Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion at Nationwide Childrens Hospital — Mental health service in Columbus, OH

My child was put through a severe Ethics Violation. Although MOST of the staff is well and good at their jobs- Today i had met a doctor (Maria Stamatakos) who (as a prior Medical worker myself) i must say should NOT be working here with families, or children. My son was admitted for his safety- She forcibly discharged him, had staff escalate him (which caused emotional distress to him and me) and refused to update my sons safety plan- which is 5 months old and has proven to be ineffective. i had observed not only her- but their charge nurse at the time both breaking the law in my presence. So now- They forcibly discharged my son with NO safety plan, 0 supports in place- knowing he is actively at risk if discharged- and to top off the cherry? i received a call after leaving and was apologized to and told we could come right back . Lets hope the State Medical board does its job. Nationwide children's hospital is generally a good place- But one or two bad apples can absolutely ruin it for the entire hospital. compliant workers willing to engage into an ethics violation can also ruin the hospital. The charged nurse whose name was chrissy- deliberately escalated my son and caused a distress as a means of manipulation, knowing he suffers from a neurologicalcondition. I always had respect for this place untill today- if your child is in need- do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. Hospital is supposed to be a safe place, you should not have to worry about your children being put into deliberate distress, Because certain people hired there should not be working near children.

I was brought in by police after a bad acid trip, and nobody understood what was actually going on. Obviously im not trying to kill myself I was just having a bad reaction. My main issue at the time was addiction and i received little to no help for it, and instead the psychiatrists all focused on my relationship with my mother because I was just so angry she couldn't save me from this place. I was placed on the adolescent suicidal watch floor for almost 2 weeks. My entire stay consisted of me basically begging the staff to let me go live a normal life again. I've never had suicidal ideations and I'm shocked that so many people in these reviews have and are unable to reach a doctor. I've never felt more dehumanized in my life and it truly felt as I had no rights. I wouldn't recommend sending your kid here unless you want them to hate you for about a year straight

i’ve seen a lot of bad reviews especially reguarding inpatient. i’ve been on nearly every inpatient floor for depression/anxiety and, well, let’s just say i know my way around crisis. here is my full guide on everything inpatient. it’s long, but i tried to put everything you’d need to know along with my honest opinions, so please read it all if you’re going to crisis or are taking your kid there. :) first off, i’ll get the bad stuff out of the way. you may not get into inpatient from crisis. and i know that it can really suck when crisis can’t take you to inpatient. it’s happened to me. but at the very least they’ve been able to help me plan going home and the next steps for keeping safe. they are also all very sweet! i’ve gone all hours of the day/night many days of the week (meaning different staff) and have never really had a bad experience. at the end of the day, they do what’s best for you. as my final “bad part” section, i’ll say this: it can be boring. they do strip you of your clothes if they have drawstrings, zippers, etc. and they do make you use special pens and all that sort of stuff. its for safety. and you can bring your own clothes and some other stuff if they meet the requirements! and sure, sometimes the wait in the crisis center can be long. i’ve had to go to the waiting rooms behind assessment where you may wait for a bed before too, and those do kinda suck. they’re very boring. HOWEVER…my inpatient team on every floor was amazing. i have been multiple times to certain floors, too, so it wasn’t just that i got a certain “lucky staff team”. they made me feel safe and comforted. not just the therapists—but ALL parts of the staff…all AMAZING. the nurses, MHS’ (mental health specialists—aka the staff who run your groups and hangout with you on the upper floors), therapists, and even the security guards are all super friendly and very sweet. on the YCSU the nurses would take the time to take me for walks and some played cards with me. we’d walk and talk and they made me feel beyond appreciated. theres also a super cool music room! Oh, and don’t skip TR (therapeutic recreation)—it’s tons of fun and you learn a lot too. my TR helped me learn new card games while also helping me find things i can do outside of the hospital such as volunteer work. you MAY also have the chance for AAT (animal assisted therapy). THIS IS NOT PROVIDED AT EVERY STAY—it depends! however, if you do get a chance, all the AAT doggos are super cute and tons of fun. and their owners are always THE BEST. (p.s. i love you boltz!) and on the upper floors, it was the same, except i got to meet some great kids up there too (although FYI, you can’t share contact information —but it’s in your best interest). these floors offer group therapy AND really fun group activities alongside your individual therapy. plus, when just hanging around in your hallway, you get to play cards and board games and color and all sorts of fun stuff with the staff and other patients. the lunch hall is super nice too. my therapists made me feel validated while also providing me with helpful feedback and coping mechanisms. i will say, the therapist i met on one of the upper floors wasn’t greattt, but it didn’t effect my stay much because i was primarily doing group work. and you get used to the rooms. i actually grew to like them (for a hospital id say they’re pretty sweet). oh, and the tv isn’t bad either. there’s limited channels but there’s a few good ones. and there’s ad-free movies (they’ll usually have seasonal ones too). plus, i thought the food was actually pretty great. i’d recommend going for the pizza or the grilled cheese with a side of the yogurt parfaits—these always turn out well from my experience (also while i was in PHP, which is also awesome). plus, there’s specials too! throughout my seperate weekly therapy visits, i still say hi to some of the staff i’ve met along the way! obviously, THIS IS JUST MY EXPERIENCE(S), but i’d recommend NCH and know people with similarly positive experiences.

Definitely not recommended! I was specifically told back at the hospital that it would be just like the patient room i was in and it was the complete opposite... They took everything to such an extreme point. You cannot even keep your own clothes and they force you to wear these bland clothes that always end up never fitting. I was an eyewitness. And as soon as I walked into the room, my first thoughts were oh, this won't be so bad, DEAD WRONG. They are extremely forcing and the counseling they provide is extremely intensive. The counseling is supposed to help the children mentally. But I feel like it's going to psychologically drill them into a dark spiral further making things worse. They provide barely enough necessities. Shampoo, in a tiny paper cup. body wash, in a tiny paper cup. And they try to offer everything to make it seem like something great.It is not what it seems at all and they try to offer everything to make it seem like something great. It is not what it seems at all. It is a last resort and definitely something I would not recommend. This can end up seriously severely psychologically damaging a child. Your child will come back home crying and never be the same again. It is what I would consider a boot camp for rehab. Total joke

I am devastated that my experience may haunt others. It is essential to share my story in these troubling times. Despite my initial trust in Children's Hospital's behavioral health services, the slow response and lack of assistance were disheartening. The crisis hotline made it seem like this was a great place but the neglect and coldness in the room left us feeling abandoned and dehumanized. Hours of waiting without updates or comfort made it clear that this was not the place for us. The staff's apathy and the sense of being trapped were a harsh reality check. My daughter deserved better, and the absence of expert guidance was truly disheartening. Healing from this trauma will be a long journey, but I hold onto hope that with care and support, the scars of this experience will eventually fade. Parents, rest assured that even though we may not have all the answers, we can always seek help from experts, always look at the reviews and keep in mind that if the overall rating is low, that should be the first sign to go somewhere else. Remember to stay strong and keep guiding your children no matter what.

My daughter was an inpatient therapy for a little under a week and I am so deeply grateful to the staff and practitioners that helped her through that hard time. We continued to go to outpatient therapy weekly and it has been a huge benefit! Though life still life us and troubles don't magically disappear we are all gaining so many tools from this experience. Will always recommend it to other parents with kids struggling in any area of mental health, especially anxiety, self harm, and suicidal ideation. Thank you all for what you do every day !!!

For other parents of kids with mental illnesses that are beyond garden-variety, I am sorry. This is a big, beautiful facility--it purports to be the largest in America--and it offers substandard care. The only reason to come to the emergency department here is if you need a physical place to put your child where he or she cannot harm themselves. That is it. This is the third time I have been here, and I will only return as an absolute last resort, as that is what this is designed to be. The doctors will not make any effort to help you figure out what is going on with your child, even if your child is admitted. They will not admit to make emergency changes to medications (although they did medicate him when he was admitted the first time). They do not care about your child's whole history; they only want to know what brought him or her on that occasion (which would be a travesty, if they were at all concerned with your child's actual diagnosis). They will not even refer you if they do not deem you to be immediately suicidal or a serious threat to someone else. In fact, the only way to receive anything other than a safety plan and a validated parking ticket is if the intake counselor is able to convey to the psychiatrist that your child is an immediate suicide risk or risk to others. Is it possible that the intake counselor might be biased or lack the knowledge/experience to convey an accurate message to the psychiatrist? What if your child, like mine, is highly manipulative and does not want to be there in the first place? My child admitted to me that he lied when asked if he thought about committing suicide in the last week. When I told the the intake counselor that, and that he was dishonest (a compulsive liar, in fact), she replied, "He was not dishonest; he didn't answer 'No' to ALL of the questions"?! So, perhaps you, like I, will get to leave without talking to a trained psychiatrist and knowing that all that stands between you and the safety of your child is the piece of paper that is the safety plan that he or she may or may not follow. (The counselor will inform you that the whole family must follow the safety plan, but you already know that.) Yes, they know you cannot lock up all the chemicals and all the cords; unfortunately, "you must deal with these facts as your child becomes older". Your child is unpredictable and impulsive? Well, accidental injury or death is not the same as suicide or homicide, now is it? Just be sure to follow the safety plan. Even if there are no warning signs. Especially if there are no warning signs. You are good to go. Wait, how did that just address the concerns you had about the safety and wellbeing of your child? You have talked the talk, Nationwide Children's Hospital. Now it is time to walk the walk.

And they wonder why there are school shootings and young adults going off. I started this request before my grandson went to kindergarten. He is in a special needs school in the 4th grade now. Unable to get him social security without a diagnosis. I have been waiting over 4 years for an appointment. The first referral went on for years and then dropped saying they were unable to reach me. This was not true. Never got 1 call from this place after the first intake call. Another referral was made 2/2023. I got an intake video appointment 16 months later on 6/2024. Now I am told I will need to wait 6-9 months for a call to schedule the first appointment to be assessed. Why did I need to wait a year and a half to go over what was already submitted? The receptionist told me it is so they can get to know the child to see if a referral is needed. They spoke with me and went over what I had already told them. No one got to know anyone. Waste of a year and a half. I was told soon they will be working on the referrals they received last April. Are you kidding me? He will be a full grown man before he gets an appointment. Why did the pediatrician refer us to this place? Changing pediatricians for sure.

I have no idea what is worst main campus or here. I toke my asd child in here to receive help multiple times and they've just sent us home. On top of the last time they transferred her to main campus telling me that she would not have a room until 11pm. I told them multiple times that I was staying to go with her and they refused to allow me to and pushed me out the door. She was being transferred for other medical issues not behavioral ones. In the mix they some how lost my daughter belongings so she had to go home with no shoes. They have taken my number down multiple times so they can "call me back" and never have. The also never listen to any of our concerns. Or anything I try to tell them about my daughter. They treat us as if I haven't had her her whole lot and I know nothing about her. She is non verbal so listening to the family is very crucial for her to have the proper care she well deserves. Not to be pushed away like they have done to us multiple times.

I am not sure why there are negative reviews about this. We had the best experience one could have given the situation. The staff at Nationwide is amazing. They provide care and education to both the patient and caregivers and ensure that everyone has tools to use when they return home. I love how there is an entire team to focus on all aspects of a child's behavioral health, psychologists, psychiatrists, med management, therapies, and parent education and planning. We had to drive 3.5 hours to utilize this hospital, but it was worth the care we received. Ronald McDonald House is right across the street and provided everything we needed to make our stay as pleasant as could be.