Eating Recovery Center Denver

Aspects of it were good. I enjoyed my peers and most of the staff as well as my therapist and dietician. Overall i found the environment more harmful than helpful and while my weight was restored, my mental state declined and led to many ongoing issues that have persisted years past discharge. ERC was a last resort for me because my parents had no choice but if you have another option go with that.

It has been nearly five years and I still get nightmares about being forced to return to ERC. My name is Cece. I was at ERC from Nov 14th, 2019-mid January 2020. It took me only thirteen days to go from being excited and ready to recover to actively suicidal. The other kids/teens generally struggled a lot. If you’ll notice, the only glittering reviews here are from parents and employees. If you really want to know how this place works, listen to those who actually lived and suffered there. I am sure it is easy to be thankful for this place as a desperate parent. But for me and countless others, this was mentally and even physically traumatic. I am not the same person I was the day before I came to ERC. I will forever enjoy the small things that I never had thought of prior to entering. The freedom to breathe the fresh air, to feel its chills. The freedom, to talk to friends and family and communicate unmonitored. If you love your children and aren’t just looking for a quick fix that will likely traumatize them for life, look elsewhere. Anywhere. Anywhere but here.

High compassion and amazing talent. Bedside care by nursing and BHTs was exceptional in every way. They were the surrogate family. Not total perfection, and some clumsy moments at times but in the end miraculous…so read on. Our 11 year old son just finished a 15 week Res stay at ERC Denver and then 3.5 week PHP stay. This review is for his RES experience. He was utterly and hopelessly sick with ED-R. They miraculously saved his life, when we were without hope and full of despair they pressed on! As he was younger than most admin accommodated extra visits and really personalized his care plan. First month with major physiological healing, second month behavioral recovery and then the third more cog/emotional healing. He WR by adding 42% body weight. Only the NG feeding tube got us past the hyper metabolism and phobic threshold where we were stuck for 8 weeks. How do you thank people for giving so much nurturing attention through such devastating circumstances? Thank you Lorin, Drs Warnock and Costello. Thank Alison and Jillian and Kyndal! And mostly the kind nurses and BHTs who made us cry ( because they showed us compassion) doing battle everyday in the darkest of moments. We have our son back because of your sacred and selfless work. We are infinitely thankful. I don’t know if there is anything more noble than helping kids (and parents) in crisis? We are eternally grateful.

Was there last year. ERC Chicago told me I needed inpatient and recommended Denver. I was very hesitant but so badly wanted recovery. My family did not support my decision in going, I was alone doing this and I finally decided to put myself first. I took the leap and flew to Denver ERC. I felt ready to make changes but my changes were not happening fast enough for the staff. The staff saw me as a threat for literally no reason, I couldn’t even have therapy sessions because I was a 2-1. I cried numerous times because the last thing I want to be viewed at is a threat. I was having trouble accepting feeds but I was still trying, they say recovery isn’t linear but ERC makes it seem like it has to be. Once they saw I struggled with tube feeds, they removed my tube that day and told me I needed to leave at 3 pm. Keep in mind I was coming from Wisconsin. The amount of stress, trauma, and feeling of hopelessness I gained from this place is insane.

i know it’s long but if you’re considering ERC, please read it in its totality: I walked in eager to get some help and left the place worse off and traumatized after only 14 days, the longest I could stand it. First off, the psychiatrist I was assigned to was a piece of work. Be prepared to be pulled off of all your meds, even though you’ve been on them for years and they work just fine. They like to be the one to have control over your medication changes and to change things that don’t need changed. Dr. Warnock treated me so poorly that it often resulted in tears, she acted like she was god and I was her underling. She mocked me, ridiculed me and put me at risk due to wild, unneeded medication changes. You get to see your therapist for a literal 10 minutes (if you’re lucky) so there’s really no time to talk about anything important (i.e. the reason you’re there). The singular group room is locked at all times except for when there are active groups and those groups repeat every day so I learned the same things over and over. Because the group room is always locked, expect to spend your entire day (7am-8pmish) in the hallway in your unit. In the hallway, there are about 4 tiny benches to sit on but because some of your peers (15-20 of them) are already sleeping/laying on them, your only other choice is to sit or lay on the floor, due to not having access to your room until late night. My entire day was spent sitting in a wheelchair because that was all that was leftover after the benches and I can’t sit on the floor due to having 2 hip replacements (don’t expect them to care about things like that). Outside time was a joke. We got just 15 minutes outside 3 times a day (including smokers) on a covered porch attached to the building, we couldn’t even touch grass if we wanted to. That was hard, not getting sunlight and outdoors really got to me. If you’re an adult, I wouldn’t go. I am 42 and was surrounded by about fifteen 18-20 year olds so don’t go in thinking you’re on the same page with the rest of the group, you’ll be babysitting instead. There was one woman there my age, luckily. For the amount of money you pay, you get to sleep on a wooden base with a mat on it basically, I could hardly walk every day until they offered an egg crate. They definitely play favorites. To summarize: you have your basic daily groups, I think 3-4 of them a day, so when not in the cafe, your time will be spent sitting or laying in the floor in the hallway. No TV, no access to coloring or games or even just to have somewhere comfy to waste time until the next group. The psychiatrist was a very mean spirited person and made some crude comments to me and team meetings equaled 4 people telling me what I’m doing wrong for about 10 minutes straight, again, usually walked away crying or angry. The kids are very cliquey, whereas on a previous stay (before they merged with Pathlight and moved to a bigger building, which seems to be where the problems started) I was given a person to stay with the first day to get the hang of things, this time around I didn’t even get a tour of the floor. For 15-20 people there, there were 4 showers and nobody timed the showers so you’d be lucky to get a shower and you’re not allowed to shower at night until you’ve reached some unattainable level. They used to have a massage therapist that would come in and give those who wanted one, a massage. They also used to do outings, they do not anymore. For 14 days, I didn’t touch grass or take a ride. I cannot stress this enough: read these other comments, there isn’t just one person that had a bad time there, this is much bigger than that. I was there 14 days and my bill was $29,000 and for what? That stay was a joke. And they tell you to alert the patient advocate but you won’t get anywhere, they’re in support of ERC Pathlight obviously so don’t waste your time. I had very valid concerns and I just got placated. My stay very much determined for me that I never want to try recovery again, I’m mentally healthier that way if they’re all like ERC Pathlight.

this has to be one of the worst treatment centers i’ve ever attended. the reviews here have all been apart of my experience, having left only about a week ago. not only that, new changes have been made. they decided to get rid of the ITU unit, and decided it would be a great idea to split up all of involuntarily patients from that into other units. this meant that patients with extreme behaviors and very ill ways of thinking were in their preciously recovery-focused units. the higher up in charge of this change had no concern for patient safety or wellbeing during this time. even as they watched how the effects changed the units, and how all the patients suddenly had high urges did nothing to stop them from making the extra money from this change. the once semi recovery focused unit was turned into an eating disorder breeding ground, where patients purged and paced in the halls, with do redirection from staff, and rather encouragement. this change was seen as a “lesson” from staff a higher ups, and the people against it simply needed to learn “radical acceptance” that was just one highly concerning event in the three weeks i was there. during this change i realized i needed to leave and change facilities, as my eating disorder was only getting worse due to the environment and circumstances. this was in fact the hardest feat of all, since ERC seemed to be in shock that i didn’t want to stay at the facility anymore. they told me i had “a slight chance” of getting in anywhere else. one 10 minute phone call later (literally the easiest thing ive ever done) and i was admitted into a new facility. while they pretended to be supportive, it was so clearly obvious how manipulative they were the entire time. they refused to sent my reports or medical clearance to the new facility, since it wasn’t their own. this is literally against the law and malpractice. this did not surprise me however, since i’ve now learned that ERC is prone to taking the easy way to get what they want, even if that means ruining the patients recovery in the process for a little extra cash. please, do not send your children here. i have never even heard of a facility more concerned with the money rather than patients safety. literally everyone in my unit just prayed for the day they’d be able to leave. while it was extremely difficult for me to leave, i was a voluntary patient and had it the easiest. some people are forced to stay and be subject to the malpractice with no hopes of ever leaving. i’m quite certain this place will be shut down soon, but in the meantime do yourself a favor and never set foot inside ERC. (P.S the staff even told me they hoped to never see me there again as i left) (PPS the only way i was able to leave was by signing the 72 hour hold, even though I was simply switching facilities and had already met all the criteria for PHP. they simply wanted to hold me there for a couple extra weeks for the money, with no concern for my mental wellbeing) (another P.S. THE ONLY PEOPLE GIVING THIS PLACE 5 STARS ARE THE PARENTS OF PATIENTS. i find this very ironic, as they only know what they’ve been told by the facility, which is absolute nonsense and a whole lot of manipulation. the only people who really understand this facility and the traumatic effects are those who were in it) this place was a pathetic excuse for a recovery center. update: i found their response to my review saying their “advocate team” would reach out very ironic as there was no “advocate” for me besides myself in treatment. what i find even more ironic is that after 2 months, I not received any emails, messages, etc. from said “advocate team”

NEVER GO HERE. If you are in need of serious help, rather that be a higher or lower level of care, please do not even consider this treatment facility or anything affiliated with it. It truly is a form of perguatory. My time here was absolutely horrible, this place needs to be shut down. It does more damage than anything else and has caused me nightmares to this day. The immense amount of trauma ERC has caused upon me, is something I am forced to carry and live with. For starters, I would like to address the absolute mistreatment of patients. My communication with my team was horrible, I was rarely informed about my stay here and any questions I had never seemed to get answered. Secondly, Cathy who works at night, had made several inappropriate comments to myself and to others. For reference, Cathy laughed at a patient through the bathroom stall crack while the patient was doing 1 on 1’s with her, I personally witnessed this. Cathy also made a comment about someone’s supplement during snack. A patient did not complete a C snack and Cathy filled up their supplement and made a comment to the patient saying how their supplement was filled to the top of the cup and was “A lot”. While at ERC Denver, I had an appointment with a podiatrist for a toe infection I have had. My appointment took over a month to schedule despite constant concerns being brought up to staff and team. I was picked up and brought back by an Uber and did not have any staff member come with me. I am from out of state and do not know this area, so I had no idea where I was. This is a big safety concern, as I was admitted in impatient care. Another concern is the inability of compassion from staff. Towards the last month of my stay here, my uncle passed away. I brought this up with my team and staff, and little to nothing was done to help support me. In fact, somehow erc made the grieving process much more difficult and complicated. A staff member named Ekra was absolutely horrible and unprofessional to me specifically. I had asked to have meals in an isolated room to help the grieving process, after my meal I left the room and was rudely approached by Ekra whom took her emotions out on me, I was screamed at and treated inhumane by Ekra. Immediately after this incident, she ran away literally crying saying I had “gotten up in [her] face”. She even threatened to stop coming to work if erc didn’t kick me out. erc having absolutely no empathy nor the capacity to understand their patients, later did in fact kick me out despite my efforts of communicating that Ekra had exaggerated and blatantly made things up and lied. She deserves to be fired as she knows little about mental health even though she works at a facility that treats it. This instance caused me to panic and have a complete mental breakdown. I met with the head of staff for many complaints, she was absolutely useless. She somehow managed to make this experience even harder for me and for other patients. Sanitation here was truly disgusting. Personally I have found 4 hairs at my time here at erc, not only has this been appalling, it also made completion more difficult. At times staff members refuse to get the kitchen to remake food. At one point I swear I found a toenail in my food as well. I have celiac disease and have been given gluten foods when I first got here and if I did not double check my meals, I would have had to have been hospitalized. I have also had some pasta uncooked as well. Practically everyday atleast one patient found a hair or something wrong with their food. Staff claims they will “look into it” but they never do. At night they allow patients to have tea with their hs snack. The tea was sometimes cold and most times the mugs and cups were filthy along with most silverware. They allow patients to have 15 minutes of “outside” time. However, this meant you were not actually getting out of the building, that never happened. They have bars in an area connected to the building that happens to be outside, this was considered their “outside time”.

ERC is by no means a terrible place to seek some help for recovery from an ED. It is however not meant has an institution for a long term solution. It helps in the short term with behavior cessation and weight restoration. For longer term recovery, however, it does not offer much. First of all the ERC is extremely restrictive so do not expect a true residential experience. Rather it is much more closely related to an inpatient setting without the hospital scenery. There are a lot of patients/residents at the ERC (18/ per 2 floors and 4 wings) making it extremely difficult to have an individualized treatment plan. The number of clients also makes it extremely difficult to have communication with team members other than sticky notes. Over the times, I have been at the ERC I have seen quite a few changes too that have increased retrictions and made it much less desirable. There are opportunities to go outside 3 times a day (15 -20 minutes) but it is in an enclosed (metal barred balcony). During the day there are approx 5 groups on various therapeutic subjects within the framework of ACT, DBT, CBT, and body image. Meals are really hit or miss with limited options and portions of fruits and veggies. Staff is also hit or miss. There are some amazing members of the day and night staff who demonstrate real kindness and compassion. Others, however, are either on a power trip or don't seem to care. With respect to therapists and dieticians that is also hit or miss. Many are inexperienced in working with clients who have had chronic eating disorders. The rooms are very basic: a bed and some closets for clothing. Rooms are locked during the day and the only space available is the hallway or the group room (often crowded and messy). Physically the environment of the ERC causes one to feel trapped in some office building: colors are neutral drab tones and furniture is not comfortable. In general, not a welcoming space in which to relax or find personal space. As an adult with chronic eating disorder, I would not recommend the ERC unless one needs a place to restore weight and a bit of safety and confinement from the eating disorder. Much of my desire to follow the program is motivated more by the desire to get out than to recover. If the ERC could offer more opportunities for adult clients to have some choice and real-world experiences it may help with continued motivation for recovery. The ERC is a fine place, better than a few inpatient stays I have had. If you meet the right people when you are there, it can certainly help steer you on the recovery path.