16, my experience at the westview unit was way better than the average experience seems to be. it did kinda feel like prison a bit but also idk what else they were supposed to do besides take us out n give us activities. the staff were really nice to me and the kids were too. they're were some outbursts but i rarely felt unsafe. the other units seem scary but westview was alright. my biggest issue would be that they are heavily understaffed and u can't find a staff when u need one which is an issue when u need to ask 4 everything read more

This Is A Wonderful Healing Facility. At No Time Do You Feel Hospitalized Grounds There Are Amazing. Treatments Modalities Excellent. Staff Are Seasoned, Very Caring & Dedicated To Helping Those Experiencing Mental Health Concerns. They Also Allow Input On Your Medication Regime. I Didn't Agree My Family Member Needed Heavy Medication & They Adjusted It. I hereby Highly Recommend Four Winds Hospital. read more

We had such a difficult time with admissions. The woman we talked to wanted some unrealistic paperwork to get before my son could be admitted. She told us he was going to lose his bed. The hospital transferring my son to them even had problems with the same woman in admissions. I am so glad we found a different hospital to send my son to! The 2 times I talked to Crisson(I believe was her name) was unbelievably frustrating. I was not going to look up phone numbers online while driving because you are too lazy to do it from your computer at YOUR job! The name of the hospital and clinic should've been enough information to get what you needed. So grateful my son is going to a different hospital! read more

Okay so I was maybe abt 11-10 I have no clue but I hate this place this place really did hurt me I have truma from it staff don't care abt you..the food is gross..I was talking to this staff member nothing bad it was just an innocent conversation and this one girl that was like really mean she came up to to the guy and started whispering in his ear, and she says (my name) you can't be using staff members as a coping method..I so sad it rlly hurt me bc I was just having a conversation with him..and the girl just starts stuff. Worst experience don't send your kid here. 0/10 read more

Four Winds Hospital - Dafuq - Hospitals Near Me - Katonah, New York

When I was about 10-12 years old, I had been sent to this place twice. I am currently 18 years old and this place left such an impact on my mental state that I can remember almost every detail of how bad the staff treated us. The staff were not nice people at all, they treated us like prisoners and animals. We weren't allowed to leave our rooms at night unless it was to use the bathroom and the windows were barred. The beds were hard and uncomfortable to sleep on, the food was terrible and bare minimum. Genuinely the food was so bad that most of us would usually just eat a microwaved grilled cheese than what they were serving us. They have their own schooling system there which isn't very great, you got a few hours of education because there was only one classroom and not everyone could fit there. Another thing to note is that if you're considering sending your kid here, you need to be aware that you're likely sending him to stay with kids who are worse than him in ways. As someone who spent a lot of his childhood in homes, please do not do this to your child unless you want them to hate you for their entire life. I'm a grown man and I'm still pissed at my mother for sending me to these places. Please just be a parent and take care of your kid even if it can be hard at times, these people aren't going to help your child, they're just going to make them more angry at the world. Most of us were aware if we played nice and didn't do anything bad, we would get out in maybe 2 or 3 weeks, but if you're bad it adds time. The longest I was there was almost 3 months in 2018. But yeah, overall a really shitty place that's like a glorified prison for mentally disabled children. Its genuinely horrible and they call themselves a hospital. read more

I was there when i was 16 and they wouldn't offer me different food plans when i wasn't eating at all. they gave me an appetite suppressant when i wasn't eating in the first place. i would throw up every morning and they refused to take me off the meds. my life was a living hell when i was here. read more

No. I was here once and my parents and I refused to ever bring me back. Instead of Katonah four winds we switched to Saratoga which was worth it. - Katonah Four Winds was a bad experience making me come out more depressed and actually scared than before I had come in. The staff wasn't great, we witnessed people sobbing asking to call their parents to be ignored. My parents came to visit and witnessed that taking place since parents visiting would be in the building near the office, which was off putting to see the staff treat the patient that way. If she called her mom like she simply wanted then she wouldn't have been so dearly upset. - !!!! My main reason for this review!!!!! : - I was sent to main house- and had a very weird disturbing experience like never before. I was upstairs down the hall in a blue bedroom that had two beds inside. There was a bed against the wall on the right, And to the left, there was another bed. My room mate took the bed to the right, and I took other bed. The view upfront of me was the wall with several windows. There was a laundry basket upfront of one of the windows towards the right of the room. I had woken up in the middle of the night- And have seen a human shaped silhouette all black figure crouching inside of the laundry basket. I was in shock, terrified. In that moment I kinda froze/panicked. I turned to my right side and pulled the covers up to my shoulders to see a dark devilish smile face staring at me. I could see more detail this time. I pulled the covers over to my head- and I don't know how I made it through the night, but I stayed under those covers frozen in fear. As soon as the day has come, I had a visit with my family. I told them what had happened. I'm not sure, if anyone ever believed me. I believe my mother does. But now, it's been 11 years and I still think about this situation a couple times EVERY year. I often wonder if anyone else had ever had any possible paranormal experiences in main house. I 100000000% believe it's haunted after that. I often feel the urge to come back to debunk my own experience, but the fear from what I did experience and not being able to freely leave is what holds me back. - In regards of my experience, I enjoyed Art, highly enjoyed Zumba, loved the Karaoke and couple of female friends I made while I was there was fun to have. - The food I don't remember being good. I appreciated the schedule of the place when I had none but overall I didn't have a good experience with staff, safety. - When switching to Saratoga I've seen a huge improvement of the schedule, food, environment, etc. Plus they allow smoking methods like gum, better communication with family, and I often always miss their healthy schedule and supply of food, and THE SALAD!! read more

I haven't found thorough reviews about Four Winds Hospital so I wanted to provide some insight to any families that may be anxious and may have to experience this. We definitely did not love this experience, we were forced into this because of Montefiore Hospital. When we arrived to Four Winds they had us sign a NYS form that mentioned we were doing this on a "voluntary" status (even though this was not the case - but we didn't have an option because we would have had ACS called on us due to medical negligence). Understand that if you get placed in this situation do not try to challenge the director on the voluntary status paperwork because they can and will petition it to the court to have the hospitalization changed to involuntary which means that they can keep them past 60 days and with the way mental health is upheld in this country they will win the case. As a "voluntary status" patient you may be discharged between 2 weeks to 1 month or so. It's just one of those things that unfortunately you will have to wait out. Montefiore recommended to provide ten outfits but in actuality we didn't need that much, the facility does laundry every night. Maybe five outfits would suffice. Pull or cut off any strings off of hoodies or sweatpants because they're not allowed, sneakers with laces are not allowed, bring slip on boots/sneakers, crocs, and sandals. I noticed that the children walk in with their socks, so provide like 10 pairs of socks. Make sure to provide warm fleece like PJs or sweaters because their Orchard location is cold. You'll find that when you drive down there on your visits (if it's winter) it's cold over there so dress warm for yourself. Back to our experience, based on the location Cliffside unit (up to 12 years old) and in the night time my child would sleep at Orchard unit. Upon our arrival, they offered the child a stuffed animal to help them make it through their time there. The intake paperwork is THICK and LARGE I think it was over 60 pages long. After you fill it out they have you meet with an intake person who speaks with the child individually and then with the entire family including the child, you discuss what occurred, what you expect to experience, and hopes for the future. After this entire ordeal you are then handed a folder with a schedule for every day of the week, and "best times to call" - it's important to adhere to those times to call because you do not want to interrupt the child when they're supposed to participate in their group meetings and/or activities. The first day official day that your child is there everyone will call your phone to speak with you and talk about what happened be patient, breathe, it will be overwhelming. Additionally, Patients are only allowed to make 2 phones calls and receive 2 phone calls a day as well up to 10 minutes. Patients are only allowed two visits a week (one during the week days and the other during the weekends), for an hour and they must be scheduled in advance. During visits you can take small snacks and fruits to have with your child during the visits and you're not allowed to take in your phone. Reaching your child with phone calls may be difficult and frustrating so be patient. Trying to reach the therapist is pretty difficult because they are busy in meetings and meeting with the children so reach out throughout the day and make sure to leave voicemails, they will get back to you as soon as possible. During my child's time there they were required to participate in the activities, they will most likely be placed on medication, and they will be observed for their reactions to the medication. Their wake up time is approximately 6:00 am, dinner is 4:00 pm, and bedtime is approximately 7:30 pm My child expressed to me that the staff was nice to her and the other children but it is a pretty hectic environment during certain times. The children do go into crisis and it can be loud but the staff seemed to be trained well and kept everyone safe while it occurred. What I would recommend is that you need to be an active parent during this time, make daily calls (morning and evening), visit twice a week. Encourage your child to participate in all activities and to do the daily jobs to assist staff, all of this is taken into consideration and observed. After discharge you're required to be with an outpatient organization to continue care outside of the facility. I hope that this was informative because when I went through it there wasn't much information out there for me and this was all very scary to deal with. Good luck on your journey. Remain calm as much as possible. read more

Four Winds Hospital - Four Winds Hospital Katonah - Hospitals Near Me - Katonah, New York

I'm 31 years old and I still have trauma and scars from this place please reconsider placing your children here I was 5 maybe 6 when I came here I just know I was young enough to remember and I still have PTSD from this place I was given a friendship ring obviously I was young and no one noticed how inflamed and infected with a bubble which you can see in the picture below my finger was swollen infected discolored for weeks and I still have the scar they used rusty pliers to get it off and I forever have this scar on my hand in a place I really didn't need to be in I found out in therapy years later I can go on about this place but please find different help for your children this place isn't safe. read more

Four Winds Hospital - Obviously it has faded over the years but that white scar was a infected bubble from the ring - Hospitals Near Me - Katonah, New York

Many of the voices of victims from this hospital are silenced, as I have been multiple times. But I do still encourage others to share their stories. Anyways, I was brought here at the age of 11 and placed with 18 year olds. Living in a room and space with adults proved to be problematic right away as I was harassed sexually and exploited. Instead of helping me in crisis, many times I was manhandled into a van and transported across the campus to be isolated in an isolation room. I was often injected with and given medication without being allowed to know what I was taking, as well as my parent not informed either. Isolation is a common practice here, like as a punishment I had to stay in a room by myself with a tablet instead of going to group therapies and other patients were not allowed to talk to me, even if I talked to them. I had been bruised before by staff handling, they treat you like a prisoner. They do not even remotely resemble or act like a hospital, it is just a holding spot where staff and other patients will take advantage of your situation. read more

Its not Silver Hill which is my preferred hospital but in the united states, this is the Ritz compared to the understaffed minimum security prisons they call hospitals in New Jersey. I'm actually moving to Fairfield or Katonah because I know there's two hospitals where I'll be safe and comfortable. Also really appreciated that the units are separated my gender. I was an incipient alcholic and drug user during a very traumatic time in my life over a decade ago and Four Winds kinda like actually diagnosed me with addiction, which wasn't the case and I felt like I didn't belong in the AA and NA meeting simply because its anonymous and I was not one of them... so I had no business being there. That's the most negative experience I had and it wasn't even that bad especially considering the shit I've endured at other hospitals. read more

Helped my daughter . I say go and get your own point of view of this place but over all this place was great for my family .

shout out to my favorite staff gianna and alex-alexa from westview they helped me throughout my 5th stay a lot !! they are lit the goats like taught gianna all the references from tiktok and she always got me, alex was just the absolute goat always there for me and helped me calm down during a crisis in the ITA read more

I am very grateful to the staff of the Four Winds Hospital for effectively treating several of my adolescent patients over many years. They are referring-physician- and family-centric, ensuring our participation in the patient's care and making an otherwise frightening experience rewarding. I highly recommend Four Winds Hospital because its clinical and administrative staff is thorough and inspired. read more

I was at Four Winds for depression. In that time I saw not one doctor or therapist for one on one care. When I asked about this, I was told the doctor assigned to me was retiring. No attempt was made to assign another professional. I was shocked by the lack of care. I signed myself out and found my own professional. It was a great disappointment. read more

My son was a 3 yr medical student who was assaulted by a brother on 11/24/2024. His lifelong dream was always to become a trauma surgeon for which he had an academic record (even won awards in research in an RPI high school program developing a template for an innovative implant design) involving his art skills for which he also won awards & donated some of his artwork to his medical school to auction. He thrived in college prior to the assault while working part time as an ambulance driver & waiter at a local restaurant while earning multiple scholarships and grants for med school tuition. After the assault, my son's roommate called me (mother), in addition to 911 due to the psychotic break my son was having as a result of the assault in which the brother ran away and left the apartment. I knew about all events leading up to the assault, including what the brother did to deliberately induce the psychotic break in which my son was repeating he needed to "cut the devil out of (his brother), repeating what Father Walsh said during confession the night before. The assault revolved around my son expressing to his brother an epiphany he had when he woke up at 3:09 am the previous Thursday about an abuse situation with my elderly mother that had been ongoing since 2014 (for which he talked to me in depth until 2 am the previous Friday). The arriving police called me & arranged to take my son to Samaritan Hospital while instructing me to follow them. There were no medical staff there that night when we arrived. I was told by a very obnoxious young girl in a tee shirt and jeans that she was the one "in charge" & there was no medical staff on duty. She ordered me to go home and come back in the morning when there would be nurses or doctors to meet & speak with me. My son had already calmed down when I insisted on seeing him in the cubicle he was placed, & he told me to sit down in the chair beside his bed when I entered. His parting words were, "I think I just need sleep Mom - I'm so tired...I'll be better in the morning....I love you..." when the girl came in & told me she didn't give me permission to be there. He was calm & not acting manic at the time. The brother who commited the assault called his sister who lived in NYC to come to Albany & help cover for what he did. She drove to Albany & she and this brother went to Samaritan Hospital after midnight to provide a hearsay intake alleging that my victimized son had been diagnosed with a prior history of bipolar disease (which was false evidenced by the fact he was stable and thrived once getting out of a domestically violent situation growing up & his siblings/father were out of the home). These two siblings had Samaritan staff document further false hearsay claiming that he had inherited "bipolar disease" from me, for which I have never had such a degenerative mental disorder. They instructed my son to be isolated from me claiming he was "feeding" off of my "delusions," misrepresenting the assault never happened. My son was not homicidal nor desiring to harm anyone, but he was put under involuntary lockdown & made to sign papers while medicated after discharged to the same siblings less than 24 hours later and not allowed to go home or see me. He was then made to ingest combinations of highly addictive psychotropic drugs and started having hallucinations and religious ideations as a result. We have a familial history of such hypersensitivity to pharmaceuticals. A series of horrific events ensued in which physicians started working with law enforcement to cover for the fact my son was admitted to a hospital by ambulance with no medical staff on duty at the time of his admission, & hearsay written into the medical records as his diagnosis. I was not allowed to provide a verifiable intake while arriving psychiatrists recorded false hearsay provided by his siblings as if fact with no baseline. They continued to refuse to allow me, the mother, to provide a verifiable intake, visit or speak with my son- despite the fact I was a witness to the events leading up to the assault & had first-hand knowledge of the assault from conversations with both sons involving the assault. I also had my son's written HIPAA consent (& verbal statements in which he asked that I be his healthcare proxy on November 24 at his admission). Instead, the goal was focused on making my son "admit" he had "bipolar disease" & "needed" antiseizure drugs that were making him hallucinate and have full religious ideations. He was ultimately sent to Katonah against his will by police force knowing he was not suicidal or desiring to cause harm to anyone, held for 45 days & forced to ingest massive combos of psychotropic drugs combined with gaslighting by "Dr. Nir" erasing memory of the assault, placed in a "time-out soft room" when having a possible seizure until brainwashed he has "bipolar disease" & "needs" the drugs for which he is now highly addicted read more

I went here last year maybe sometime mid February - March maybe? It was extremely unhelpful to say the least. Its very dependent on the experience you are given though. To provide context, there are different units and some are better than others. I went to West view for issues I DID not have in the first place ( I believe West view was one of the behavioral wards)? But I've heard some of the units that deal with depression have carpeted floors, smell like shit, and whose patients are not dealt with properly. For my experience, I was given ALRIGHT staff. Some you could tell definitely cared ( shout out to rob, I think one was named Craig, and Anastasia as you can tell they were they to actually provide patients with proper help). However, some staff you could tell they did not give a shit about patients at all. Many shit talked patients and talked about their circumstances which is a clear violation of HIPPAA, but also some were really off and weird. Especially towards female patients. Furthermore, the whole place is to help patients but you only meet with therapists once every two weeks, and your psychiatrist was rare to see. They also will really pressure you to be put on meds even after telling them no to their faces. But there are horror stories of female patients being SA'd here so I really don't recommend you send your kid here. My experience with other patients were alright. Except for some small circumstances. I got swung on by a kid for almost no reason and it was poorly dealt with. To preface, there are codes called on by staff members when patients are out of control.. etc. He got code oranged which is patient out of control and I watched him get dragged a way to a room in the back which was pretty traumatizing as a 14 year old. I also watched another kid there be sedated multiple times because he had tried to escape. If you get code oranged you are physically restrained by four staff members each on one limb ( I never did), and you can also be sedated through injection in your butt. Then you are locked in a room called the quiet room. ( pretty terrifying if you ask me). Finally, I witnessed a whole unit lockdown when I was in there because two kids fought over name calling and the whole thing got out of hand. We had to stay in our rooms for hours. Also, there was a patient who was constantly watched and said she wanted to kill us and herself. Heres the schedule. ( Keep in mind this was for adolescents) This is based off from what I remember so bare with me. Wakeup at 6 for meds ( they would wake you up even if you didn't have meds and the night staff would NOT let you sleep, really annoying) Breakfast 7 maybe? ( you cant get food outside meal times and like one snack time at night which is extremely infuriating) Activity - can be like ping pong/ outside time/ art at the art house / idk random things sometimes its nail painting DBT therapy - Group where the same shit is repeated several times, you are punished for not going and if you feel the need to sleep in you are also punished and have basic rights taken away from you - ie. you cant go to the gym Gym - Really poor facilities, deflated balls, and an arcade with ps4s that has been broken since forever ago. Lunch - Shit food but depends, and you can be accommodated for if you have disorders relating food. Activity Maybe therapy again? Im not sure Rest hour I think Activity Lunch Rest - stay in your room for an hour Activity Dinner Rest time is spent watching TV there's one so sometimes you have to suck it up and watch other patients stuff Layout and amenities: To sum it up really bad. All units are decently similar here's the layout You walk in and there's some sort of main area with a desk where the staff are situated. ( think like a big desk but it also has plywood and glass + a locked door into the area) ALSO you cannot hang in this area it is against the rules which is ridiculous Two separate corridors each stemming from the main room but on opposite sides ( male and female rooms). Rooms ( two or three beds that are rubbery and hard to sleep on, disgusting rooms that aren't cleaned with writing all over the walls) Bathrooms opposite side of the corridor from the rooms ( Locked and you have to ask staff to open them which is really humiliating) ( one time there was shit in the shower) Than if you are facing the corridors from the main room, to the left and right are to separate living rooms. Fit with the most uncomfortable anti harm couches, a table, and a lousy TV. This is where you have DBT To sum it up most of the time is spent in your room or the living room which gets extremely boring. Oh also the pictures from the website are from the Main house which is a place you go to if there's not enough beds. Its the nicest facility but good luck getting there, it isn't happening. To conclude, this place isn't the place to send to your kids. You should send them to better facilities and this place was especially traumatizing read more

They took good care of my daughter but one of the therapists misunderstood my daughter and called ACS on her father when the real issue was in school read more

Food is good, hospitality is ok, but if you don't want help and aren't willing to work with the staff they won't help and the little children units 6-12 could use some better staff and supervision also the visitation and phone call hours could use improvement, honestly this is one of the better mental hospitals there are but still not great read more

I came here in 2014 and this place was the worst. First night I was there there was a kid in the quiet room and he was crying saying he was ok now and can they please let him out and the staff said no and that he was going to stay there all night. There were a lot of violent people for a hospital that prides themselves for having no violence. I was in the cafeteria and a patient threw a security guard up against a wall and threw his walkie talkie. Also there was a girl that had her journal with a list of patients she was going to k*ll everyone was scared of her and then she was transferred to another unit. My roommate knew I was suicidal and told me she would help me do it. Staff didn't even notice. I attempted there and the staff didn't even check me out after and shamed me for it saying that my mom called to check up on me and they had to tell her what I did. And she was pretty annoyed while saying it. The staff stole my stuff that I got as a reward and gifts I had a very cool Origami dragon and I had a rice crispy treat and when I got my box back when I was being discharged they were gone. Another thing they do NOT know how to handle physically disabled people the nurses would put my braces on the wrong feet, I couldn't pee and I really needed to call my mom so I was asking over and over to call her so the staff said "if you ask again you're being put in the quiet room" so I asked again and I was put in there FOR NEEDING TO CALL MY MOM ABOUT MEDICAL ISSUES. They had a water slide and I kept slipping down it so I was banned from using it because the staff thought I was doing it on Purpose. I came out as being trans a few weeks before I came back 3 months later. I got there and the nurses REFUSED to call me by my preferred name and pronouns saying it would be illegal to do so. So the kids would bully me for this because if even the staff can't get my name right why would the kids? One girl snuck into my room and then asked why I only had girl underwear. She also ripped up my gift my aunt gave me. Also the BIGGEST thing is that in 2021 my mom got a call saying I got a bed for Katonah after so long of being on the waitlist for the Saratoga hospital. The person said we have a bed! You can come in tomorrow! My mom said that's great! He has a wheelchair is that ok ? And they put us on hold and informed us that they do not take patients in wheelchairs and said I actually couldn't come tomorrow and hung up. So they are abusive and they go against the ADA greatt hospital. Here's some nice articles about them https://patch.com/new-york/bedford/four-winds-employee-charged-with-stealing-40k-from-hospital https://www.lohud.com/story/news/crime/2017/02/07/four-winds-hospital-staffer-charged-sex-abuse-patient-19/97605728/ https://patch.com/new-york/yorktown-somers/teen-missing-four-winds-hospital-lewisboro read more

this was a horrible experience for my 13 year old daughter. The food there is terrible, the kids there are mental. The whole entire place smells like shit and piss. For all the parents who want to send their child here for "help and treatment" DONT! read more

so many negative reviews but I think a lot of these people have probably never been to a state run psych ward. I was here as a teen 6 times throughout 2011-2105 as well as a few other hospitals and I have to say four winds is the best hospital BY FAR. The staff genuinely cared about patients, the DBT groups taught you real helpful skills, the premises was mostly clean and was a full campus instead of a sad hospital unit, the food was good and buffet style, and I never felt scared or alone once while there. I've been in a few other places for my psych needs where there have been no groups, disgusting food and conditions, and staff that will make fun of patients in front of them (people they deem aren't fully competent). Four winds is a dream in terms of psych wards. read more

I was a patient here from 02/27/23 to 03/14/23. I was in the crisis unit at Danbury Hospital since 02/25/23 until they transported me to Four Winds Hospital in Katonah, NY. When I got there they told me to go wait with my mom in the waiting room and gave me snacks in the waiting room. During this time, they gave my mom the signup sheets to fully sign me in. Later, we were brought into a room with a man who asked my mom these following questions: (1) Why are you here? (2) Does your son have suicidal thoughts? (3) Do you know any past diagnosis? (4) Does your son have homicidal thoughts? (5) Any Drug abuse? - That's all I vividly remember. My mom answered and the man told my mom to say goodbye, I hugged my mom and she left. The moment she walked out the door the mans demeanor completely changed, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and put his feet on the desk. I was surprised, is this how they fool people looking for mental health treatment? Or is it just for the money. Anyways he told me to leave, and I said where, then he said "Just go." so I went back to the waiting room. They then told me to go downstairs to the Evaluation Rooms. I went into Evaluation Room 67 where a man took my blood pressure, weight, and asked me the same questions relating to what I listed above. I then was told to go to the waiting room, waiting there anxiously for 1 hour while the other MHW were talking poorly about past patients; which is clearly a violation of what the rules were at Four Winds. Benjamin, which was the manager of the sunset unit picked me up and told me to follow him, he took me to the Health Center to get body checked. The doctor was pretty nice, but disorganized and all over the place. She asked me health-related questions. She prescribed me Motrin since I have frequent headaches almost everyday. Then the body check process happens, I had to take off all my clothes and have them check my clothes to make sure I didn't smuggle anything in. I had a little scrape on my arm, they considered it as SH as I clearly stated I've never done SH before, it was 75% healed. Benjamin then took me to Sunset Unit, the kids were at the Four Winds learning center while this was happening so I didn't meet them once I walked through the front door of the Sunset Unit. Benjamin gave me a un-detailed tour of the place as he was screaming at a other patient that refused to go to school. I went into my room that I was assigned and it was disgusting. The light has dead crickets and ants in it, as well as missing screws which was holding the clear light protector up. There were blood stains on the wall where my bed was. The bed's were bolted down, so I look to the side of my bed which was filled with food wrappers, notebooks, pencils, dead bugs, moldy cream cheese, tissues, hair, and snot. These conditions were awful, and not only that Benjamin took a wet wipe out of his sweater and wiped my mattress down with one swipe on the top, and on the bottom of the mattress. I'd like to include how I only met with a therapist 4 times out of the 15 days I was there. And the doctor once...when I was getting discharged, because she was on vacation in Hawaii. If you were having a mental breakdown, you were locked in a "comfort room" with 4 MHW restraining you, so much for the Four Winds Experience, where they promise to treat you with a "Peaceful and calm environment." I don't recommend this place at all. Send your kid somewhere else, please. I'd give it a zero if I could. read more

I'd give this negative stars if I could. I was sent there when I was 11(29 now), but they didn't have any room in the "kid's space" so I was put with "teens" at Northgate. The second my parents left, the staff automatically diagnosed me with disorders I did not have, put me on meds I did not need to be on, stole my items, and never gave me a pillow for my bed. (3-4 times I was there) I was SA'd by other patients while the staff watched through their cameras and did nothing. Other patients sat in a circle facing the camera, passed around lip rings to pierce their lips, and offered them to me; I said no because I didn't want to get in trouble with the staff. They all laughed at me. Northgate Nurses were useless, especially Nemo. The "staff/nurses" victim blamed me when there was mistreatment happening. I saw other patients do sexual favors for the male staff in exchange for things they wanted that wasn't allowed. That place should be a red flag for police to send in some UC, but this isn't Disney, and dreams don't come true. I came out of that place with mental disorders, disorders I did not have until the Four Winds experience. Edit: They diagnosed me several times with Schizophrenia but each time I left Four Winds, my regular/official psychiatrist had to "fix" that because she knew I wasn't. They also forced the ideals of "anorexia" on me by accusing me of being anorexic all because I was a CHILD who was a late bloomer with puberty. I now have severe PTSD, and night terrors and I've been struggling with EDs on/off since 2008. read more

I was placed there involuntarily when I was a teenager and I witnessed STAFF/NURSES sexually and physically abuse other patients in North Gate. They used to allow CD players, but one of the nurses found out a patient had been breaking the CDs and self harming within the hospital. It's actually insane that it was going on for months and none of the doctors, staff, nurses, nobody noticed how easy it was for patients to harm other patients and harm themselves. I learned more about every eating disorder and mental illness from my 3-4 stays at Four Winds. If you're one of the teenagers who had a cigarette addiction, they would force you to throw away your cigarettes and they didn't give any options for withdrawal, forcing cold turkey which can be extremely dangerous. I remember my first time there, they didn't give me a pillow for my bed and despite my parents asking for one for me, nobody ever gave me one so my parents brought one from home for me to use while I was staying there. I slept with a small barely stuffed animal for a pillow for the first 3 nights. Around my third time there, only the staff was allowed to pick their ipods/stereo/radio and play music during "outside time". If a female patient wanted specific type of music or song to play, all she had to was twerk for the male staffers and then they could pick a song to play. One dance equaled one song. Horrifying stuff to witness at 14. I was 11 and placed in North Gate my first stay. (You're supposed to be 13-17 for North Gate admission, and when you turn 18 they move you over to the adult ward) They claimed to not have any room in the children's units. They would "lose" patients belongings, aka STEAL THEM, and act as if we didn't bring them in the first place, and then make us seem crazy when we're not. I was diagnosed with several mental illnesses that once I was released from there, my actual psychiatrist and therapist had to re-diagnose me and make it correct. Four Winds diagnosed me with disorders I did not have, they told me I was anorexic and skitzo. I was 11, a late bloomer and had not hit puberty yet. They force fed me food that made me sick and then claimed I had an eating disorder. The other patients were horribly cruel to me. There used to be a phone for the patients, a payphone and one of the patients in a fit of rage broke the entire thing. Instead of fixing or replacing it, they completely removed the freedoms of letting us call our parents/family/loved ones if we were deemed "good" in their eyes. Sugar? Sweets? Desserts? Pretzels? They made you pay for that. You had to do your own laundry too, a bit inconvenient for those who were young enough to have never learned how because their parents do it for them. Bathroom situations are a mess. No PC, no personal connection. They didn't allow other patients to hug or even highfive, so sometimes patients would say NO PC and then touch their pointer fingers together as a small act of rebellion to the not being allowed to even high five. If I had one nice thing to say about Four Winds, they occasionally let us play Capture The Flag outdoors with the Teen Male Unit in the evenings and that wasn't terrible because it was one of the few times we were allowed to speak with them and not get busted. If you can avoid it and afford it, send your teen elsewhere. read more

Um, I was a patient here awhile back, about a year ago. If anything this place made everything worse. I was practically high all the time, everyday I woke up, almost passed out again, then was sat in a room with a TV all day where there was nothing to do. If you were emotionally and mentally having a breakdown. They just locked you in a room with some cloud like windows like that would help? They didn't care for the LGBTQ patients, when we SH they would just ridicule us. They never talked to patient's parents. They didn't care for our trauma at all. In conclusion, this place needs to be shut down. read more

My 13 year old child needed medication management and help with a year's worth of school / class refusal. He wasn't happy about going - however - after 4 weeks - my child has come back a functioning person. It was one of the hardest decisions, and perhaps everything wasn't 'perfect' - but he was happy, made friends and it got the results needed and exceeded my expectations. I only wish I had taken him there sooner. read more

If I can give this a 0 i would. I was a patient from February 20th-March 7th, and long story short, some of the staff were nice, especially Rachel, but other than that the others were very rude, the only exception was Thomas, but the others were mean, ESPECIALLY SASHA, that BBL giraffe. She was also very mean. Some of the kids there were also mean, but none were rlly homo or transphobic. The beds were hard af,there were bed bugs, and someone tried to kill themselves with a p o l e. If you guys remember a girl named Diana who would always were her white shirt with black and white pants, hey..hyd read more

One of the staff told me i didn't cvt deep enough to be considered mentally ill enough to be there, they also told me i was a was a waste of hospital time and resources, the only thing that was good about the experience was the food read more

Before starting, I wanna preface by saying everything I'm sharing happened a decade or more ago. That said I take it from the reviews that not a lot has changed since then lol I was sent here after my mom decided I was acting "too distant" towards others and thought the solution was to throw me into a completely new environment with strangers and make me as uncomfortable as possible. The main thing I remember is the staff being quite rude and at times straight-up unfair to us in response to our behaviors; They would resort to scolding us instead of patiently explaining the problem, which keep in mind: many of us were likely neurodivergent (not to mention we were kids) and wouldn't have clearly understood why something that was acceptable back at home wouldn't be in the hospital. There was a general disrespect for the patients and disregard for our opinions and feelings. I vividly remember a few kids who would constantly bully me and others, and the staff doing nothing to stop it except telling us to "just ignore them", which always works and never results in the bullies continuing since they know they won't face any consequences /s. As for their practices and rules, I remember also being very upset at their weird way of enforcing activities... I was a kid who loved drawing and used it as a way to relax, but at the hospital, there was a time and place to do everything. If I wanted to draw while it was time to play games or watch a movie in the rec room, I couldn't. I also wasn't allowed to sit outside or go back to my room if the rec room got too noisy and overstimulated me, severely lowering my mood for the rest of that day. Overall, there are many fun things to do and the place itself is beautiful; One of the only times I enjoyed my stay was when we played outdoors. The staff, however, were far too incompetent at handling children and understanding their emotional needs. At a stage in our lives where we're still developing, having adults around to guide us through difficult emotions, validate our feelings, and make us feel like we're just as worthy of respect as anyone else, is crucial, and Four Winds failed me in that regard. Following this, my mom's favorite line during arguments was "Don't make you send you back to Four Winds". Very classy. Funnily enough, she thought this place "fixed" me because of how happy I was the first few days I came back home when the reality was that I was glad to have finally escaped. To the kids who were here circa 2009 and remember a brown-skinned artist who was obsessed with Sonic, I genuinely hope you're all doing better now. read more

Four Winds Hospital - Hospitals Near Me - Katonah, New York

absolutely horrible, staff are not trained properly, unfair rules, including sexism, unable to deal with children properly, and more, forcing children to participate in activities, and not dealing with problems accordingly, they clearly dont know how to actually care for mentally ill children, would not reccomend, and every person I have ever seen who has went to this hospital has said it was a terrible experience, staff are terrible, program director michael kelly of sunset unit, is terrible, dont recomend at all. the hospital in quesation is based in westchester NY, I was a sunset child here in form april 30 to may 15th. read more

My friend went twice. Misdiagnosed. She had appointments with outpatient providers but they would not let her leave because they have to make appointments despite her doctor calling. Maybe they want to bill the insurance company as much as they can. Dr on staff at the time had a history of professional discipline. She went to Ellis, got a different diagnosis and got help. Stay away. read more

I recently spent 10 days at Four Winds in Saratoga and it was my first Psychiatric in-pt visit in my 66 years of life. I have to say I was nervous upon arrival, but the intake staff put me at ease immediatly! Throughtout my stay, I was treated with respect and care as well as receiving exellent professional treatment! Every staff member I met, from cleaning women to psychiatrist, were polite and friendly in their approach. The was pretty good and the unit always clean! If you need it, I whole heartily recommend this facility!!! read more

One of the better treatment places I've been to. The staff are great but the food is mediocre.

This place is a scam. I explicitly stated and signed a form not approving medication. Yet, they offered it multiple times. Luckily, I had trained my kid not to accept medication. Her roommate was already used to getting to sleep with medication. Their priority is to medicate them. They are bored, all they do is watch tv and are given paper, crayons, and markers. They are not allowed outside. I took my kid out immediately. Know that to take your kid out its a freaking 3 day process. Read what you sign "voluntary can become involuntary"! The care/help you expect IS NOT what they provide. This place should be shutdown and investigated. It's all about money. read more

The staff there was very unhelpful. I went very poorly treated and ended up returning several times before my parents decided hospitals would not help. I had problems with transphobic staff members and they seemed to have no clue how to help my situation. I left the hospital in a worse state than when I went in and my experiences with Four Winds have been genuinely traumatic for me. One of the therapists, Rebecca. Was the worst. All my homies hate Rebecca. I was disregarded and mistreated. Rebecca fake claimed me to my face on multiple disorders including my DID, neurodovergencies, and PTSD. One girl had been there for 4 months working with Rebecca, who neglected her and practically fake claimed her depression. read more

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Actually got the help I was looking for. Thank god! After reading the previous reviews, I was apprehensive to check myself into this facility but it ended up being the best decision I've made this year. Very friendly and educated staff and clinicians. Highly recommend for mental health inpatient treatment. read more

I was diagnosed with bipolar. I went in on a Saturday, and put in my 72 hour discharge notice that same day. Here are SOME of the reasons why: 1. During my initial intake with Dr. Kelly, he was on his phone texting. 2. VERY understaffed, and the staff there seriously lack compassion and care. This is not to say there wasn't good people. While my fellow patients and I found DBT QUITE ineffective, group leaders Steve, Rodney, And John did seem to genuinely care about our well-being. The nursing staff? Not as much. At times it would take like 5 minutes just to get one of their attention to go to the bathroom. You could visibly see them just chatting in the nurses station. Again, staff such as Christina & Sophie did seem to care about us. Mental health worker Katie needs a new profession. Her apathy is very apparent. One patient escaped and wasn't noticed missing for roughly half hour. 3. My assigned psychiatrist was VERY abrasive and I didn't get to see a therapist AT ALL during the time I was there. All the generic coping skills provided have been heard by patients over and over again. 4. The food is barely edible. I think I lost 5 pounds in a matter of 3 days there. 5. Not only wasn't I assigned a bedroom for the first 4 hours of being there, not only did I not get my medication until 10PM on my first night, but I was not given a formal orientation of the layout and procedures of the ward until the 2nd day. These are only a few of the issues not only felt by me, but felt by many of the patients I lived with during my time there. Again, there are some some staff there that care and I appreciate their compassion, but for the most part, I felt like I was in prison. NOTHING was therapeutic about this environment. I feel the most important thing I learned while being there is that I need to get my act together so I NEVER have to come back to this specific place again. read more

The only positive is the beautiful campus, although there is not much security. I went in 2019 and although things were fixed after my second visit, the first visit did not help at all and the second one only helped because of the medication but left me with (clinically diagnosed) PTSD from the facility itself. Yes the issues I had were solved however that was pure luck. the follow up plans were instituted only because my parents insisted. All patients in unit would be punished if one patient was misbehaving. Staff was very disorganized at all times. One girl threw up in the hallway because 3 people all looking could not find a single staff member to open up the bathroom for her. I was there for 28 days between two visits which I am grateful is a relatively short time compared to most. Most that I met return 3 or 4 times, staying for a month or more. That is not a good sign for any hospital. Discharge would be very last minute. One morning you would be told that you were going to leave, and then at 2 pm they changed their mind. When you are finally discharged all of the things that they had confiscated for safety were locked in different places. I cannot tell you how many of my items they lost. Staff members did next to nothing most of the time, I talked to my friends that I made there (other sick patients) instead of the supposedly clinically trained staff, and those friends helped me more than the staff did. Security was limited. The doors were locked and alarmed, but if a patient threatened to run away staff members would corner them and take their shoes. A girl woke the whole floor up screaming that she wasn't serious about running and begging them not to grab her shoes off of her as she didn't like physical touch and being cornered against the wall was very upsetting to her. I am lucky I had a relatively "simple" diagnosis prior to going, as they are known for misdiagnosing and mismedicating. My first visit, instead of testing out new medications, they just raised the levels of the meds I was already on before going there until they were much higher than the clinical dose. The second time they finally changed half way through the visit and figured out what I actually needed. I am very sorry for anyone who is dealing with any mental illness, and I am even more sorry for anyone who has to go here. I have many more stories about bad things. I would not recommend. Very scary. read more

Very Unprofessional high turn around of staff not trained continually - only 2x a year. Ne staff could have minimal to no training. I was informed that training take place only 2x a year by the head of Quality control. Services are not offered on the weekends, not even group therapy. Therapy should occur before after visiting hours. Art, Music, Dance, Acting therapy could all be incorporated on a weekend. It is awful that Nothing is offered. This is not a camp for patients to just hang out! Placement for followup treatment is GOD AWFUL!! Insurance not checked, not verified. Appointments made during hours that would pull a child out of school. Complete lack of common sense or care. Discharge completely unorganized, personal items were not ready or available for return. School work and book locked inside the school. Toys that were not permitted "Rubrics Cube" locked in with nurse. Papers as to follow up treatment left blank. Patient not given treatment on anxiety, only Anger. Not even a list of techniques was given to help the patient. A personal treatment plan should have been in existence. In a 11 day stay - breakfast is served in the units, not dining hall. only 2x were proteins offered for breakfast, all other time only carbs. bread, cereal and oatmeal. food was poor - food had to be brought from outside the facility. Security very poor. Anyone can drive onto the property, no security points, at that point they can drive off too. Patients are suppose to check in every hour if they are walking around grounds. We could have taken the patient out to the local shopping center and back, no one would have ever know. Sometime we were asked for id and our bags were checked, at other times our bag were never checked. Other adults guests would meet us in the dining hall who were not on the list. They would park in the closer lot and just walk in, no one was ever questioned. Again the stay was 11 days! Some days we had to check in every hour with the patient, and other days we did not have to bother. Rules are not consistent or followed through. If there is a code Orange etc all staff on deck, completely understandable. IF it is phone time during that code, all phone time is removed and not restored once the code is over, all patients are punished due to one patients actions. Follow up calls be a social worker should be in place, so once discharged there is no bad recurrences. Four winds shuffles the patients in and out like a revolving door, never offering very much help. It is most disconcerting. My list continues, it is ongoing, to get this to the appropriate sources for improvement and help is even more difficult that finding a needle in a Haystack. Every Senator, Dr. and social worker needs to reevaluate Four Winds. I hope this helps to improve future patients. We are there to help, not harm. a bandaid must not be placed on a fatal wound. read more