This is a difficult update to post, but after five years I have finally found the courage to speak out.

While at River Oaks Treatment Center in Riverview, Florida (part of American Addiction Centers), I experienced what I believe was anti-white racial discrimination from staff and providers.  I was admitted against my will and tried my best to comply in order to maintain relationships with my family and others in my life.

I am diagnosed with complex PTSD (cPTSD), a condition that has repeatedly disrupted my life. I signed up for EMDR therapy, an evidence-based treatment for trauma, because I genuinely wanted help. My sessions were postponed multiple times. Eventually my name was removed from the schedule and replaced with that of another patient...a Black woman from Philadelphia....who was given the slot because, according to staff, she “needed it more.”

Staff appeared to have little to no knowledge of my personal circumstances or the severity of my condition.

Throughout my stay I received minimal actual clinical treatment. The administrative and executive side was consistently poor, while the medical/therapeutic care was essentially nonexistent...despite the facility charging insurance companies thousands upon thousands of dollars.

American Addiction Centers facilities appear to focus heavily on filling beds through relationships with state assisted insurance providers and court systems rather than delivering quality care.

Anyone could walk in and out of that place, including drug dealers, no questions asked.  And the drug dealers did check in, and yes, they did sell drugs to addicts in rehab. 

I was also abruptly discharged for ordering food from outside the facility (a green smoothie from a health store). Many other patients regularly ordered food to avoid the poor-quality meals on campus, including Black patients, and faced no consequences. When I did the same, I was immediately kicked out.

Following my discharge I was left abandoned in an unfamiliar city with my belongings, no place to go, and all of my plans completely disrupted. This decision appeared to be influenced by an executive named Kristin who demanded an apology from me.

I did not provide one because I did not believe I had done anything wrong that required groveling.

To this day I have been unable to find an attorney willing to represent me, and the statute of limitations has now expired.

No one should be discriminated against because of their race. No patient (especially someone in a vulnerable state dealing with addiction of any kind and trauma) should receive substandard care or be subjected to inconsistent rule enforcement while a facility profits from insurance and court-mandated placements.

I am sharing this account to support the call for an independent investigation into American Addiction Centers and its facilities, including:

-Potential racial discrimination in the allocation of treatment resources
-Quality and consistency of clinical care
-Business practices involving insurance billing and court systems
-Patients and families deserve transparency and accountability in addiction and mental health treatment.

If you believe in fair, non-discriminatory care and higher standards for rehab facilities, please sign and share this petition.   If you believe you experienced similar discrimination, please leave a comment.  

This is a facility where many people have reportedly been harmed, yet it remains fully operational to this day. This is deeply troubling and unacceptable.