The Refuge, A Healing Place - Ocklawaha, Florida

Rose D.

I have mixed emotions concerning my 5 week stay at the Refuge. There are many good resources and caring clinicians there. The problem I encountered was that while the clinical side is good, the medical side needs a total revamp starting with the medical director on down.
I learned a lot and gained confidence through the many groups and caring staff. The equine, art, and spiritual groups were excellent. Some of the psycho educational groups were good such as boundary setting. Some of the staff stood out, Holly held drumming circles, chakra meditations and inner child work which was excellent. Don, is a wonderful mentor who does the labrinyth walk and other groups. Kelly, the art therapist is very good.
I found that rules were not enforced well by therapists. Some clients didn’t attend group or vaped in rooms and there were no consequences
There were many distractions in groups because of clients coming and going just to go smoke or get coffee.
I found many of the clients to be very supportive and we helped each other go through difficult situations. Process groups were good but often entirely too large, upwards of 50 people. It was hard to share in these large groups.
The biggest problem I had was with the medical department. Medicine would run out and days were missed before it was ordered. Medicine would be charged without explanation. Med lines were long. It took up to an hour to get your meds. If you have any medical issues I suggest you really think about going here.
I had several poor experiences with medical. First, my blood pressure started getting dangerously high, sometimes up to 190/120. Little was done at first. I have high blood pressure but this was concerning. I was told by Monique, a nurse practitioner that I didn’t have high blood pressure and she did nothing to help. It wasn’t till my husband came down to the Refuge that something was done. I almost left but it started getting more stable and I stayed. What I don’t understand is how a nurse could send you off with a blood pressure that high, to a cabin for the night. Things got better for a time. I put 110% into my recovery. I went to the Refuge for PTSD but ended up experiencing trauma there. At the 4 1/2 week mark I started getting sick. It progressed fast and the nurse practitioner Margaret thought I may have the Norovirus but my lungs were congested and I was wheezing. She ordered an antibiotic and nebulizer treatment but I only received 1 treatment. I was literally scared, I couldn’t breathe. I was wheezing and coughing. I couldn’t even go get food at the cafeteria, I was too weak. Thank goodness for my roommate who helped me tremendously. There was one aide that helped me as well.
I was in bed for almost a week and getting worse every day. My husband and I decided that I should return home and he came and got me. The trip home to Maryland was grueling. When I got home my doctor told me I had bronchitis and a sinus infection. She was glad I came home, she was worried about pneumonia. I was on a nebulizer 6 times a day and in bed for 4 weeks. Not once did I hear from the Refuge to see how I was.
There were others who were sick. I wore a mask to protect others but no one else took the initiative and nurses didn’t require them. There is little care given to trying to sanitize the facility. It was dirty and cleaning wasn’t a priority. I found that nobody really supported me including my therapist. How do you advocate for yourself when you’re that sick? They offered to take me to the hospital once but I just wanted to get to my doctor who I trusted. Never once did they let me see the medical doctor.
I’ve tried to give an objective account of my stay. I hope it helps someone. I don’t want to hear excuses or an offer to email the Refuge. It wouldn’t do any good. I’m taking the positives with me and trying to get over the disappointment. That’s all I can do.

Erica H.

My son entered the residential treatment program for dual diagnosis treatment in 2013ish. While he was there, a misguided counselor misled him into thinking he was abused by his mother, his only loving parent. It was false. It caused him to cut off his relationship with the closest family he had. He ended up relapsing and overdosing on drugs. He was much better off before his treatment at the refuge. Their counselors need more training around trauma. They need to be much more cautious, exercising curiosity and not assumptions. Often abuse is perpetrated by the primary caregiver but not always. In his case, his non-custodial father was abusive but not sexually. His sexual assault was perpetrated by the older brother of a friend of his.

Tammy Z.

My experience of the Refuge was definitely not good for several reasons! One of the biggest things was their protocol in running the program and the dispensing of medications, and how long it takes you to get them, especially when you are first admitted. They’ll change medications on you without letting you know and also change the dosage! Please, please, please do your research if you’re thinking about this place!

Another thing is their program classes are redundant. After week 2, you feel like “I’ve heard this already.”

Also, a lot of people got sick there because it was not that clean and not disinfected. As a result, I became pretty sick at my 3-week mark and was hospitalized. When they found out I had pneumonia in the bottom of both my lungs, along with a UTI, blood in my urine, they kicked me out and wouldn’t allow me back in, after paying $9,500 out of my own pocket. So those are a few that I can think of now, but please do yourself a favor and don’t go there! Put your money to somewhere else. I wish you well🙏🏼

Shannon V.

Therapists were AMAZING. Grounds were absolutely stunning and the food was very good. Cabins are clean and very comfortable. Case Managers need to take a few classes on empathy and communication. The medical director needs his license reviewed or revoked. The rest of the medical staff were very kind, compassionate, and competent. My treatment was not for substance abuse, so I can not comment on the therapy or treatment about that, but for Trauma and PTSD/ Anxiety the place is wonderful.

Barbara W.

My daughter's experience here was deeply traumatic. The lack of care and understanding around mental health was shocking! She was treated terribly by staff who showed no empathy. Emily, Jill, Penny and Shelley are in desperate need of re-education on how to handle vulnerable individuals that are there to heal. To make matters worse, there seemed to be a culture of hiding information rather than being transparent and supportive with events that may or may not have taken place. My daughter literally left there with physical bruises! If you value your well-being. I strongly recommend you avoid this place!

Shaina C.

I am a former "client". I was approved by staff to leave on my 30 days, and therefore left on 09/02/24. It has been over 4 months, and I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY PHP REFUND- despite leaving many messages! I chose to attend an IOP program where I live (outside of Florida), and was promised a full refund for PHP, as I chose not to attend. Not one person has returned my voicemails. I have left multiple voicemails for the same 2 people in the finance department, and have also left voicemails for the front desk. This is extremely frustrating.
They treat you very well here on your first day, but then do not care at all after they have received your money.
I will say though, that the therapists do really seem to care, and mine was very kind.
Also, the RA's were wonderful. They have a really tough job, with exhausting hours, and they still manage to be so kind and helpful to everyone.
There was no house cleaning the entire month I was there (I don't think they ever clean). We are expected to sweep and mop our own floors and do our own laundry, but the towels, bedding, and pillows are never sanitized between clients, and they do not provide you with any cleaning products for your cabin!
When I arrived, my bed did not even have a fitted sheet- only a dirty mattress cover.
There is mold everywhere, and the washer and dryer machines are so dirty and disgusting that they make your clothes smell worse than they did before using them!
They also gave me a medication I was allergic to! They even had it clearly documented that I was allergic to it! Even worse, they kept it on my chart as a 3x's daily med! It took 3 weeks to have it removed, and until then, I had to make sure the nurses did not give it to me every time I got my meds, which meant it was documented that I was not taking my medications correctly....
Also most of the nurses are extremely uneducated. I have a list of at least 5 people who were given the incorrect medications or incorrect doses of their medications- one even had a seizure because of it, and I almost had to call the police because it took them 3 hours to give me my withdrawal meds after asking for them. They were prescribed for anytime I needed them- the nurse said later that she was just "too busy", and a different nurse I was finally allowed to talk to, told me that "she couldn't help me because I was not her patient"! I'm lucky nothing worse than sickness and a horrible panic attack happened. Had I been older or weaker, who knows what could have happened to me.
I had a medical issue, so they sent me to the hospital, but did not give me my phone. When I used the hospital phone to call and say I was released, they told me that they had no means to pick me up, and left me there for around 6 hours, until finally the hospital needed the room so badly- that they sent me back by ambulance. Had I been given my phone- I could've ordered a ride back. Not to mention now I have a bill due for the ambulance ride!
So many things happened that were unacceptable and detrimental to both my physical and mental health, as well as all the other clients' health there.
I'm not going to even go into the Covid outbreak that was silenced and taken care of extremely poorly. It ended up spreading like wildfire.
I am grateful for the help I did receive here- from my therapist, and the amazing community, but I am scared for other people to get treatment here. It is not right. It's scary.

I just want my PHP refund so that I can move on with my life.

Debra W.

Oh, where to begin about the Refuge. My son, a 31-year-old recovering addict with and eating disorder and PTSD trauma was sent to the Refuge upon release from a hospital in SC that recommended continued higher level care. The refuge was supposed to be THE place. He was there for about a week, week in a half when his therapist Scott Ledford said that he needed higher level care than they offered, as he was taking up too much of Scott's time and he couldn’t focus on other things. Scott and my son called me together to discuss this. Scott kept telling my son that he was going to a higher level of care for a few days/weeks until he was stable and would be coming back to the Refuge to work with him because he was" damn good" at what he did and could help him through all his trauma. Well, my son was sent to The Vines, which was awesome BTW, with only the clothes on his back. The Refuge kept his belongings at their facility. As I said Scott told Chase and I that he would be returning to them. Well upon release to The Vines, he was told by Jill also from The Refuge, I don't know how she fits into the picture, that he would not be returning. Anyway, my husband and I called and emailed The Refuge various times to find out what was going on, why he couldn't come back and inquiring about his belongings. They never returned a call or email. We contacted his therapist-Scott, Jill, the Case Management Supervisor-Ellen Mendez, and left messages with the front desk on many occasions all to no avail. My son was at the Vines, feeling horrible about himself, thinking that he was a bad person and had done something wrong and we could not get answers from The Refuge. Upon release from The Vines, who had my son stable in just over a week, my son and husband were told that The Refuge is notorious for getting tired of working with patients that need a little extra care, signing a Baker Act on them, sending them elsewhere, and not letting them return. My son, hearing this, finally got some relief knowing that it was not just him or something he did. The Refuge's action was deplorable. To put a person suffering with mental health issues through even more trauma is cruel to say the least. The day my son was release from the Vines, my husband called The Refuge again regarding his belongings, they advised that they had taken them to the Vines the night before. The Refuge never once asked how my son was doing, again just unacceptable. This shows how little they really care about their patients and their wellbeing. On a side note, my son turned 31 while at The Vines. We had sent birthday presents to The Refuge prior to his discharge to The Vines and we were told that they would take them to him because he was just down the street. Well, this finally happened the night before his release. Receiving these items on his birthday would have meant the world to my son with everything he was going through. So let me finish by saying that I would not recommend The Refuge to anyone suffering from mental heath issues as they obviously cannot handle the higher lever of care and trauma that they proclaim to be “damn good at.”

Bethany H.

DANGEROUS FACILITY. My sister in law went here for care and has since been in contact with another male client who was there feeding into her delusions and paranoia. There is *zero* accountability or communication from this facility. This fellow client/individual is now calling our family members over and over all night long with threats. Her mental health declined dangerously quick here and as a supportive family, we are scrambling to get her the health and safety she needs. She still thinks this guy is safe. We informed this facility about the situation and *nothing* was done to protect my loved one.