Rockville General, a campus of Manchester Memorial Hospital — Local services in Vernon

At the Adult Behavioral Health Unit as an active family member caring for an inpatient, my experience had highs and lows. My stars go to the positive experiences, such as speaking with the case staff, particularly Rose LCSW, as she was extremely helpful, informative and friendly. Additionally, the group therapy sessions facilitated by dedicated staff played a crucial role in coping and progress for the patient. I am genuinely grateful for the valuable insights gained from these sessions and I sincerely thank those staff members for their exhaustive efforts.

My biggest concern revolves around the notable lack of consistent infrastructure, as well as major issues with the phone system. Experiences with most other staff, including secretaries and nurses, were consistently marked by disorganization, jaded attitudes, and unhelpfulness. I was never given protocols regarding what to deliver for extended stay, guidelines for visitation such as making appointments, a daily activity schedule and information on when and how to make calls to the patient. That should have been communicated from the time the decision was made to keep the patient overnight. Requests for guidance were met with inadequate answers, a lack of knowledge, or dismissive attitudes with no response.

When I called and went through the menu using the proper steps, I was often randomly transferred to Manchester, to which their staff would tell me the systems "wires are crossed" and "that's just how it is". When I finally received extensions through the patient, the lines would rather ring endlessly or say they were not a valid extension. I'd inevitably end up using the menu and getting Manchester again, and when Manchester transferred me, at one point I was scolded by the nurse that I called the wrong line, and she would give me the same extensions that got nowhere and do nothing to fix the problems when I informed her. At one point they were down to only one phone with no explanation or apology, just that someone is using it and to call back later. It was days before I got a schedule from the patient and the windows of time to call were very limited during the day, so running into these issues used up precious time. There was very little information given on what to expect and the attitude of most daily attending staff I encountered was that it was the patient's problem and my problem, not their problem. We even tried to address issues with the lack of consistency through different shifts of staff and we were basically told to deal with it. Consistency is extremely important for those going through a crisis and especially with any sort of mental illness or neurological needs. If there is one place that should not be making decisions based on the style of whoever happens to be scheduled, it should be a place like this. Having set times and sign ups for something as basic as taking a shower is not something that should be a concern, and never left up to the whims of staff on hand.

While I acknowledge that there may be worse places with even scarier standards, the failure to take these issues seriously and the lack of proactive measures raise concerns about entrusting a loved one into their care with little ability to provide meaningful help, especially from the outside. I am aware of the state of the world and the current issues in the medical field, but being a part of active care of another person requires just that… care. This isn’t a place where complacency should thrive. The overall situation, coupled with the stress and uncertainty it adds to patients and families, underscores the need for substantial improvement. ECHN’s mishandling of this facility on the whole is disheartening as it’s ultimately their responsibility for managing it in the...

A clean psych ward with decent staff if you wonder where to go for mental health emergencies:

I read so many horrific stories about psych wards that I feel I should leave a review for those seeking help as this seems a better option: I spent two nights at the adult inpatient unit, I was sick with an infection so I could not discover much. I can not speak to the therapy options as I did not attend any and it’s still a somewhat square depressing block BUT there are important PROS:

I was not forced to take medications

the staff is relatively nice and helpful (techs always got me what I needed in about 5 minutes, and seem to attend to patients requests fast enough in general, most techs tried to be quiet when checking rooms at night. Stuff like that) Nurses were ok, nobody awful, everybody seemed to attend to patients. Not very bright night nurse still tried to get me my own pain meds which I got after she phoned doc and my husband back and forth and I appreciated the effort ( she spent a long time on it).

It is clean, shower area is newish and showers were not timed. They have basic toiletries. I should repeat that it is clean which seems not to be the case in a lot of places. Janitor removed a floor stain I complained about by my bed. They clean everyday.

Big windows which is nice then wake you up in the morning

-Food grossed me out but I guess it’s probably better than a lot of places. There is a menu to choose from. They sent a nutritionist to see what I could eat. I still couldn’t stomach what they sent but I appreciated the effort. The techs provided me with fruit cups during the day and I think they also distribute snacks in the afternoon.

-Although it is supposedly not allowed, I was able to eat in my room and keep snacks. I was also able to touch and hug my husband when he came. There are so many places that sound like a complete prison of punishment and deprivation: it does not seem to be the case there at all, which I think is beneficial to patients’ mental health.

Techs seem quite liberal in lending us the office phone when the two public lines were off (during activities and after hours). A girl was phoning someone one evening sitting in the hallway and laughing and it was nice to be around that. It made the locked ward feel a bit more normal, warm.

there are 2 common rooms which I found depressing. One has Tv and people played games there and seemed happy enough to do so, the other is supposed to be quiet and was always empty.

-one morning a tech was leading an exercise class around the hallway, music blaring, trying his best to be lively - some patients seemed very game and at the end of the line was the sickest patient of the ward. It was touching.

It’s still took time to get my belongings and they were washed in detergent I couldn’t bear the smell off. It was still traumatic to me to be there but it seems a long way from all the stuff I read about filth and abuse and neglect, sadism, overmedicating…. I don’t know how much help it does but if you are in CRISIS and need HELP, it seems like the better place to go.

So if you are looking for mental health for emergencies I thought I’d leave that review. Most places seem like horror movies. Rockville has 24 adult beds. Rooms are shared. Not sure about the therapeutic options. I talked to the psych nurse twice (she seemed receptive to my concerns and knew I was not doing well there) and the social worker. I did not see the psychiatrist. It’d say the therapeutic options seemed as good as any place I read about although I am not sure they provide...

My girlfriend and I had an abysmal experience with this specific hospital, the employees, and their service, and despite what the other reviews say, I do not recommend to anyone. Both my girlfriend and I had contracted food poisoning just hours before, and were in agonizing pain, requiring urgent service. We were experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, and I was in a confused state after becoming severely dehydrated, which has occurred before when sick. We came into this hospital with the expectation of being treated fairly, and kindly, but immediately did not receive the care we needed. The staff had a blatant disregard for my medical history of Bipolar Disorder, and how that had an affect on my mood, and consistently questioned myself and my girlfriend with the assumption that I was overdosing despite never taking drugs in my life. I was not erratic, or anything like that, but instead just confused as to where I was, was worried about my brothers who I had to leave at home after they came to visit us, and my girlfriend who has a history of culinary safety telling the staff that I was not overdosing, and was instead experiencing food poisoning. I am a 23 year old male that likes to think I walked in not looking like I came off the streets, but the staff consistently mentioned how food poisoning would not lead to me being in my confused state, refused to provide me service, and after constant questioning, finally put me on IV. However, did not treat my girlfriend whatsoever despite her needing to be treated as well. She sat in the waiting room crying and wondering if I would be okay without the ability to even see me let alone get up to see me. After I awoke, I had two particular staff members state that I was handsome, had nice eyes, and nice eyelashes, which was extremely unprofessional after not even treating me properly, and I was discharged shortly after without being cleared, checked on, handed a bottle of water, or even monitored to see if we had a ride back home. I received no script for medications, no follow up, and was left essentially to deal with our symptoms ourselves. We took an uber home, still feeling exhausted, sickly, and then hopeless, after experiencing a lackluster experience with...