Ascension Illinois - Behavioral Health Hoffman Estates

“the psychiatrist i was seeing through ascension was alright. i decided to transfer care from her to a different ascension provider. while i think dr. raza is good at what she does, i think she lacks something. i had an appointment scheduled (a 1 month follow up) back in the beginning of january for 4:30pm. i received a call from a number i didn’t recognize the day before my appointment. i answered it and it was dr. raza. she was calling to ask me if i could meet earlier the same day for our appointment. i said yes and left work 30 minutes early to have privacy for the telehealth appointment. im aware me leaving work early is my own decision and im not upset that i lost that time of paid work. but the new time of our appointment came and went with no call or texts for checking in for the appointment. there have been times when dr. raza has left me waiting in the zoom waiting room and usually if she wouldn’t meet for the zoom she would call me. so i waited for a call from her and didn’t receive one. i called the number she called me from and it rang 3 or 4 times and then the line disconnected, or whoever was on the other line picked up my call but then hung up. i’m not sure. around almost 2 hours later i received a call from one of the front desk receptionist asking if i met with dr. raza. the receptionist was very nice, all of the receptionist at this location are so friendly and helpful. she was just as confused as i was. this experience with dr. raza made me want to switch providers/transfer care. it’s not that i don’t think she’s competent because she is. it really just didn’t sit right with me how this whole situation went down. i have seen dr. raza since i started coming to ascension but there were other little things that happened that made me not want to continue care with her. every time i met with her she would ask the same questions, it felt very robotic at times. she would always ask if i see a therapist and i would always answer yes. my confusion from her asking me this is, isnt it in my chart/file that im seeing a therapist? especially since the therapist i see is in literally the same building as her? i understand too that i am not dr. raza’s only patient and i dont expect any provider to remember every little detail about their patients. it’s just that every appointment i had with her felt like it was a new patient appointment because she would ask me all the same questions every single time. i’m expressing a lot of empathy by saying that i have no idea how many patients dr. raza, or any ascension provider, sees on a daily basis, or what their typical case load is like. i can imagine it’s a lot to take on and a lot for one person to handle. to me, it just felt like there was a disconnect from me and my psychiatrist. and i’m not saying this was a terrible experience by any means, dr. raza is a good doctor. for me it just feels like i need someone new who can look at my case with maybe a new perspective. i haven’t seen my new provider yet but i hope she is able to help me as well.”

“I have been coming here for the past 3 years and I see Sylvia. She is very compassionate and understanding and seems to truly care about the wellbeing of her patients. The other staff is also very helpful and friendly. Highly recommend this place.”

“This place is truly horrible, when it comes to the doctors. I needed something to help with my insomnia and they like to prescribe a bunch of off-label products. Christeena Chakkumcal, APN - who I just spoke to yesterday prescribed a medication that mixed with one of my other medications can basically kill me. After being told multiple times that I'm on the other medication, she prescribed the new one anyways. The medication she prescribed is for SEVERE DEPRESSION. It can be used off-label for other things. The other medication I have is for severe depression, schizophrenia, etc. But hey, it can make you sleepy, so why not prescribe it. I'll probably sleep incredibly well if I mix the two, maybe for the rest of my life. Basically, they don't care. Not only did I tell her medications that I'm taking for sleep (and how they don't work) but when you set up the initial appointment, it asks you and you put it all there. When we spoke, she acted like she was clueless to the meds I was on. That's just called laziness. Ascension itself is a huge money racket. They don't care about the patients, they care about the money. If you are going for PHP/IOP, etc good luck! There were people in there that had to leave because they'd have to pay $650+/day. Now mind you, that's when there's about 20 empty seats or more. They are overcharging insurance massively. I think it would cost around $120k if you did their 3 programs. Trust me, they try getting you to do all 3. It's sad they don't actually want to help people. Their program consists of a class where someone reads off the projector the entire time. One of the people teaching is an intern. (Who happens to be one of the only good people there, her name is Alex.) People like Christeena Chakkumcal, APN do not care though. The fact that she was told repeatedly what my medications were and then gives me another medication that is a deadly mixture says all you need to know about her and her qualifications. After I looked up the medication to see if it interacts badly, I told my wife and she even heard me tell this "doctor" MULTIPLE TIMES what I was on. If you end up with her, I'd be sure to check all the meds you get so you don't get hurt or worse. It's not just her, BTW, there's multiple doctors that do the same exact thing because they only want to use off-label treatments. Also, one last thing, even in the PHP/IOP program, there were 2-3 therapist that made mention of the program just being about money and insurance payouts. Basically, they really don't care. I would avoid this place. There's actual places that do care and will treat you like you're a person, not a dollar sign.”

“Review for Jennifer Ware, Nurse Practitioner I had an extremely disappointing experience with Jennifer Ware. Throughout my appointments, she was unprofessional in the way she spoke to me and showed little empathy or understanding. I raised concerns about her behavior with management and requested to switch providers, only to be told, “Your treatment plan won’t change with another provider.” That response made it clear they prioritize policy over patient care. Jennifer Ware refused to prescribe a medication I had been taking for two years, without offering a reasonable explanation. She repeatedly dismissed my ADHD symptoms until our third appointment, when she finally referred me for testing. Even after completing the evaluation and receiving results within a month, I was still denied the treatment I needed. I followed the treatment plan as directed, and my condition only worsened. In my opinion, Jennifer Ware seems more focused on collecting a paycheck than actually helping her patients. Her lack of care and dismissive attitude have been harmful to my health. I’ve requested a provider switch multiple times, and despite contacting the office three separate times, my calls have gone unanswered. Please reconsider if you’re thinking about seeing her. In my experience, her conduct was unprofessional, negligent, and lacking in the compassion every patient deserves.”