ABOUT HIGHLAND RIVERS HEALTH – BARTOW RECOVERY AND WELLNESS CENTER
Highland Rivers Health, one of Georgia’s largest healthcare providers, offers mental and behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and adults. The Bartow Recovery and Wellness Center in Cartersville, one of 12 statewide locations, offers an intensive outpatient program (IOP) for adults struggling with substance abuse including case management. It also provides outpatient addiction and substance use treatment for children and adolescents.
Detox services are not offered on-site, but the organization runs a crisis stabilization unit in Cedartown, about 30 miles away.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Highland Rivers Health employs a three-phase approach to its substance abuse IOP, with each phase lasting one to two months. As clients progress, they gradually decrease the amount of hours in treatment each week, while increasing the time in 12-step meetings. Throughout the duration of their treatment, all participants must verify their attendance and submit to random drug tests.
Clients can expect to spend half of the day learning about addiction, attending workshops on coping and life skills, and working on 12-step principles. The remainder of the day is devoted to group therapy. Clients also may occasionally participate in experiential learning exercises and attend recreational events and field trips. Length of treatment typically is 13 to 26 weeks. The IOP also provides medication management, if needed. Family participation is highly encouraged and loved ones can be included in a client’s treatment plan upon request.
Outpatient substance use services for children and adolescents include individual, group, and family counseling.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
While there currently is no information provided by the facility regarding the Bartow unit’s treatment staff, Highland River Health as a whole employs a team of about 600 professionals, including physicians, nurses, mental health and addiction counselors, program managers, case workers, residential managers, and other support staff. The two individuals polled by Best-rehabs.com to date — an alum and a loved one — both gave the facility just one out of five stars for the staff’s level of training and experience.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
A former client surveyed by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing provided the Bartow Recovery and Wellness Center with a negative review, giving the facility mostly one out of five stars across 15 evaluated metrics, including treatment effectiveness, holistic offerings, counseling options, and the staff’s level of training and experience. When asked about the facility’s weaknesses, the reviewer wrote: “Mostly everything especially about the neglect of service for people without money.”
On Google, reviewers rated the facility somewhat better, awarding it an average of 2.7 out of five stars based on seven reviews to date. Cynthia, a three-star reviewer wrote: “The doctor & nurse practitioner are great. The front desk however need to get their act together.” This complaint about the front desk echoed through much of the feedback, such as the one-star review from G. Dawkins, who commented: “Clinicians are okay but the front desk staff are the worst I’ve seen.” Andre, another one-star reviewer, wrote: “This place is awful. Give you no time to actually hear you out, just push pills as fast as possible. Misdiagnosed and never given the time of day. Every single time I walk in here there is a problem.”
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The one loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com at time of writing gave a negative review not dissimilar to the polled alumni reviews. The reviewer gave low one out of five star ratings for all metrics, except for accommodations and amenities, cleanliness, and connectivity, the three of which received three-stars. In their commentary, the loved one wrote that the facility “has a lot of weaknesses.”
WHAT STAFF SAY
One former employee of the Bartow facility, an intern who assisted with case management services as part of the mental health team, gave the center five out of five stars on Indeed at the time of this writing. This individual described their time at the facility as “a good learning experience.”
FINANCING
According to the Highland Rivers Health brochure, the facility accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and most commercial insurance plans, as well as VA insurance. Sliding scale fees are available to clients who qualify.
[1] https://goo.gl/fNbo12
[2] https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Highland-Rivers-Health/reviews?fcountry=US&floc=Cartersville%2C+GA