St. Gregory Retreat Centers, Iowa Reviews, Pricing

St. Gregory Retreat Centers provide gender-specific, evidence-based substance abuse rehabilitation through residential and outpatient programs. Our treatment options are empowerment-based and aim to address the underlying biological, psychological, social, and spiritual causes of addiction. Treatment at St. Gregory includes detoxification, cognitive behavior therapy, chemical imbalance repair, life skills coaching, and aftercare.

ABOUT ST. GREGORY RETREAT CENTERS

Located in Des Moines, Iowa, St. Gregory Retreat Centers offer medically-assisted detoxification and residential substance abuse treatment for men and women. Our programming is not based on the 12-Steps, but instead focuses on providing empowerment-based treatment that addresses the underlying factors of an individual’s dependency upon drugs and alcohol. Based on survey responses, the standard duration of treatment is eight weeks.

TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT

According to St. Gregory Retreat Centers’ website, our facility uses evidence-based interventions to treat clients holistically. Our programming considers each individual from a biological, psychological, social, and spiritual perspective. Clients receive guidance on nutrition, exercise, and sleep while undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), neurotransmitter therapy, and neurocognitive therapy. Therapeutic activities, including service projects, emphasize the importance of community, and residents are encouraged to explore and develop their spirituality.

On-site chapels are open 24 hours a day, and Catholic sacraments are available to those who wish to participate. Clients are not required to partake in any religious services, but daily seminars focus on “virtue” and personal reflection.

STAFF CREDENTIALS

According to St. Gregory Retreat Center’s website, our facility employs a full medical, psychiatric, and wellness staff, as well as a number of chaplains.

ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES

According to the center’s website, St. Gregory Retreat Centers maintains two gender-separate facilities, both of which are in rural settings free from distraction. Our homelike facilities offer shared bedrooms, communal gathering areas, and exercise rooms. Food is considered a key program component, and all meals are prepared with a focus on health and nutrition.

WHAT ALUMNI SAY

Of the six alumni surveyed, two provided positive reviews and four expressed dissatisfaction with the care they received at St. Gregory Retreat Centers. Both Annette and C. found the program to be helpful and specifically highlighted the quality of the center’s food and amenities.

However, the four other alumni provided negative reviews that cited questionable billing practices, medication mismanagement, and a lack of adequate staffing. A.C. wrote, “The medical staff, including my limited interaction with the main Doctor, was a joke. They basically ripped away all of my medications within 5 days!!!”

WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY

The two loved ones who were polled shared drastically different reviews of St. Gregory Retreat Center. Karol expressed satisfaction and appreciation for her son’s comprehensive treatment. On the other hand, T.M. gave the facility’s treatment effectiveness a one-star review and referred to the program as “a complete joke.”

WHAT STAFF SAY

The four former staff members surveyed provided mostly negative reviews about St. Gregory Retreat Centers. Each staff member noted they would not recommend the center to someone seeking treatment. Respondents indicated that they distrusted the facility, as it was understaffed and poorly managed. One anonymous staff member wrote, “Need to learn patient to nurse ratio, make a policy and follow it. Understaffed.”

FINANCING

St. Gregory Retreat Centers do not publish their fees for treatment, but the center accepts private insurance.

Services provided by St. Gregory Retreat Centers

Service Setting

Outpatient

Intensive Outpatient

Type of Care

Substance Abuse Treatment

Treatment Approaches

Anger Management

Brief Intervention

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Contingency Managementmotivational Incentives

Motivational Interviewing

Relapse Prevention

Substance Abuse Counseling

Trauma-related Counseling

License/Certification/Accreditation

State Substance Abuse Agency

Commission On Accreditation Of Rehabilitation Facilities

Payment/Insurance/Funding Accepted

Medicare

Medicaid

Genders Accepted

Male

Female

St. Gregory Retreat Centers Reviews

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

Worst experience ever. Never saw a dr. They show the men’s house on website The women’s house is small and has no amenities as the men’s. Totally short staffed. Overall I felt As if I was overlooked. Worst feeling ever, especially when your there to change your life.

Pam

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

(2015) I appreciated trehab./treatment for addiction my loved one received, the cognitive/ behavior part of the treatment was very beneficial & I see good things transpired, & appeared well balanced, I was pleased with & thankful for St Gregory.

Brian

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

I feel very pleased and like a totally new person

Stephanie

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

The treatment is individualized to meet the needs of our guests.

James

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

Awesome

Amanda

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

This is a great place to work. I feel that we truly change peoples lives for the better!

Jill

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

My overall experience has been and continues to be, one of empowerment, honorable service work and true life meaning as a CADC with St. Gregory Retreat Center!!

C.P.

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

We offer the unique approach of CBT Cognitive Therapy. We focus on healing our guests Emotional, Spiritual and Physical self. A wonderful proven, faith based program.

Kristi

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

Great facility, loved the non 12 step approach, not great aftercare but a great program

Frank

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

My loved one had a very effective experience at St. Gregory Retreat Center. Without the caring staff and amazing accommodations that St. Gregory had to offer, they may not have had such a positive recovery outcome.

Flin

Treatment Effectiveness

Accommodations & Amenities

Meals & Nutrition

I feel that the treatment that I received while at St. Gregory was more than I could have hoped for. My lifestyle has completely changed for the better and I am grateful for my time spent at St. Gregory.

Treatment Effectiveness
Accommodations & Amenities

This place is outrageous! It is a complete joke. My husband was here for 7 weeks. Once I dropped him off I never saw him again. I was not allowed to visit. They provided no information other than this was a treatment facility who teaches men to be strong. What kind of treatment facility does not involve the spouse or family? They boast a 92% success rate--What is this based on? My husband and I are now going through a divorce and he is back living in the same drug infested environment I worked so hard to get him out of. With me he was in school, and had been making a complete life change. Now, he's back with all the old friends he got into drugs and other illegal activities with. Is the fact that they sent him out of state and left us in a divorce success? Wow! And I'm in a program through another treatment facility at a local hospital who also worked with my husband. In my groups, I met 2 other people who experienced the same thing as me. They too said they were not allowed to be involved in the treatment. They too are both now entering into a divorce and BOTH of their spouses are right back at doing what they did before they entered. DO NOT send your loved one here or let anyone else send them there. It is an absolute failure and should be shut down! It's a Catholic based treatment facility with pastor's doing counseling (if that's what you call it).

I thought it was wonderful. It helped me so much. The food was excellent. The outings were fun. There was a sense of family there. Really helped me to see what a valuable person I am. It was a lot of hard work but it helped so much. No longer on anti depressants or anxiety meds.

Lack of education about the sky high risk of overdose after periods of abstinence, and no information or access to naloxone, the life saving, overdose reversal medication takes the lives of many people. These early periods are when people are most vulnerable to overdose death due to abstinence and tolerance. This should be part of every discharge plan from treatment centers.

Hi Paul, We certainly do our best to provide as much information as possible about the potential overdose risks after treatment/abstinence. We apologize if you feel we didn't provide a stern enough warning here or if our materials and teachings were lacking. We've taken your recommendation to heart and will expand our post-treatment educational efforts to better illustrate the risks of overdose. Thanks again for your feedback -

Do not go here!!! My experience was a nightmare from the first phone call with an admissions "counselor." I am not going to go in too specific detail because I do not want any staff to read this and figure out who I am. I do not trust anyone there and truly have nightmares about my experience there. The medical staff, including my limited interaction with the main Doctor, was a joke. The basically ripped away all of my medications within 5 days!!! This was just the beginning of my horrible experience. I thank God I was able to get out of there while still at the detox facility. I feel sorry for those clients that did not have the chance to leave. Everyone I was there with was so unhappy and a couple of others were trying desperately to get out of there. It's unfortunate that despite their inviting website, this is not what it claims to be.

Hi AKC, We apologize that your were unhappy with your experience at St. Gregory's and we thank your for your feedback. Detoxing can be a very difficult and painful process, so we sincerely apologize if you felt your detox should have been handled differently. We have a staff of trained medical doctors and technicians, but we also do our best to listen to our clients to ensure they're comfortable through the entire process. We have already reevaluated our detox program and procedures, so we hope this isn't an issue for anyone else in the future. Thanks again for your feedback -

Hi BE, We apologize that you were unhappy with some of our staff and want you to know thatwe take claims against our employees very seriously. Please contact us at your earliest convenience so that we can discuss the details of your complaint. Thanks again for your feedback -

This program is amazing it is not 12 step based and really gives you the necessary tools to live a better life. The staff was extremely caring and friendly. The food was also good Steak every Thursday night 24 hour salad bar a full gym right down the road along with some equipment in the house. Counsellors were fantastic all good people. Couldn't have had a better experience might have been worse years ago but as of 2015 this place is a great facility. I would recommend it to anybody and it saved my life. A great experience all around and I'm Sure that 40 other people that were there with me would all say the same thing.

DO NOT GO HERE! I admitted myself after several phone calls ensuring me that my cost would be 3K to reserve a bed as they only had two left. I checked in on a Friday to find out I was the only one there and the weekends do not count - but you are charged. I admit I was not drinking, but I had nothing but a bed and a TV. At initial check-in with my mother I stated that I would stay there for detox but not for two months because of job responsibilities. They claimed nobody knew that I wouldn't be completing the whole 2 months - even though I explicitly stated to every staff member there and with the support of my family that I would only be there for detox. They kept throwing documents in my face that stated I agreed to pay anywhere from 8K to 35K - which I refused to sign. I said if you give me a form that states what services I received and the amount we agreed upon I will sign. I never received this documentation. They also would not correspond with my doctor although I had signed written authorization for him to receive this information. Although I didn't have anyone I had authorized to access my information - and they would not let me know if my family had called due to HIPPA (which I understand), they accessed my husband's phone number and convinced him he paid 8K. They relayed to me that billing was a medical emergency. I also ended up signing because I was told that if I didn't then it would be $1500 a day although the paperwork/policy they gave me said that $800 was the max for detox. Throughout my time there I had two group sessions a day which were always late or interrupted by phone calls. In addition, a patient was admitted who was a third time around heroin addict who was "so successful and made so much progress" that she practically was allowed to run the group and make up the menu. The food was inedible and I didn't eat for 5 days as well as two other women who showed up along the journey. All of us were given different information on policies after we showed up, which I don't think was intentional because they truly had a serious lack of communication. The counselors were very nice as was the majority of the staff, but the finance and billing was a nightmare that I had to get a lawyer for. If by chance you do decide to go, have all of your conversations on speakerphone, recorded, trusted family member present, or an attorney - you'll need it.

Hi SS, We're very sorry to hear about your poor experience at St. Gregory and we hope despite the billing/finance issues that the program was able to help. Of course it is not our intention to add any additional stress to any of our clients via billing or program issues, but they do occasionally arise and we try to handle them with the goal of a mutually beneficial outcome. Please contact us at your earliest convenience, so that we may try to remedy the situation. Thanks again for your feedback -

This program genuinely saved my son's life. Beginning with the detox, they focused on rebuilding the body. They took such good care of my son and kept us updated often. During the program they kept him encouraged and motivated to continue to learn tools to stay sober and never return to the addict lifestyle. When he came home they called him once a week for 2 months to keep in contact with him, which he really needed. Now he lives in San Louis Obispo and works in the energy industry. He is happy and sober. I have my son back.

Understaffed medically. No trust in this facility. We were lucky to see doctor on site once a week. Understaffed for nursing support and patient support-not safe nursing practice and not safe for patients. The rules changed daily and there was no policy or procedure manual or reference to refer to if had questions. Food was not good and not healthy.

Hi Shannon, We're very sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your stay at St. Gregory's and we apologize for not meeting your expectations. We do have rules, policies and procedures that we abide by, but the nature of our facilities requires a certain amount of flexibility to deal with individual clients and circumstances. Please give us a call at your earliest convenience so that we may discuss your staffing concerns. We do our best to maintain an appropriate staff/client ratio and would appreciate more information about your particular experience. Again, we're very sorry we didn't meet your expectations and thanks again for your feedback -

Hi Annette, We're very sorry to hear about your experience and although we do our best to prevent relapse through our recovery coaching program, there are occasionally issues where clients have to return. The goal of our recovery coaching is to help make sure no one has to return, so it pains us to hear whenever someone has to return. Again, we apologize for your poor experience and we truly appreciate the feedback, so that we can make our program stronger and more effective. Thank you -

Services provided by St. Gregory Retreat Centers

Service Setting

Type of Care

Treatment Approaches

License/Certification/Accreditation

Payment/Insurance/Funding Accepted

Genders Accepted

St. Gregory Retreat Centers Reviews

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