Arbour Hospital

I was a senior in high school who attempted suidice and what put there on suicide watch for 4 days. Im 25 now and will never forget how awful it was. It was dirty, the staff was awful, no one spoke to me, there was no therapy or help. I was stuck in a room by myself 24 hours a day. You could hear people screaming. The staff was so quick to put the other children in restraints. They would just shovel pills to them to keep them calm. I attended one group session that was just awful. My last night I was put in another room with 3 other girls, hearing their horror stories was heartbreaking. I felt like I was betraying them by leaving them in that awful place. I will never forget them. That place should be burnt, i cannot even drive past it without feeling like i'm going to throwup. I was just simply depressed, later diagnosed as bi-polar, if I had stayed there another week, I would have been certifiably insane. They do not help you, they strip you of your dignity and self respect. Pros: absolutely zero Cons: everything, if you love someone-do not let them go here, please. more

my personal experience of the arbour hospital was horrible. the counselors there treat their patients/clients as if they were prisoners. during one group meeting one counselor said, remember this experience. try not to come back. but if you do, we'll be here waiting. and next time you won't get out so fast. does that sound like something a patient who is trying to get treatment for their mental illness should be told? arbour hospital is closer to a prison than a hospital. doctors and social workers are competent and professional. but all day long, patients are stripped of their dignity, one of the last things they may be holding on to during their times of crisis. i'm telling my health insurance to never approve of sending me to that hospital again. i would rather be stuck in the ER and wait indefinitely for a bed to open up at another hospital. Pros: trees surrounding the hospital Cons: lack of genuine concern for patients more

A few years ago, while considering medical school, I worked at Arbour Hospital as a mental health attendant. I felt like an undercover agent witnessing truly horrific abuses of mental patients. Arbour destroys people. The staff regards the patients with great disdain and will not hesitate to take them down to the floor, put them in physical restraints, and inject them with chemical restraints (dangerous substances that turn people into zombies) if the patient even looks at them the wrong way. There is absolutely no professionalism there to speak of. I was completely disgusted and enraged by the comments I heard made by the repugnant doctors, nurses, and staff. Discretion and confidentiality do not exist there. Neither does respect. The inside of the facility is dirty and disgusting-- obviously they've spent all their money on the outer grounds in order to impress their neighbors. Arbour is a slick and shameful operation that does not care about peoples' well-being. Stay as far away from that evil dump as possible. Cons: It will make you worse than you were coming in more

I've never felt strongly enough about something to write a review - let alone report a facility to the Massachusetts Department of Health. Arbour Hospital illustrates everything a mental health center should never be. A friend of mine is there now. A day or so ago he went there - it was the only place in the city that had a bed available. He wanted some help with depression. To say he and I were mortified at the conditions of the hospital and lack of treatment is a severe understatement. \r \r Not only is the facility incredibly dirty and falling apart (peeling paint, stained and crumbling ceiling tiles, etc), since arriving almost 36 hours ago, he's received no treatment. He has the ""option"" of sitting in a group room with other patients and playing cards or sleeping. Neither is helpful. He's seen a doctor for a total of 15 minutes. No group sessions, no intensive observation - none of the services stated on the Arbour Hospital website. He does not feel safe. There is limited monitoring or supervision of any type. The first room he was in, he was with 2 men who talked about how they would hurt people, and another woman in the room next door who didn't stop screaming for 2 hours. This is not an exaggeration. When they arrived, the front door was locked, so they took him in through a completely unsecured employee door in the back. Was able to go through that door all the way to the front desk where the shocked security guard asked them how they were able to get in.\r \r We're reporting the hospital to the MHD and anyone else who will listen. Luckily for us he will be able to get out in the next day or so, which is god because as some one who fears dirt and is a victim of abuse - he's getting worse the longer he stays there. What troubles us most are all of the patients there who really need help - significant help - and aren't getting any. And, on top of it, are having to live in a filthy facility.\r \r DO NOT GO HERE. DO NOT LET A LOVED ONE GO HERE. more

As a college graduate now seeking a Masters Degree, I am gravely concerned for any individual to be a patient or vistor at Arbour Hospital. In August of 2007 I suffered a mental breakdown after a sexual assault following my graduation. I was sent to Arbour and for the 8 hours I was there, already suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I was sexually harassed and touch by another patient in the facility. Not only did this occur directly infront of four ""bouncer-like"" body gaurds ( who obviously had no credentials to be there) but the it was infront of the head nurse on duty. When I approached her about the harassment, she told me nothing happened and then a few seconds later told me, mind you a victim of a severely damaging sexual assult, that what I wearing was ( a choice word) and told me to change. I was wearing a tennis skirt--more like a skort--and a polo top. When I reacted to the comment she screamed at me to go to my room-- almost as if she regarded me as nothing more than a mental case. I could not believe the level of horror I had just faced. Having studied in London and in Boston in Undergraduate years, I was surely a woman of my time who was intelligent and up-to-date on how mental facilities should run, ill or not. I never remember feeling so powerless and disregaurded. Although I was able to leave the hospital after 8 hours and be transfered to Beth Isreal Hospital, I cannot remember a more hopeless and unsettling facility. I was only able to leave because my loved ones heard I was at Arbour and immediately found me a hospital else where. If anyone else has had a terrible experience at this hospital please let me know. I will soon be writing to the Senator about the issue. more