Linden Oaks Behavioral Health – Main Campus

Overall a horrible experience at the inpatient and outpatient treatment at Edward/​Linden Oaks. First, I checked myself into the ER at Edward because I have severe depression and anxiery and the suicidal thoughts were getting worse by the day. I had to wait over 12 hours in the ER for a bed to open. Finally got transferred to Linden Oaks and had to wait another 2 hours for a bed. I was extremely tired so just went to sleep. Was awoken around midnight by another patient screaming and making death threats, this happened again in the morning at 6am. The staff has no control of the unit, there were several outbursts of screaming with no attempt to help to make it stop. I was scared to leave my room and made my anxiety worse than when I checked in. During group sessions, immature patients made fun of the therapists and other patients which made it difficult to participate. I met with the psychologist who adjusted my meds and I was released the next day and to start outpatient Monday. I said I would have a couple glasses of wine a couple nights a week and then I got put into the addiction treatment program and had to be 30 days «sober» before I could get into the treatment program I actually needed. When I went today, it was a joke. I waited over 40 minutes to see the nurse, never saw my therapist and the group I was in, I felt stupid saying I was there because I had maybe 5 glasses of wine a week. Needless to say, I called the therapist to say I was not returning. It seemed they wanted money, not to provide me with the proper treatment I needed.

I was a patient at LOH for a few days for a medication problem related to Major Depression. I checked myself in via an E.R. and had an excellent experience with the staff and physicians. As a whole, I found the staff to be caring and supportive and if I ever need that type of care again, I would not hesitate to contact LOH. I also had no problems with working out billing arrangements, etc. Overall, my experience was as good as one could hope for under the circumstances.

Linden Oaks at Edward is a full-​service inpatient mental health facility. If you are in a crisis and wind up at Edward with a severe mental health problem that puts yourself or others in immediate danger, you will be admitted not to Edward itself but to Linden Oaks.
Nobody wants to go to an inpatient mental health facility. But, if you do wind up being there, it helps to be at a place as safe, clean, friendly and nice as Linden Oaks. Honestly, being a patient here was one of the least scary experiences of my life. The patients in the adult ward represent an average cross-​section of society, they’re all just struggling with one mental illness or another (or many at the same time).
Days are filled with therapy, other than the weekends (which have a bit too much unstructured time, in my opinion), there is always a lot to do to keep occupied and to get well enough to leave. Daily therapist and psychiatrist sessions are provided. Doctors and nurses are always around to help with medication questions or other physical maladies that may pop up.
On nice days, on the adult ward, patients are allowed to go outside. I’ve heard from other people who’ve gone to Good Sam that this isn’t something that comes standard at all inpatient centers. Trust me, going outside is amazing when you’re on a locked ward, and I very much appreciate that it’s possible at Linden Oaks.
The day rooms are nice, lots of seating, always things to write with, draw on, color in, etc. You can sit in your room by yourself, sit in the day room by yourself, talk with others, walk around, etc. No pacing up and down hallways like I’ve heard happens at other hospitals (not to bad mouth, but I’ve heard horrible stories about Good Sam).
Phone calls are limited to certain hours, and family members and friends who want to call inside need to make sure they have worked this out with their loved one first. It can be a bit frustrating if you need to make long-​distance calls, as the normal phones are only for local calls. Depending on the nurse on the desk, you can use the staff phone to make long distance calls, or just use them quick to have a family member call back. Visiting hours are also daily. Out-​of-​town family and friends can make an appointment to visit off visiting hours.
The only thing I’d change about Linden Oaks is the food. Vegan options were scarce in the cafeteria (although the salad bar was amazingly fresh and had a great selection of veggies and protein), and there were literally zero snacks that I could eat on the ward. But really, that was for sure the least of my problems at the time.
At Linden Oaks the goal is to make you well enough to be able to handle life without being at risk. It’s a great place to go if your medications aren’t working, if you’re feeling suicidal, self-​injuring too much, in the midst of an addiction or eating disorder, etc.

Heaven forbid you have a scheduling /​customer service issue here. Getting past the frontline {and snotty} scheduling team to reach an administrator on a problem is nearly impossible. I finally called the president of the whole shebangAbang and got a person to call me back. This is a poorly managed group that is primarily concerned with taking your money instead of helping you — just like the rest of the Edward Hospital group. My suggestion is to avoid Lined Oaks and go find a doctor that wants to help first, pull money from your wallet second.

They treated a family member like crap here. Don’t go here for mental illness help. Try Adventist hinsdale hospital, they were compassionate and helpful there. There are normal people working there who care. My family member also got a bunch of warts all over her skin from this place, so obviously this place is filthy to boot!