When were you there? 2022
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? long term inpatient
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? yes
How many patients are there on average? 16-18 on 7a where i was.
What genders does it treat? all
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? yes and no. we had a genderfluid patient who staff called by his preferred name, but never used the right pronouns and behind his back mocked him for being fluid in his gender identity.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc? MD only for team meetings every 2-3 weeks. NP 2-3x a week if necessary. psychiatrist pretty much didn’t exist, only saw him once when they tried to court order me. therapist 1x a week if you were lucky, but usually was only 1x every two weeks. supposed to be 2x a week though. dietician 1x a week.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? usually 1 nurse and 2 BTs.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? y’all received therapy? psychotherapy when we vented to our therapists i guess

Describe the average day:

What were meals like? 3 meals a day. snack at night, but wasn’t required. we ate on the unit for the most part, so our food came in styrofoam containers from the kitchen and was cold most of the time. sometimes we went to the cafe, had a picnic outside, or got pizza from an outside place, which was really nice.
What sorts of food were available or served? worse than elementary school cafeteria food. just basic foods, nothing special. we were able to choose between (i think) 2 entrees or we could substitute for a PB&J (with limitations), which was nice.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? yes, but there was no system for it. the amount of supplement you received depended on how much the BT liked you or hated you. no measurement or calorie counting.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? meal time 30 mins. supplement 30 mins. then NG tube. restrained if refused.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? i wasn’t vegan or vegetarian but other people who were there were and they did not allow it. they were adament that their veganism/vegetarianism was a product of their EDs, despite patient’s families saying it was personal/religious preference. dieticians would purposely put meat and other animal products on the patient’s meal plan, and the more they refused the longer they kept them.
What privileges are allowed? detailed in level system
Does it work on a level system? yes, so we had 5 levels.
level 1: i didn’t know anyone on this level my entire time there, but supposedly reserved for patients who are a severely low BMI and/or have severe medical complications. strict bed rest, wheelchair bound, no walking, and probably receiving NG feedings or IV drips.
level 2a: complete failure to comply with your treatment plan, the lowest level i witnessed/experienced. watched in bathroom; no bathroom 30 mins after meals. BT watched you shower. zero exercise allowed, including standing. must be in the dayroom for 2 hours after meals. zero say in meal plan; no substitutions.
level 2b: the level everyone starts on. “light” swinging allowed (we had a swing set), but that’s really the only exercise allowed because we would get yelled at for standing at this level too. watched in bathroom; no bathroom 30 mins after meals. BT stood in bathroom and listened as you shower, but not watch. must be in the dayroom 2 hours after meals. some input on meal plan allowed; substitutions allowed but not during meal time.
level 3: allowed to attend fit group. normal exercise allowed. allowed in room after meals. not watched in the bathroom, but the BT stands has to stand there to listen. no shower monitoring. moderate control over meal plan, was able to refuse food items without supplement.
level 4: allowed to attend fit group. any exercise allowed. allowed in room after meals. full control over meal plan, also able to refuse food items without supplement. no bathroom monitoring, no shower monitoring.
How do you earn privileges? following your meal plan, attending groups, taking your meds. you have to fill out an application to level up and advocate why you believe you are ready to move onto the next level.
What sort of groups do they have? they had an eating issues (EI) group for the ED patients. general groups were rec therapy, “fit” group, and another stupid group no one liked but i cant remember the name lol. they also had other groups for the other patients, like a diabetic group, weight loss group, cooking group, and brain injury group. these groups were pathetic and were the least bit therapeutic. usually just people venting about the stress on the unit rather than learning things to deal with our EDs.
What was your favorite group? the ones i was able to refuse without consequences.
If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? NO. trauma-inducing though.
What did you like the most? leaving.
What did you like the least? everything else.
Would you recommend this program? NO. i will do everything in my power to make sure no one else suffers the way i did here.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? as mentioned above we had a “fit” group, which including going to the gym to use the treatmill or exercise bike, playing just dance, going on a walk around the facility which was 7mi, yoga, dancing, and swinging. you, of course, had to be on level 3 and up to be in the fit group. 2a and 2b had to be seated 100% of the time, or risk being supplemented for “excessive movement.”
What did people do on weekends? complain about no one being there and fight over TV time, or physically fight too, that happened a lot.
Do you get to know your weight? i was able to have unblind weights the last 2 weeks i was there, but that’s not typical, I just requested it and was level 3 so they allowed it.
If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? unsure. i gained 20lbs in the time i was there, so i would guess about a pound a week.
What was the average length of stay? they claim 3-6 months, and the minimum amount of time someone can “finish the program” is 3 months according to the MD. but i seen people there who were there for years. i was there for a few months and left AMA because they kept pushing my discharge date back despite me following my meal plan for weeks.
What was the average age range? there was mostly 13-14 year olds, but the age range was 7-21.
How do visits/phone calls work? one 10 minute phone call per day on the landline that barely worked. visits were rare. most patients were from out of state, including myself.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? no cell phones or anything else. we were giving SD headphones with few songs, and the one therapist would add songs on there for us at our request, but it took time as she was doing it for everyone at the facility. we used chromebooks at school that were locked down. then, we each had 30 minutes of TV time on the unit.
For adolescents: Did they provide time to do schoolwork or offer academic support? they had an actual school through virginia public schools that we went to every week day for 3 hours. if you had permission and were level 3+, you were able to go for both morning and afternoon school. we used the edgenuity program under the supervision of a teacher. i heard the credits don’t transfer easily, but i don’t know, i didn’t finish the courses i was given.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? they just started doing outings right before i left, and i was one of the first ones to be able to go. we went to a public pool (and no, I didn’t receive any support, despite being an ED patient and wearing a swim suit for the first time in a weight restored body).
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? since i left AMA, they didn’t really help me get any aftercare.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? almost every single patient is there from out of state. the only resource they provided is they paid for the overnight hotel prior to my admission.
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc) no visitors, masks, social distancing, no visits, and no outings, but restrictions were being lifted as i left
Other? this hospital is far from equipped to treat eating disorders. patients there for EDs were known as “the ABs,” which as you could guess, stood for anorexics and bulimics. i was ridiculed for struggling with my eating disorder–was even called stupid by a nurse and that “i was smarter than this.” also, improper restraints GALORE. [*TW: violence*] i got shoved into a brick wall and my arm dislocated from them restraining me to put an NG down.[*END TW*] they also use the NG as a form of punishment. so they’ll place it, push all the ensure down with a syringe in less than 10 mins (mixed with water it was about 30oz of fluid if you refused an entire meal), then pull the tube back out, even if it is likely you will need the tube again for the next meal because you’re struggling. the biggest red flag in my opinion is the fact they had eating disorder, weight loss, and diabetic patients on the same unit, so patients with eating disorders would hear the diabetics doing their carb counts for the meal as they would yell numbers across the unit, and with the patients there for weight loss, they had them on an extremely low calorie diet. we also had homicidal, extremely high risk suicidal, and neurodivergent patients, but they just made the unit traumatizing and chaotic, not triggering. this place is unofficially a part of the troubled teen industry. it’s a campus type hospital that is in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a river, so you can’t escape.