ABOUT SEVEN HILLS FOUNDATION – NEW BEDFORD
Seven Hills Foundation, a nonprofit network founded in 1951 by a group of parents, operates more than 160 health care and human services facilities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Programs located in New Bedford include a psychiatric day treatment center for individuals struggling with behavioral health conditions, including co-occurring substance use disorders. The foundation values diversity throughout its materials and provides some services in Portuguese, Spanish, and Creole. Behavioral health treatment is evidence-based and available for multiple generations. The New Bedford facility also offers a behavioral health education program.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
As part of Seven Hills Behavioral Health services, the psychiatric day treatment program in New Bedford serves adults who struggle with chronic mental illness as well as those who have received a dual diagnosis that includes a substance abuse disorder. Treatment is based on intensive group therapy sessions.
Clients may participate in an array of integrated therapies and rehabilitative activities for up to 30 hours per week. The supportive, structured environment is designed to help individuals learn and practice skills needed both to function independently in the community and to achieve personal goals.
New Bedford Hills counselors also contribute to an outreach program assisting local individuals in danger of opioid overdose.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The day treatment team is comprised of master’s level clinicians, licensed clinical social workers, and a supervising psychiatrist. According to the facility’s website, Seven Hills staff members are “culturally competent and bilingual,” as about 20 percent of the New Bedford population speaks Portuguese.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
At the time of this writing, Best-rehabs.com had not yet received any feedback for Seven Hills from former clients. One individual rated the facility on Facebook, awarding five out of five stars with no accompanying comments.[1]
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Best-rehabs.com has received positive feedback from one loved one, referencing a Seven Hills facility in Fall River. Metrics measuring the effectiveness of treatment, staff’s level of training and experience, family participation opportunities, capacity to treat co-occurring disorders, and facility cleanliness all received ratings of at least four out of five stars. Holistic offerings fared less favorably, with just two stars. The reviewer reported that Seven Hills changed their family member’s life and would strongly recommend the program to others.
WHAT STAFF SAY
Reviews of the general Seven Hills organization by current and former employees were also relatively favorable. Comments on Indeed and Glassdoor typically referenced jobs in an adult non-substance abuse residential center, children’s treatment, or the community education program.
Many reviewers noted enjoyment working with clients and the opportunity to learn. Two-thirds of six Indeed reviews specifically for the New Bedford location included ratings of four or five out of five stars, one gave a three-star rating, and one granted just two stars. Two reviewers expressed concerns with upper management support, overwork, and low pay. None referenced addiction treatment.[1]
Glassdoor showed an average rating of 3.1 out of five stars for the whole Seven Hills organization, based on input from 48 individuals. Their reviews mirrored the trends on Indeed, although at least two individuals countered praise for staff educational opportunities with complaints of insufficient training. “Very rewarding work, wonderful clients and colleagues,” one individual wrote in a representative review.[3]
CONCLUSION
Little information is available on the facility’s website regarding service costs or financing options. The organization receives numerous grants and government social service contracts and indicates that some services have no out of pocket costs for clients.
The Gifford Street methadone clinic in New Bedford, which was for many years operated by Seven Hills, is now associated with Southeast Massachusetts Comprehensive Treatment Centers.
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