registered nurse

housekeeper

admissions advisor

dietary cook

licensed practical nurse

Acadia Healthcare

Each day would be different every day. I may have had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish each day, but that didn't necessarily happen.
The work environment was very negative and impacted the treatment of the clients living on premises. The first thing I did was to distribute a mandatory anonymous survey to all employees. The feed back I received helped me realize what was happening, how the employees were feeling and what was not working for the establishment. 

The receptionist was key in who was invited to each new hire orientation, which costed the company two-weeks of paid training. At the end of two weeks, many new hires would quit or not show up for their first "on the floor" schedule. This cost the company a lot of money and left department understaffed. This in turn would create an "out of compliance" issue for the hospital.
 
One of the first changes I made to the interview process was I would review each application received. I would invite applicants after a short telephone interview. When Managers needed to fill a position, it was communicated to me. A group interview was scheduled and each Floor Manager was able to ask questions to applicants. After this initial process was successfully proving to attract the "best fit" employee, I added another change to the process by bringing in clients with less acute illnesses and allowed them to participate in the question/answer process. This really was the clincher for weeding out the applicants that wouldn't have been considered the "best fit employee." Some applicants dropped out after the group interviews. 

Because this is a mental hospital housing 100 clients 24/7, many employees were being overworked and less patient and were getting "beaten up" by escalated clients. I worked with a superior workout facility in Albuquerque and created a discounted gym membership for employees could participate in through payroll deduction and also began to see a decline in the workman comp injuries. This was a win-win situation for the employer and employee. 

I began attending all monthly meetings for second and third shifts and offered solutions to potential problems in their infancy stages. The employees working in these shifts began to feel they "were part of the team." Problems were becoming minimal. 

I also began attending job fairs and worked with online job boards to attract the "right fit" employees. I also completed verification of employment, attended unemployment hearings. I played a key roll in investigative happenings with clients and employees and became with Joint Commission's audits. 

I also was able to "catch up" all employee annual evaluations which entitled employees to a pay raise. Employees were very appreciative for this change. 

I enjoyed mentoring the clients. I was assigned to two of the most acute clients that were being treated at Desert Hill (DH). I also became a Champion for The Jason Foundation which is a teenage suicide prevention program. 

This was a life changing position for me and I learned things I would have never imagined happened in my life time. There were amazing professional people working at DH. Employees were able to eat free in the lunch room.

A typical day at work consisted of me doing my job, plus three others (or more). We were always short staffed and overworked. The more we did the more was demanded of us from upper management. I was asked to keep people on the census so our census would look better even though those patients were no longer with the treatment center (which I refused to do).  I would beg for our director to order supplies but we would go without because of "budget".  We went without urine dip tests, Bio-hazard bags, urine drug screen cups, gloves, cleaning supplies, and even toilet paper due to the director not ordering supplies. How can we keep our patients compliant if we can even screen them? Direct supervisors would gas light their staff into thinking they were doing things wrong and give them additional tasks to complete which were actually part of the directors job but they wanted to pass the buck. The left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing.  There is little to no communication and you are laughed at if you ask for any thing to help improve patient care. There are too many untrained staff members trying to do jobs outside of their scope of practice which just creates more work for other staff in the long run. The buildings are run down and falling apart. Black mold present in some rooms that are used for patients treatment.  When reported the director acted as if it wasn't a real thing and ignored the issue. All the office furniture is old and falling apart. Dangerous chart shelving falling over and desk drawers falling out on staff and injuring them being ignored by management.  The issues could go on and on. All safety issues brought to the directors attention and ignored. Nothing fixed or addressed. 

I learned that no matter how badly i wanted to help patients we would never be able to fully do so because of upper managements lack of leadership and accountability. I learned i was to never receive any real training and would be expected to know how to do every aspect of the job regardless. 

Management is a joke. They will literally allow anyone with good enough credentials to be a manager/upper management.  they do no even need to be qualified or have experience or have any people skills at all. This company is completely OK with just having warm bodies in any position.  Management will not provide support, training, or appropriate equipment to do the job and then will feign ignorance as to why you are unable to complete the job.  

There is no workplace culture. The only reason why a few good employees stay is for the patients.  The smart ones run as soon as they figure out what a train wreck it really is. 

Everything about the job is hard. I would say the worst part is dealing with inept managers with no people skills. 

The only enjoyable part of the job was helping patients and working with a few good and dedicated staff members who were there for the patients first and foremost.

At Lakeview Behavioral Health in Norcross, I planned therapeutic activities for patients of all demographics as young as 9 up to geriatrics based on individualized deficits such as communication and social skills, stress management and coping skills utilization, cognitive processing/ decision making/ reality orientation, health and wellness promotion, and leisure education. I enjoyed the challenge and ability to be creative with planning and implementation of therapeutic activities, however the environment was toxic to me professionally and personally. Patient care is my number one priority and there were employees who sabatoged treatments due to their lack of patient interest and care, who mistreated patients, and whose main priorities for work were being on their phones, getting food, dating each other, and gossiping/ spreading rumors. In addition, as a consumable area of work (ie: needing replenishment of resources such as crayons, markers, etc.), the administration was very stingy with providing the necessary resources for our therapy groups. thus making it very difficult to provide our patients with certain activities. Most rumors circulated that administration held tight budgets because they were more conscientious of their "bonuses". When we were evaluated for employee performance, administration told supervisors not to score any deserving employees higher than a 3/5 because they did not want to increase employee pay more than 37 cents.Because of this laxadaisical and selfish atmosphere, I could not make a difference in patients' lives while also enjoying what I do.

There were high hopes that the company would turn a new leaf when the new CFO took over. I am thinking the tree has completely dead now. I have never seen so many people come and go like I have seen in my short time here. It's crazy when the seniority in a department can happen in a little over a year. The employees are overworked, stressed, and are having to do the work of three individual jobs that were rolled into one. It's a contributing factor as to why ten people have exited since the first of the year. Most of the management lacks experience, patience, and the ability to lead, encourage and build their team. I can't say all of them, but if you wanted to gamble, you've got a 50/50 shot. There is a lot of chaos in policies and procedures and there is a whole lot of guessing going on. You do have flex time and if you choose you can work from home 2 days a week after your probationary period. Those days are only on Tuesdays and Thursdays unless your the favorite. You will have to use PTO, your FML, or not get paid. Only the favorite can get away with working from home when they feel like it. I could say a lot more and I hope you listen because the company surely won't. I only know of a few happy go lucky people that aren't stressing but I am still willing to bet that  90% are looking or are open to the possibility. There are a lot of payer issues, contracting issues, and a great lack of expertise. I guess that can be expected when the average length of employment is around a year. I have seen really good employees leave because of all the issues and because of the issues, bonuses are hard to come by. Raises are only given out in April and are ALWAYS less than 3% and that is a direct quote from management. 

One of the worst places I have ever worked. Management views staff as expendable garbage. TURNOVER IS HIGH. The only time I heard of doing a good job was when I gave notice to go to a better job. Since the turn-over is high, they told me I did an excellent job and couldn't afford to lose me. They offered me a raise and made promises to improve the treatment of staff in my department. Sadly, I agreed to stay on my last day. They gave me the raise but nothing improved. A new supervisor was hired, and they hired one who cared less of her staff. She matched the same attitude as the CFO and CEO. Your input is ignored; your concerns are sidelined. Issues affecting the business office were met with resistance. Workloads increased and processes were made more difficult. No such thing as working smarter. Benefits are expensive. Micromanagement is in constant affect. You are regarded as just another number.
You never see any goals accomplished or feel like you succeed in any tasks you complete. Morale is low.
When you leave, this company, they will term your benefits immediately, even though you have paid your premiums. They steal the money from your deductions. They keep the money even when you have paid for 10 full days ahead. They will not give you any of it back or continue benefits until the end of the time in which you paid. They constantly change policies here and never keep their word on anything. A very dishonest organization and culture. This review is my experience working in the Business/Billing Office.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Helping patients!  Being able to ease some of the suffering which in turn allows the patient to rebuild their lives in a positive direction.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Having to focus on “making profit so you get a bonus at the end of the year”.  So much time spent providing real time financials based on number of clients served.  Financial documentation and reconciliation piece should be a separate position.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Cold.  Focus is on “making money” “getting end of year bonus”. 
Upper management is extremely critical and take zero interest in employees  except to
make sure they are working as fast as possible to get bodies in the door. 
Employees are allowed one (1) personal item in their office and employees are strongly discouraged not to fraternize or make polite small talk.   They prefer NO personal life moments be shared and discourage (strongly) any hint of an employee sharing, for example, the birth of a child, kids graduating etc.  Things that are positive and help gel a team when shared.  
No warmth in the tone/culture of the agency.   It’s a shame because the clientele served desperately need positivity to be successful.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
14-15 hour days are the norm. Extremely fast paced and rigid.  
Constant pressure to have “real time “ numbers didn’t allow for supervision of staff or client relations.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I enjoyed working with people who really care about the well being of our patients and who want to help patients  live a healthier lifestyle.  Also the patients at this clinic were an awesome group of people.  It was nice  to see many successful patients who did complete the program and show their gratitude towards their accomplishments. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Computer glitches I did not care for as well, but was able to manage with help from from IT 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Diverse and regimented. However I would raise issues with their level of accountability. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It was great to set up the clinic in the morning and be able to dispense  the patients medication with the excellent training I received from my coworkers. I really enjoyed being there for the patients and helping them get the assistance needed to live a healthier way of life without the use of opioids. I also enjoyed educating the patients on important health concerns for their own well being as well as referring them for further assistance when appropriate.  Furthermore, I have always tried my best to help the patients feel at ease and not be judgmental about each individual/patient  situation.  The computer software program was easy to learn and accuracy throughout the day was always monitored to a Tee. 😊

I worked at Acadia as a billing specialist and the job itself is very good! The pay is fair for what I was doing and I learned a lot about medical billing. There is room for growth and advancement which is very nice because I love having that opportunity to advance and be promoted. Overall I would say it is inclusive however, there is some clique type behaviour but that is expected at any job. The issue I have is the director who cares about the employees and everything is fine until she realises that she does not have you under her thumb. She will go on and on about how you are valued and appreciated and she sees the effort you are putting in and she is willing to train you and work with you to make sure you do the best job ever and it feels really great but the minute that she gets an inkling of you trying to be independent or even looking at another job, she practically will push you out the door. It’s a good job to work at as long as you don’t plan on putting yourself first! I understand that no director wants to see somebody leaving for another job but you should be happy that your employee is doing what makes them happy and what is best for them instead of being resentful and trying to make them leave almost immediately once you find out. If you truly care about your employee you will support them even if their decision makes you sad. If you can’t support your employees finding a better job or doing great for themselves then you are not a good director, 

Acadia is definitely a company that looks good in writing and online, but when you actually work for them, it is quickly recognized that money is most important, not patient care. When a company focuses more on “productivity”, that should be the first red flag. With the understanding that treatment is not free, why kick someone when they’re already down? A population that already struggles gets hit even more in being charged for days they miss because they couldn’t afford to dose that day. COVID-19 happens and they begin charging an intake fee when others are waiving them. 

They wonder why patient retention is low, the census plateaued, and the turnover in staff is extremely high. When you treat your employees poorly, and more importantly the patients, it is bound to catch up. Take care of your employees and they will take care of you. Upper management are inexperienced, poorly educated, and have no compassion for the population that they are supposed to serve. They are only focused on the bottom line and micromanaging the staff rather than letting them do the work they are there to do.

In regard to trainings, you have to use your PTO and personal time for required trainings that are needed to keep your certifications and licensure. They offer corporate, click-through trainings that have little to do with the communities that these centers serve. If you decide to go with this employer, be cautious. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 1 salary reported	$31.50 per hour
Housekeeper 7 salaries reported	$13.00 per hour
Admissions advisor 31 salaries reported	$36,841 per year
Dietary cook 2 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 1 salary reported	$2,500 per month

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