Spectrum Behavioral Health

I would give this dump a –5 if I could. This is specifically for the Poughkeepsie location. Both the front office and professional staff is awful. I saw Joan Schmugler a few times now and she is so cold, in-​compassionate, rigid and just uncaring. I don’t know if it’s because this location seems to have a larger indigent, drug abusing population but it certainly seems to be the case when I sit in the waiting area (I hate sitting in the crappy waiting area).
Although appointments are booked more than 1.5 months out, I will get a prescription for 1 month. When I called in to try to get a refill, Joan Schmugler declined providing me with a refill until I came in for an appointment. This is ridiculous if her availability is so challenging to begin with that I can’t even get an appointment for 1.5 months. I’m already set up for failure! If you’re also looking for someone who has an iota of compassion or an inkling of warmth, she is definitely not that person. She will look over her glasses at you with a sour look of weariness and misery. This definitely doesn’t help considering people are seeking to improve their emotional wellbeing! I’ve never had a psychiatrist as awful as her or have ever been this compelled to write a review.
The front office staff is also awful. There is one person who is decent and who seems to the the main front office person but everyone else in the front has a serious attitude problem. I heard one front office person speak so loudly and rudely to someone in the phone. She wanted to curse and stopped herself. Then slammed the phone down and hung up on the caller, then proceeded to talk about the caller’s request in an exasperated manner. She didn’t care if all the patients in the waiting area and those who were standing in line could hear her.
I don’t know why it is so hard to find a decent behavioral healthcare group around here but it is and I’ve had to resort to this utterly incompetent and poor service group as a result. This place is so crappy I’m merely scratching the surface. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere!

I too had a terrible experience at Spectrum. Before I chose an Obamacare health insurance policy I specifically asked at Spectrum if they accepted Health Republic. I was told that they did. I submitted my insurance information and each time I visited was told I didn’t have a copay (there is no copay for mental health care for in network providers with this particular Health Republic policy). Now, the reason that they take your health insurance details is because you are supposed to pay for your appointment before you go in. So they check with the health insurance company, and let you know when you arrive what your copay is. Each time I arrived for an appointment I was told I had no copay. A few months later I received a bill in the mail for hundreds of dollars – charged for each and every visit. When I called to complain the woman at the front desk denied saying they accepted Magnacare (the network that Health Republic uses) and forwarded my call to someone in billing who TOLD ME THAT THEY ACCEPTED HEALTH REPUBLIC and that he had a contract and this must be a mistake. He was going to get back to me. He never did. I’ve called the company that handles their billing about 10 times, have repeatedly been told that someone would call me back, and NOT ONE PERSON HAS CALLED ME BACK. Months later I have received a bill alerting me that if I do not pay hundreds of dollars in the next two weeks, my bill will go to collections. You have been warned by a number of us, this place is not reliable. I feel so sorry for the providers who are working there, because I genuinely had a great experience with them. But not worth having my bill unjustifiably sent to collections.

I wish I could rate the provider and service separately. Contrary to other opinions, I had a great experience with the Fishkill office manager.
My providers — blech! My initial evaluation appointment went well but everything went downhill from there.
The therapist there was so condescending to me during my first visit that I would not have gone back, even if she had asked me to make another appt. which she did not.
My prescribing psych was so angry about me taking myself off the anxiety medication, a short acting med usually prescribed PRN, because I felt better, that her hands were shaking while she wrote notes. She said to me, «What, now you think you’re a doctor?» Very nasty.
At the next visit, she clearly had taken incorrect notes about what I had reported to her while she was angry. She yelled at me when I tried to correct her, because her notes could not possibly be wrong! Needless to say, that was my last visit.
It’s a relief to know I am not alone in my negative experiences. My primary, who is wonderful, has a very high opinion of the woman.

Five stars for my providers, two for Spectrum itself. I found two wonderful, wonderful providers here who I am very happy with and trust very much.
That being said, the administration end of this business is AWFUL. I’ve been double-​booked and overcharged more times that I can count. They need to get their act together big time.
If you just keep your receipts when you pay and make sure to double or triple-​confirm all of your appointments ahead of time, you should be okay. It’s not the most convenient thing in the world… but doing this has allowed me to see wonderful clinicians who I would follow anywhere, so I’ve made my peace with it.

poor care and poorer caring