Review of Inpatient Psychiatric Services at MedCentral Hospital, Mansfield, Ohio

MedCentral Hospital is the only local hospital serving Mansfield, Ohio, and surrounding areas like Ontario and Lexington. They provide inpatient psychiatric services for both adults and adolescents.

I've struggled with major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder for most of my life and unfortunately, I've required inpatient psychiatric care on a number of occasions. I've been admitted to several different hospitals so I have a basis for comparison. I also majored in social work in college so I learned about the mental health system and the recommended treatments for various disorders. I know what constitutes good care and what doesn't.

Of the various hospitals to which I've been admitted, MedCentral provided the worst care by far. I was admitted through the emergency room and the care in the ER was also very poor, but one might think things would approve on the psychiatric unit where staff should specialize in providing quality mental health care. Unfortunately, it did not.

Inpatient psychiatric units typically provide some sort of therapeutic programming for patients, including things like group therapy, educational sessions, art therapy, recreational therapy, occupational therapy, family therapy and sometimes individual therapy. If individual therapy is not provided, nurses typically spend at least a few moments on each shift meeting with patients to check in and provide emotional support as needed.

MedCentral provided almost no programming. Each morning there was a Goal Group, in which patients were asked to name one goal for the day. Later in the morning, there was an educational group on stress management. One day in that group, the therapist in charge handed out a paper that listed 101 ways to deal with stress, including things like singing a song, lighting a candle and blowing bubbles. Of course, these things are not cures for major depressive disorder or PTSD. In addition, candles were not permitted on the unit and bubbles were not provided either, so patients could not even try to practice what they were being taught. In the afternoon, there was a recreational therapy group in which patients played board games for about an hour.

That was the extent of programming at MedCentral. There was no group, individual or family therapy available. Nurses did not once do a one-on-one session with me, either, during the week that I was there. One day, however, a student nurse sat down to speak with me and we talked for some time. I found it very helpful, the most helpful thing I was offered the entire time I was hospitalized at MedCentral. However, we were still talking when it was time for the recreational therapy group. The recreational therapist came to my room to ask me to come to group and I explained I was in the middle of a conversation. She said I could not continue talking to the student nurse because I had to come to group and if I refused to go to the group, the student nurse still could not continue to speak to me. Instead of getting a single one-on-one conversation, I had to go play a board game, which had no therapeutic value for me.

Beyond the fact that I received very little treatment, the environment and the attitudes of most staff people were demeaning and not conducive to recovery or mental wellbeing. Patients were not permitted to shut the doors to their rooms and at night the halls were brightly lit and nurses talked and laughed loudly in the halls all night long. I am a vegetarian and one night my dinner tray consisted of a small side salad and a sandwich made of a hamburger bun, one leaf of lettuce and one slice of tomato. On one occasion, staff members insisted on discussing my condition with me in a public area, even though I expressed concern about confidentiality and asked to speak someplace more private.

For those in need of inpatient mental health care in the Mansfield, Ohio area, I strongly suggest seeking care somewhere other than MedCentral. While MedCentral is the only hospital in Mansfield, there are several other good hospitals within reach if you're will to drive an hour or so. Consider Marion General Hospital in Marion, Ohio, St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, the Cleveland Clinic or Ohio State University Hospital in Columbus. You'll receive quality care at any of those places. You might also consider Case Western Reserve University Hospital in Cleveland; my psychiatrist, who has admitting privileges at MedCentral tells me that if he needed inpatient psychiatric care himself he would not even go to MedCentral, but would go to Case Western.