Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital

“I had been seeing Dr. Wadyal for about 6 years. Things were going fine until my therapist of almost 4 years said Dr. Wadyal was managing my meds badly and she thought I was being gas lighted. I switched doctors and my new one kept saying she had no idea what Dr. Wadyal had been doing. She said my meds were managed really badly. Also I had been seeing Kelly Demers for about 2 years. She helped me out a lot at the beginning but during Covid there were just a bunch of false promises about retuning to in person and poor boundaries about emailing. She also threw me under the bus when I switched therapists and didn’t mention 2 very important things to me. She also blocks clients on Facebook. Everyone I have mentioned this to says that is really strange. I’ve been with my current therapist for almost 4 years and it’s going great. But obviously if I’m writing this I’m still a bit messed up from how Dr. Wadyal and Kelly handled things.”

“Definitely not a great experience. I took someone because I noticed serious mental health concerns that have been going on for a while. Because the person I took didn't want to talk, the person doing the assessment just gave up. They didn't even hear what I had to say. What a waste of time. So if someone is having serious issues, nothing will be done just because you'll believe the person saying they don't want to talk? Insane.”

“My dad was admitted, and on his second day there, he was transferred to the medical hospital due to a serious medical event that occurred while he was in their care, which was likely caused by not taking his medications that have successfully prevented that from happening for almost a year now. I was never notified. I only found out when I went to visit, and they told me he had been transferred to their medical hospital, but couldn't tell me why. They never evaluated him within the legally required 24-hour window. I'm his medical POA and his emergency contact, and I was stonewalled every time I tried to get information. They kept hiding behind HIPAA, which actually allows notification of a medical POA during a medical emergency. They just didn't bother. He went in for help and came out worse. His medications weren't managed properly. They told me they don't give out medications until the doctor evaluates them, but they took so long to see him. I don't even know if they ever did see him. No one at the medical hospital was able to tell me if he had been seen there or whether he had received his medication. When he was finally discharged, they couldn't find his clothes. They called the unit, the other facility, lost and found. Nobody knew. When they finally brought down his valuables, his clothes were sitting right there in the bag. They had them the whole time. This place is chaos. I've dealt with several medical facilities and different medical groups over the past couple of years, and this was the worst experience I have ever had. The staff is disorganized, the communication is nonexistent, and they failed at nearly every turn.”

“I began bringing my father here 25 years ago. For years i would drive from Chicago to Barrington road because there was no other hospital i trusted with my father's care. The care was stellar and ECT treatments were lifesaving. Sadly that has not been our experience as of late. I admitted my father on the weekend of April 11. Clearly indicating pops was relapsing and was in need of ect treatments. When I dropped him off he was eating, full of life just confused. This weekend he was sent to the ER with the allegations that he stopped eating 3 days ago. He has been in the behavioral health hospital almost 2 weeks and only 1 ECT treatment was given this past Friday. They waited till my father stopped eating for 3 days to send him to the ER to die. Now the actual hospital will not release my dad because he was admitted through a petition! I use to recommend everyone to Alexian Brothers. Now I will never even mention this hospital to a soul. Thank God for Nurse Susan and Nia and the rest of the great crew from Alexian's Medical hospital on the 6th floor, I can finally take my father home and forget about the horrible experience at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health.”