Peachford Hospital

My 19 year old son was admitted last week for substance abuse and psychological problems. He needed to be there as long as possible and then to go into treatment. They put him on the list to get into the lodge and his doctor said he’d do everything possible to keep him at peachford until there was a bed open at the lodge. They were onboard with me with not giving him a way out. Aside from not wanting to be there, my son has no problems with it. The staff is nice to him. He likes the food, the schedule, and the facility. I don’t really like the visitation setup. It’s just chairs in a room for an hour 3 times a week for a max of 2 at a time. You can’t bring in cell phones or food so it’s kind of awkward to go and just sit with someone who doesn’t want to be there for an hour. It is managed effectively and things seem to run smoothly. They (office staff) don’t want you there if they think you don’t have insurance. They made a mistake with ours and tried to discharge my son before they figured it out and then the doctor did what he said and tried to keep him. Hopefully he’ll be moved to the lodge soon. This is the first time I’ve seen my son mostly coherent in over 2 years and this is the first place that’s actually trying to get him help instead of telling us that if he doesn’t want to do it, he doesn’t have to. I’ve been fighting that mentality for a long time. I’m really optimistic that this will get him back on track and I genuinely appreciate this facility for making that possible. Ridgeview just let him go. Another place near or in Decatur a couple of years ago was just awful… no communication, bad environment, just kind of like a half orphanage/​half jail. Peachford is excellent compared to that. Yeah it’s not perfect, but they are trying to help and we haven’t had a bad experience with them yet. I’ll post updates.

I noticed the bad reviews Peachford got and decided to share mine as people do tend to only write reviews when there is something negative to complain about. My experience with Peachford involved my 17 year old son. He spent a week there due to substance abuse and I could not speak more highly of the staff. They were very understanding, explained things clearly to my husband and I and treated our son well. The hospital’s purpose was served. My son my came out clear minded and healthier than we’d seen him in a long time. He said the staff treated him just fine. He didn’t care much for the food and indicated that he didn’t get much sleep at night due to the in room safety checks performed but that is part of being in this type of hospital. I would recommend the hospital to anyone in similar circumstances and would use them again if, God forbid, ever needed.

Pretty scary place. Took my son there at doctor recommendation because Ridgeview was full. We needed as assessment for detox due to substance abuse. From the minute we arrived the unpleasant masking dirt perfumed scent greets you in the lobby. As with others, notice the staff not too friendly but kept hoping it would improve because we needed their service. As soon as they got what they needed from us we were screened with wands for weapons (?) and they usher back to the «assessment area». Our possessions (everybody’s, not just the potential patients) were immediately locked in a cabinet in our waiting room. The TV had more snow than I’ve seen ever in Atlanta, how irritating to patients that are already irritated. Saw a few people in hospital garb wandering. Before the person that ushered us from the lobby left, I inquired how long the wait was and was told not long only one person in front of you. After at least 2 hours, started talking to a few others and they were all told «only one in front of you». Starting to feel apprehensive, it was already getting so late I could hardly stand it. I was a little nervous to shut my eyes in there, there were definitely a few characters roaming, staring, commenting to you.
I then decided this was not the place for us. Stalked the door of my waiting room for a staff member to walk by (this took at least 30 mins.) and asked for the, return of my possessions so we could leave. Got the run around for about an hour, told that only the counselor could let us go. We checked the doors and we were so locked in. Finally our «counselor» came by and we indicated we didn’t believe this was the place for us and had changed our minds. Guess what, we lost our decision making rights when we came in (hum… don’t remember signing that waiver). Then we were told If we didn’t go through with the assessment, it would take us longer to get out of there. I was pretty close to calling 911. I truly felt like a hostage, and it was not a good feeling. Beware of what your walking into!