Bayview Behavioral Health Hospital

Bayview was the absolute worst by far. They don't evaluate anything, nor attempt to help. Staff hardly acknowledges their patients, and I don't remember ever speaking with an actual doctor about any of the issues which may fuel my depression or how i should address it. They thought placebos and starting me back on an old, unfavored antidepressant without my knowledge & leaving me to sleep would solve all reasons for my being there. Doubt it. They just didn't care.

After having read the reviews, I was horrified that daughter was taken to this hospital by emergency personnel. She'd been hospitalized at other places before & I was sure that this place would set her back rather than help her. I was wrong. I had issues in the beginning w/the daytime front desk person making me jump through hoops just to be connected to a social worker, but eventually that all got ironed out. They gave her a safe environment to get her symptoms under control & to monitor her reactions to the new medications that Dr. Saben put her on (the prior ones weren't working very well) & they didn't release her until she was stable. Some reviews mentioned terrible food, but my daughter said it tasted good & was well balanced. I suppose it's a matter of personal taste. Due to Covid-19 & the need to be careful, they don't allow you to bring things from outside the hospital to your loved ones, nor can you visit. They also don't have a lot of things to do for patients, aside from coloring/drawing, reading, watching TV or listening to the radio. They do have group therapy, but my daughter's specific situation made her not want to do any of those activities. But there were a couple very nice nurses who spent time talking w/her, encouraging her & advocating on her behalf. Maria was one of them. Since she's been home, I've seen much improvement from what led her to the hospital in the 1st place. She still has a way to go, but this hospital gave her a chance. She hated it there. But psych hospitals are not going to be pleasant places to be for anyone, given the very nature of what these places are for, especially now during a pandemic, when there are even more stringent protocols in place. Some reviewers mentioned rude staff. My daughter did tell me that a couple people were in fact rude. That was my experience too, but by & large, the majority of those I spoke w/on the phone & who were working w/my daughter were kind, helpful & caring. Those I spoke with were genuinely interested in receiving the information I was giving them because they were trying to give my daughter the best help they could & considered my background information to be helpful. I'm sure I was annoying to some nurses & a couple social workers because I was passionately advocating for my daughter & I called often. But I had the sense that they genuinely cared & were trying to help. For a hospital that had only 1-1/2 stars when my daughter was first admitted, I would say that she received the best treatment at this hospital, out of the other places she's been to, including those with better review ratings. Dr. Saben having changed her meds & keeping her there long enough to observe their efficacy, has changed my daughter's outlook & given her hope. She still has a long way to go, but she's not so tormented by her illness as she had been previously & she's finding joy again. I gave this hospital 4 rather than 5 stars only due to some minor yet frustrating communication issues & because when you have someone with severe enough mental illness that they need to be hospitalized, you should have enough variety of things for them to do that they aren't feeling worse from being alone w/their thoughts instead of getting better. I was genuinely & pleasantly surprised that this place was better than I expected. Much appreciation to social workers Charysse & Frank & to nurse Maria & Dr. Saben. It was clear they really cared & were trying to help.

It is unethical to discuss private client information in the lobby. The patient was uncomfortable and it is a clear HIPPA violation. After speaking with the nurse privately about the patients issues, he was insensitive and rude. The family is already going through a difficult time, there is no need to add this kind of behavior to an already horrible experience. If I could rate them a zero I would.

They fed me , clothed me and gave me a bed. Can’t complain on that end. Group sessions were very short in my opinion and could’ve benefited from being longer. Seemed to do a good job with bringing in medical professionals and social workers to talk to you. Not too shabby for being 5150’d my first time .

Most deplorable of any behavioral health institutions I have I have visited. No supplies ever available that were necessities, absolutely not sanitary, and never correct nutritional values and enough food and or hydration products other than warm water from alleged nurses station sink. Had to basically beg for anyting somewhat edible for someone who could not yet eat appropriate food. Even then the food what's not remotely correct at any time for any patient at any given moment. The snacks that were offered for were Children's snacks. A bag of goldfish. It was a fight to get sanitary pads as females. The bottom line is it was not sanitary at every given time, as Cal OSHA would we looking at, nor was the nutrition. Completely unexceptable. I had one dietary issue and four days of three meals were delivered wrong to me I basically had nothing to eat nor drink the whole time I was there. The water is salty oh, there was always no juice available or already gone, nothing to replace a plate that was delivered that was not correct. And that is the most important part other than the doctors and their medications which is definitely most important, but the nutrition was unbelievable grotesque . It is now up to Cal OSHA to go look in the patient's room once a patient leaves before and another patient enters to see how sanitary the room and bed and everything in the room has been made. I was actually asked to strip my own bed before I left. All this well I could only eat my first meal of the day actually week. Absolutely horrible. And they did not even have the concern to have my items meaning my outside items that I had stored before discharge. This is a huge problem. But the biggest problem is the sanitary conditions that should be done every 15 minutes which were never done, nor was the nutrition availability.