VOA - Outpatient Services

4 years 3 months 1 day prior to July 17, 2018 first day at the VOA, is how long I was in the juvenile system for as well since April 16th, 2014… as well 4+ years running them streets on the block in the hood in Scottsbluff county. I genuinely believe that the VOA is a good company it’s just that I was so young with Anti-Social Behavior with authority problems as well with rules and was as a juvenile as a minor since 12 years old just like transitioning from Cathedral Home to VOA into the so called real world. Who is also troubled with the reality of who he is besides his biological family and past history.

NEGATIVE Five Rating. Do NOT go to this facility. They like to over medicate their patients and don’t listen to them when they say they are having problems. Just increase your dose. Carolyn is a pill pusher and gets angry when you say things aren’t working. Says “you aren’t giving it time to work”. They had me so messed up on medication that I thought I was going crazy and actually had suicidal thoughts. I spent over $16k on tests which showed I was on the wrong medication. Her response? “Who gave you the right to have those tests?” I don’t need permission to help myself. I went to this facility for help. All they did was mess me up even more. Plus they lie about what they are charging you. Say one thing and then charge your insurance something else. Never give you a statement and then one day spring a huge bill on you that you know nothing about. Save yourself. Don’t go there.

Would give 0 stars if i could. This place is a joke. Spent HOURS going through preliminary screenings and applying for Medicaid despite having private insurance, just so they can make sure they get their state funding. Waited weeks for the appointment for them to not even notice that they set me up on a zoom call despite wanting and waiting in their office for an in-person appointment.

These people are a hassle do not use them if you dont have to. They will not help you by any means

VOA of Laramie .I was ignored, unnotified, and they only got in contact with me for payment. I was currently going through the worst depression and anxiety and was in a chronic time of need and I was set up with a Trauma Specialist Amanda via Zoom . I was so excited for my first zoom meeting that we had planned for I believe over a month had it all planned with my job for a month that I was going to be leaving early attend my first appointment , I was met with no one answering the zoom meeting so I called the office and asked them what was going on, and they said that my therapist had moved ,so they neglected to tell me this and get a hold of me about this they said they would give me a call at a later time to discuss, The next moves regarding getting set up with a new therapist. Months went by and even called and left a message and nothing has been done. I received a bill in the mail for my assessment that I took to get a therapist and got no help . I paid my bill and told them I do not need anymore of your guys nonexistent services. I said “Discharge me because no one called to help me figure out my next steps, and I had to Get myself through a really hard time in my life .”so needless to say, they are very negligent their office people don’t seem to know what they’re doing when it comes to notifying their clients about things that are very important. They Definitely made sure to send me a bill of what I owed, but could not follow Through with trying to get me set up With a new therapist and get me the help I needed.

Everyone is so 🙂friendly and 👩‍💻accommodating. Very professional and very understanding of my appointment problems ☹️(personal issues). They really care about people. 🫂

This is a bit lengthy but I hope it can help some folks out if you're looking for mental health care in Laramie. A trusted doctor once told me to pay attention to how a clinic runs their most basic operations, because if that's a mess then so is the rest of the organization. Ultimately, that's why I'm not going to be pursuing care with the VoA, there are just too many red flags for me to want to trust my mental health to these folks. A first red flag was that in order to get any appointment with a provider you had to do a clinical assessment (that's fine); the only way to get a clinical assessment is to call at 8am to get a same day appointment, they don't schedule further out. If you don't get in you just have to call back the next day. They do tell you to call as close to 8am as possible as they fill up quickly. In my experience if you call later than 8:03am you're out of luck for the day. However, I finally did get an appointment which kicked off another series of red flags. The only place I could find their address was on Google, and even then it's not really in the right place so you have to wander the parking lot a bit. I couldn't find an address to confirm I was in the right spot on their website or in any of the email signatures or on any paperwork I was sent. When I arrived in the office I learned that the time I was given was different from the one the front desk had which was different still from the one the doctor had so I had to wait around for a while. I then learned that my clinical assessment was going to be a zoom call instead of an in person appointment but that I still had to come in person and couldn't just have done it at home. But they didn't have their system set up so I was bounced between rooms a couple times with a front desk person as they restarted computers and plugged in credentials that didn't seem to work. Finally I got settled in a small room that had a compressor next door which would intermittently kick on and make a loud rumbling sound for a couple minutes before shutting off. The appointment itself was unremarkable, I can't really speak against the practitioner. We ended with the plan that they would confirm my insurance for a specific provider and then get back to me with that and a referral by the end of the week. They never called and when I called them back they said the practitioner I met with hadn't done either of those things yet. So they said they'd follow up and call me back. They didn't. I'm taking it as a sign that I need to be looking somewhere else.

Just got a call from a collection agency for my few (3) appointments at VOA that are over $300. I am/was a graduate student and could not afford to pay the regular prices. The front desk told me one thing about they're financial assistance program but it was apparently a lie since I have insurance through the school yet that insurance was absolute trash and didn't really cover much of the price. Zoloft clocks and big pharma merch throughout the building. And they didn't have any male therapists at that location, only younger female therapists available. The male therapist they set me up with was online from another location. He was one of the worst mental health workers I have spoken to. This place just cares about making money off the unwell or forced probation as I've seen in the waiting room. I have gotten therapy through online institutions after which were actually decent and upfront, the therapist I got used to work here ironically and did not have a single good thing to say about it.

Northern Wyoming medical center and it’s suboxone program, could be a great thing. If there pear specialist Chris Evans wouldn’t share medication with the clients. And If Dr. Jason Akerman wouldn’t punish clients with medication. Dr. Jason Akerman switched my wife from one medication to another knowing that it gave her headaches bad enough to prevent work. Just because I put his peer specialist out there for sharing medication and leading those seeking recovery astray. He should be ashamed of himself.

Northern Wyoming has been the best thing that has happened in my life. Between the therapists and the peer specialists there I have been able to find a new way of living and remaining sober. Even when I have made mistakes they have stuck right by my side making sure that they never gave up on me. If it wasn't for the help I've received I have no idea where my life would be but I know the quality of it would be no where near where it is today.