Commonwealth Health First Hospital - Kingston, Pennsylvania

Mistic H.

I would give it 5 stars but I only gave it 3. I came here in November of 2021 for about a week. I was in the Children's Unit. Overall my stay was alright. One staff member was really rude and made fun of a kid there for being slow and not able to read. I had a hard time getting along with her (the staff member).

Other patients said slurs to the staff and security was called down EVERY DAY at least 2 times a day. But other than that Staff was very nice to us and they were accepting, they didn't make fun of me for being transgender or anything. I almost came back to this hospital 2 weeks ago but didn't. Wish I could. I made some great friends here! And I would love to talk to the staff again! 💕💕

laura B.

I just experienced my first psych hospital stay here for about 3 weeks almost recently for my mental health issues. I was scared going in but as week 1 went by I got adjusted to being there for help. I'd like to say thank you to the nurses and staff on adult 4. They are most wonderful heroes and work hard at what they do. I understand the stress of low staffing so I understand why they would be exhausted. Only thing I didn't like was some of the food but it was nice that they provided us with snacks to eat through out the day.

Cinnamon C. (. A. S.

Here is what you may need to know. Teen focused. This is a place to evaluate crisis and create a plan. As a parent you will want to know during covid visitation is limited. I did hear from staff regularly. 3 long informative calls. Daily calls from my child with a 5 minute limit. They did therapy , school, yoga and art therapy. Their medication was evaluated. My child is non binary and they have had their identity treated with respect and compassion. This is not the place to be cured this is the place to start a plan of ongoing treatment and to be stabilized from a crisis. The time for evaluation is longer than we expected. Call your school make a plan with the counselor on how to get back into the swing of things. Food is hospital food. Many of the patients have a range of mental health needs and your teen may not be ready for that. Many parents in reviews here have called this a vacation but our experience was that it created a space to calm, evaluate and stabilize in a way we could not at home. Not a resort spa by any means but a hospital space. The healing and treatment where we " get better" as many reviews have stated is not a fast process but a long ongoing outpatient one. So that expectation to get better I feel may not be realistic. Think of this as step one where you figure out all the next steps. Advocate and speak up for the help you and your family need. This was our experience and I hope it helps another family. Please do read the reviews to get a sense of peoples experience, talk to your doctors about their perception of First Hospital so you know what to expect and do. This review is not in argument against other review and you should always expect safe medical treatment in any hospital. Staff changes can change the experience of patients so please read recent reviews and talk to your doctors and therapists about any care your love one receives. We got our needs met and I hope you do too.

Moxxie S.

I was only in the adolescent unit for self mutilation reasons so I can't speak on behalf of other units but my experience was rather enjoyable. It felt like I got a break from everything that made me not wanna do it anymore even though I was forced to go. I made a lot of friends and unfortunately couldn't keep them but most of us were there for the same reason and pushed through it together. The food is normally bad but the pasta is really good. You usually have a roommate and luckily mine have always been nice but I know not everyone is as lucky. They check on you every 15 minutes or so after you go to bed for safety reasons. You can't have any writing utensils without supervision but that's understandable for obvious reasons. The beds aren't too uncomfortable and the rooms are at least decently pleasing to look at compared to the crisis center. They try to push organization and self care which made me feel actually in control for once. Keeping a room organized and decorating it made me feel so accomplished. They do daily groups and activities like music therapy, art therapy, and occasionally yoga. For kids and adolescents they have school. The work they give you is easy for all grade levels and counts towards your actual school grades so you don't fail while you're in patient. Most of the staff genuinely do care and build a tight relationship with you. The only thing people commonly say is bad is being restrained. It may seem inhumane from a genuine standpoint but we're talking about a psychiatric hospital here. Sometimes people get violent and for the safety of the person who may hurt themselves or others whom they may hurt restraining them is the most humane way to handle it. They don't keep you restrained for long, they just help you calm down and ease you away from the edge. As stated the food kinda sucks but the showers are either on an equal level to the food or worse. The water is either too hot or too cold and there's often no or very little hot water. Depending on which unit you're in the water temperature can vary but in the adolescent unit it was warm and in the adult 1 unit (when they merged both adolescent units) it rarely ever got warm at all. At least on the adult units theres a heater that you can manually use to make up for the cold showers. You can also have multiple blankets so if you're really that cold you can snuggle up as much as you'd like. A lot of my memories are rather comfy cozy as I finally began to heal from what I went through before being in patient. Overall I have had some mental health and self mutilation issues after I was discharged but nothing terribly major. I've been clean for over a month now and even though the problem I had isn't entirely solved I'm getting along alright enough to live. A lot of the reviews on this place could make someone sceptical (it did for me reading up on it before I went) but it's not as terrible as others make it out to be. A lot of people just don't want to be there but are forced to go because their lives or others lives are at risk so when they get out they're still grumpy about it. I hope this helps you make your decision, if you need the help please do not hesitate to get it. Even if help seems impossible it's worth it to try.

Angelina K.

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. I came here 3 years ago today. Just thinking about it makes me cry. I now have PTSD and even worst trust issues than I did before I went in. I was 12 at the time, admitted to the children's ward, and it was utterly degrading and terrifying. I don't care how bad the food was, I don't care about how much time they gave me to sleep. I went here to get better, but I only came out worse. One night, when I was trying to sleep, I woke up to a kid going through my undergarments and throwing them on the floor, and the day before i was released, I was punched repeatedly by another patient. Nothing was sanitary, for they did not check enough, they cared so much about "group therapy", the wouldn't let me go to the bathroom once, and I wet my pants, This was the most degrading experience in my whole life. I was told I would be there for a week, max, and ended up being there for a whole month with only 2 therapy sessions. They only cared about making money, most of the time I wasn't even aloud to communicate with other people. Do not send your child, let alone anybody to this facility, unless you want to scar them for life.

Bill S.

My 14 year old daughter spent a week here for anxiety and self harming behaviors. It was like a vacation from life for her. Treatment is minimal from therapists and doctors. My daughter described it as "fun". Its not going to solve your child's problems though, its just a temporary vacation from life. Maybe if they had a more structured and rigorous program then teens wouldn't clamor to get in to this place? I just feel nothing was gained from her stay here.

josie M.

If you want your loved one inappropriately flirted with during their treatment and cold showers and rotten spoiled food, this place is great. As a previous worker here I would suggest you take your loved ones some where far far away. Your loved ones can come out worst than when they came in from all the unprofessional staff and management at this god forsaken place. There is no therapeutic support, nurses come in high and take their bad mood out on the patients. Doctors are pill pushers here and patients watch tv all day or are forced to sit in their rooms all day. No groups go on and the social workers here are a big joke. Run around flirting with staff all day instead of helping their patients. PLEASE DON'T TAKE ANYONE HERE !!!!

Katie S.

In regards to my stay here I had a great PA named Stacy. She was very easy to talk to about my problems and didn’t rush me out of the door. She actually took her time to get to know me and cared about my wellbeing. As for some of the other staff, some were kind of rude. The place needs more organization for sure, I know there isn’t a lot of staff & there is a lot to get done but if they were more organized it would help them out greatly. Food was good most days. Did not like how some other patients acted in there though it was very disruptive to not only my treatment but others. Some of them need to be more attentive to patients needs.. that is all I have to say.