that group talk therapy with people considerably less functional than myself was making my problems worse, not better, has caused me to become even more withdrawn, untrusting of "professional" help, and unwilling to seek such help for my dissociative issues. The facility also had the bare-faced gall to charge me for the two morning therapy sessions, even though they were inappropriate, unnecessary, did nothing positive for my psychological problems, and actually caused me more harm than when I walked in the doors. Apparently, "first, do no harm" is not part of their treatment programs or philosophy.

You would need a divining rod to find a kind word in my entire body for the unspeakably horrible and dysfunctional staff, system, and facility. If you are in need of psychiatric help, please seek it somewhere else!

They freely mix the low functioning mentally ill with the high and medium functioning, and then enforce highly restrictive rules and conditions on all of the patients because of the needs and problems of the lowest functioning, at the cost of the dignity and sanity of all of the rest. Catering to the lowest functioning patients just drags everyone else down to THEIR level, makes those who can function responsibly feel imprisoned and unfairly deprived of their human rights, and interferes generally with therapy by making the high functioning feel constantly on edge about the possibility of hysterics or other negative behaviors, and the potential for physical attack by the low functioning patients around and surrounding them, at any given moment & without warning.

I should not have been there, I should not have been put in group talk therapy with low functioning mental patients, the staff should have recognized that I needed different treatment at a different facility (instead of me having to figure that out on my own, and ultimately leaving - they would have gladly kept charging me for useless and damaging service that was making me worse and less functional!), and then they charged me for treatment that had made my condition worse!

I can not think of a worse combination of systemic diagnosis & treatment errors & failures, or a greater violation of professional morality and ethics sacrificed on the alter of monetary gain & catering to the problems of the very least functioning patients, to the detriment of all the rest of the higher functioning persons. Thoroughly detestable people who I will never go near again, for any reason, due to the emotional, psychiatric, and professional trust damage they have done to me and my dissociative condition, damage from which I am still suffering many months later, after only 2 mornings...