ABOUT NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF MENTAL HEALTH – PILGRIM PSYCHIATRIC CENTER (NYS-OMH-PPC)
Conveniently located less than a mile off the Long Island Expressway in Brentwood, N.Y., the New York State Office of Mental Health’s Pilgrim Psychiatric Center (PPC) provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient care options for individuals in need of psychiatric attention. Holding accreditation with the Joint Commission through September of 2019, the state-run hospital has nearly 300 beds across a dozen different inpatient units, four separate outpatient centers, and several mobile crisis teams throughout Suffolk County.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
At its core, programs and services at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center help participants develop skills to better manage their mental illness and function as independently as possible within their community. Programming itself is vast: there are numerous residential programs for substance abuse, an on-site, 17-bed crisis residence, as well as 11 community-based, supervised residences – ranging from 10 to 24 beds – each focused on independent living skills and the safe transition to a lower level of care.
Specialty services for inpatients include group and private counseling for substance abuse, weekly dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) groups for those with borderline personality disorder, an intensive short-term treatment unit (ITU) focused on stabilization, and an aptly-titled Bridger program that helps bridge the gap between inpatient and outpatient treatment. There’s even a specialized program for patients “who display excessive water drinking, water intoxication, and/or hyponatremia, a potentially life threatening loss of sodium.”
Pilgrim Psychiatric Center is also host to a range of family support services across its various sites. These include monthly meetings under a Family Advisory Board, a Family and Friends Center, and biannual “orientation” nights that support and educate loved one’s in their family member’s recovery.
Alternative treatment programs offer men and women opportunity for animal-assisted therapy and activities, a multi-sensory therapy room, music therapy, horticulture, and for putting to practice skills they’ve learned at a model apartment.
Geriatric-specific treatment is available for adults, ages 65 and older.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Professionals employed at the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center have training and experience across a variety of disciplines such as psychiatry, nursing, psychology, social work, nutrition and dietary services, pharmacology, and more.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
According to the center’s webpage, each of the 290 beds across its 12 different inpatient units are in either private or semi-private rooms. Each unit also has a living room, program room, activity area, and dining room. Pilgrim’s state-of-the-art Rehabilitation Center is host to a swimming pool, bowling alley, gym, game room, library, and a large auditorium used for presentations and conferences.
Visitation hours are Monday through Friday, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on weekends and holidays, from 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Best-rehabs.com has not yet received any reviews from this facility’s alumni, however, the center has a respectable average rating of 3.3 out of five stars from 21 Google reviewers. For some reason, many of these reviews focused on the quality of service and rooms, likening Pilgrim Psychiatric Center to a hotel of some sort. “I felt extremely welcome with the service I received from the hotel,” Marc wrote in one such example. “The service is absolutely wonderful and so are the rooms,” another commented.[1]
WHAT STAFF SAY
Feedback provided by two staff members was positive. Despite their limited written commentary, they shared mostly five-star ratings for metrics measuring the staff’s training and experience in addiction and mental health, the quality of treatment for co-occurring disorders, and the overall quality of care. “Center includes Medical Detox, In Pt. rehab, Half-way house, Out-Pt facility, Alumni Association,” C.D. wrote.
FINANCING
There is currently no information provided by the hospital’s webpage or otherwise regarding its treatment costs, yet one of the staff members surveyed by Best-rehabs.com reported that it accepts both private insurance and Medicare.
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