SMA Outpatient - Ocala - Ocala, Florida

Dog

Baker acted and sent here. The first thing that happens is I see a "counselor", for about ten minutes. She asks me questions that are clearly just written out most of the time, so the first time she asked me something pertaining to my circumstances I asked "is that really written down?" And she responded "It's called counseling." Very rude. Was inpatient and they just toss you in and ignore you. The beds were extremely painful for me to lay on. Awful plastic chairs in the main room. That was it. The people on watch just sat and talked together the whole time and watched hunting vlogs and hunting shows on the television the entire first day I was there. The people that were there the next day were nicer and asked us for movie suggestions, which was better. I liked the nurse with the camo hat. Some of the staff were kind. The doctor, I don't know his name, (not the one with the accent), he was horrible. He said extremely harmful things to me regarding my self harm. He told me I'm a beautiful young woman and I'm "mangling my body". He made me extremely uncomfortable. I will never forget those words he said to me, to someone with a dependency to self harming, those words are fuel to the fire. He was in general extremely rude and spoke to me like he had absolutely no time for me. They told me that THEY switched me to "voluntary" after the 72 hours were up, which was ridiculous to me. I never said I wanted to stay, in fact, I was asking when I could go home. I managed to get out that day, but it took convincing. Just knowing I could potentially be held against my will by this place makes me hesitant to ever consider inpatient as an option in the future when I may need it.

Rebecca R.

After a meeting with George Long.....I was very disappointed. Very curt and no compassion. He didn't really help us and didn't apologize for being late. I shouldn't feel like I was wrong or in trouble for an update meeting. Really need to work on his personality for working with kids that have mental issues.

SheSpeaks

After years of being a client I'm considering seeking the services of a LICENSED PSYCHIATRIST who will actually listen to their patients and who is willing to prescribed medication(s) that are actually effective. I think SMA as an organization is doing a great disservice to outpatient mental health clients by not having licensed psychiatrists or psychologists who are far better trained in their field instead of ARPNs. Mental health matters but it's a shame that it doesn't seem to matter to SMA. Honesty treatment was far better when it was The Centers and you actually had appts with real practicing psychiatrists like Dr Sammy. The only way things are going to change at SMA is to contact CARF, Florida DCF and your congress person.

Lisa T.

Dr Samuel is a God send! She quickly recognized the severe mental illness that my son has been struggling with for such a long time. She knows how to help, shes not afraid to help, we need more doctors like Dr. Samuel!

Pebbles R.

Love how my granddaughter is treated from the Welcome as i walk in to her counseling and to the time i leave bern coming here for years would recommend HIGHLY. I have never had any issues or concerns.

Nick T.

I can only comment on the detox unit, as I have not been elsewhere in the facility, nor do I have any intention of doing so. I was Marchman Acted here twice roughly a year ago, and the only real way to adequately describe it is a jail pod. The cots, the doors, the tables, and the chairs are all straight out of a corrections catalog.

The food is extremely poor and hard to come by - heck, you may not even be fed for some meals. Additionally, you will not be medicated for your detox symptoms, so you will just be 'riding the rack' for the 3 to 5 days you are forced to stay there. This is not only agonizing, but dangerous in some instances. The showers are saturated in green and black mold, to the point where I do not recommend ever showering while you are there. There are no books, nor are you allowed to bring one of your own in to keep yourself occupied and reasonably sane. This place needs to be shut down in the worst kind of way.

If you have insurance (Ambetter or better) and require detox services, contact The Haven in West Palm Beach. If you are approved, they will send a driver to pick you up and drop you back off when your detox is through, regardless of how far away you are in the state. They've picked me up from Ocala (3.5 hours away) multiple times and it has never come out of my own pocket. State of the art facility which will keep you very comfortable.

Seriously, though, avoid SMA like the plague it is.

Virginia H.

The policies in this place need to be updated and more people friendly. There are some good staff in there and some that shouldnt be in that industry. Treating everyone the same way is ridiculous these days as not everyone is the same and will not respond the same to the same treatment! You wouldnt give a diabetic the same diet as a non-diabetic so dont treat peoples addictions and mental conditions the same!! Berating patients and making them feel like they will fail if they do not attend their programs and making them feel bad because they dont have insurance and telling them that because you dont have insurance it is very hard to get you the help you want and need is also not helpful to them. Make sure patients get their meds on time and as needed, even if it happens through a shift change. Changing staff shouldnt cause patients to miss or not get meds.

Think twice before going to one of these facilities.

Orlando D.

I thought Dr Chris was excellent the doctor or nurse practitioner with glasses the white tall gentleman I don't know why he didn't let me leave on Sunday after checking out his notes but most of the staffs were friendly and the Spanish social worker was very good to me for the most part all the staff are understanding