Good Samaritan

I don’t know why they can claim to be a hospital. I went in for DETOX for alcohol. Why in the world would I have to go through a STRIP SEARCH during admitting??? Like I’m going to hide a bottle of gin on me somewhere? That was the first red flag that this was going to be a doozie of a stay.
To say this place was filthy is an understatement. I couldn’t sleep in the bedroom because it smelled so bad. I slept in the TV room sitting up on the couch.
Next, I’m lactose intolerant — NO dairy. First food they brought me — Ham and cheese sandwich. Well, unless the cheese is plastic it’s usually made of dairy. I’d also love to read the label on the bread because there could be milk in it. I ate the ham and threw the rest out. Food the next day was pancakes, eggs & sausage. I asked if there was dairy in the pancakes. They checked and were told no, it was a mix and they just added water. Well … there is such a thing a powdered milk in mixes. I didn’t eat the pancakes. Then came lunch that day. I was given a ham sandwich again and of all things an ice cream bar!!! Just ate the ham again…
That night I was given medication that was supposed to help me sleep. Well I had an allergic reaction to it and all the nurse did was give me hand cream to put on the areas I was scratching. USELESS. TOTALLY USELESS!!! I begged for something else to put me out of my misery. She said she didn’t have anything else she could do for me. WTF??? What kind of a hospital was this??? What if I was so allergic that my throat was closing? Would they just stand by and watch me rub hand cream on my throat as I slowly suffocated?
I could have sworn I had the same meds the night before so either I suddenly became allergic to these pills or they gave me the wrong thing this time.
I signed myself out of this *hospital* so that I could go to a CVS and get some Solarcaine to put on the area that I had been scratching so much it had started bleeding and it still itched!!! The Solarcaine was just the ticket! It took weeks for the skin to heal where I had been scratching. It was an intense reaction I had to those meds.
I still question what kind of schooling the nurses there have. Hand cream for an allergic reaction to medication taken internally??? I don’t have any medical schooling and I knew it wouldn’t work for the amount of scratching and bleeding I was doing.

They obviously can’t tell an addict when they see one. They have sent my brother home after one night, a severe heroin addict, stating he had no withdrawal symptoms. I have also brought in an alcoholic and they told me he had to be sober. If he was sober he wouldn’t need to detox…

I would never recommend anyone to go to this hospital… walking in the door, the lobby and hall looked clean and updated. The admitting clerk that met with my daughter and I painted the most amazing picture of the facility for us. Stating she would receive the care she needed, counseling, therapy, 24-​hour nurses care and prescribe the correct prescription. Honestly I thought I had made the right decision by taking her there. I quickly realized I made the biggest mistake! Three hours after being admitting I was able to visit with her before she went to bed. What I witnessed when I was there was something you only hear about and say, «Does that really happen?» IT DOES! At Good Samaritan Hospital on White Lane in Bakersfield California. To visit her I had pass thru double doors and walk down a long hall to the nurse’s station and patient wards the surroundings were old and very dirty, unlike the front lobby. Out of the six nurses on the floor, only one greeted me. (That’s after saying excuse me to three of them, they never answered or even looked up). Making my way to the visitor’s room to see my daughter, the conditions were getting worse. There was one patient sitting on the floor crying; the visitor room was filthy. Food and trash on the floor; Bacon, cookies, crushed up crackers, cups, straw wrappers, spilt water on the table and chair where I was going to sit. Empty cups scattered around (I counted six just around where I was sitting). I was horrified! The look I received from my poor fragile daughter was a look I never again want to see. She proceeded to explain the process of being admitted and what happened after. I didn’t realize is that when you are admitted, it’s a lot like what you hear about when people get arrested. (None of this was ever explained to her or I) She also said she sat in the hall crying for about two hours before I walked in. No one told her what to do or where to go, so confused she just sat on the floor. While sitting there she over heard one of the male nurses and security guard talking about what a terrible night the male nurse was going to have and how it was going to be a long one. The male nurse stated he was not the only one that was going to have a bad night. He stated «he hates the patients he works with» then the both of them laughed. While sitting with her in the visitor’s room, a female nurse came up to speak to her about her medications and she was extremely rude! I even asked to speak to her in the hall away from my daughter; she was clearly upsetting her by her tone and disregard to her current state. After listening to the nurse and all the reasons why she thought it was ok to be rude and disrespectful to my daughter, why the facility was ran in this manner, why is was so dirty and why the in patient phone was not working properly; I asked for a complaint form. She came back with a blank piece of paper and told me to write my complaint on it. Never in my life have I ever experienced anything like this. The one thing that stands out from the conversation that I can’t get out of my mind is when she told me «this is a psych ward, what did I expect?» I expected them to take care of the patients, not ignore them, treat them like human beings and keep the facility clean. When I came back into the visitor’s area I noticed my daughter was up getting a drink of water, about four feet away was a male nurse staring at her. I asked her did she know him? She said he was making her feel extremely uncomfortable (in admitting they took away her DD bra) She sat for the rest visit with her arms crossed on her chest. I tried to take her home but the steps to take her out; regardless if she was voluntarily admitted would take hours and it was already 8:30. I left for the night feeling helpless. The next morning I got a call from my daughter informing of 8 bug bites she had when she woke up to use the restroom she saw 3 cockroaches/​water bugs, on the floor when she went to the bathroom. I went in the morning to inform management of the night before. And as of right now I still have not heard from them. Great news though, 24 hours later my daughter was released and will never return! NO ONE SHOULD EVER EXPERIENCE THIS!!!