BAART Behavioral Health Services Inc

Contact Details

It’s hard to be at the mercy of these people.

Such an amazing place, Absolutely perfect in every way. I’ve never had one trace of a negative feeling towards this place.

Very good staff and nice

Definitely a necessary program. Mostly pretty straight forward and convenient to get treatment day to day (after doing an intake and establishing a treatment plan with the doctor and a counselor) though lack of funding is a major issue. The other day what usually takes about 5 minutes (standing in line to dose) took over an hour because there was only one dosing nurse working at the time. The dosing nurse herself gave me a card with directions on how to review BAART San Mateo online, explaining that the unusual and highly inconvenient wait time that day was because they were short staffed and she was the only dosing nurse at that time. This is a good clinic and a great program and I hope that it will receive the funding it needs to be able to continue to help so many people in need and to hopefully never again be so short staffed that patients are lined up all the way into the parking lot (again). This clinic is also in desperate need of improved cleaning, especially in the patient bathroom. I’m not going to go into specifics so as to not cause anyone to gag or vomit but hopefully the cleanliness issue could also be addressed with increased funding. It all comes down to funding. This program saves lives; it deserves all of the support and funding that it can get.

I truly want to give this clinic 5 stars, but I can't. First, let me say that I've benefitted from their care since coming into treatment as a veteran in 2014, and I've seen changes during that time. This clinic helped me save my life, and has been a key part of my recovery. With their help I got and stayed clean. Dr Cohen worked with me to find my therapeutic dose; Angie works tirelessly to improve the functioning of the site; my counselor Amina is always available and helpful; the dispensing and desk staff are usually cheerful and efficient. So what's wrong? The patient load here has swollen immensely in recent months, straining capacity. For some reason many clients from Santa Clara County come here, despite there being more clinics in that county and only this one in San Mateo County. Turnover among counseling, dispensing, and administrative staff has been very high. The pay structure doesn't compete (for dispensing) with other employers and the turnover causes disruptions and breaks in continuity. They are in desperate need of some capital investments: the location is so small it limits the number of counselors they can hire, the methadone is stored in an archaic analog safe that seriously needs to be replaced (safe has failed to open multiple times, necessitating contingency plans that didn't exist, long delays, etc). So in summary I'd say that the people here are excellent, truly compassionate professionals who are doing great things under difficult circumstances with scarce resources. Corporate management owes it to them and the clients, however, to match the need with adequate resources. Please! My life depends on it. Thanks.

Been a client here for 5+ years, before they were part of Baymark Health Services and back when Dr. O'Neal was a constant presence. While I've seen my fair share of staff come and go, overall I think the character of the clinic has not changed in any significant way. It has been a helpful, healthy and holistic place where their treatment is not put onto a pedestal like this place(and the pink stuff) is going to fix all your problems.. where you can just sit back and relax and expect to feel better. Nor is their treatment seen as a crutch to be kicked out from under you at the first opportunity. When you are a client here, you are in charge of your treatment. If you sincerely believe something about your situation can be helped out by someone at the clinic (needing to talk to someone or some ream of paperwork needing to be processed by the Man™) BAART employees are quite happy to help you help yourself. If you are avoid being insincere (by blaming others for your behavior or showing up drunk or habitually missing appointments) it is likely you can make progress and healthy connections here... whatever your problems that accompany your addiction. Those who complain about the rules that the Man™ have set(county/state/federal government in particular) or those that have somehow failed to realize that they are not the only person being helped there seem to be those who might want to re-evaluate their expectations in life. I may have been lucky, getting counselors who put a reasonable/fair(equal to mine) effort into the process but I think the clinic has a pretty good track record as far as picking them .. I've seen 3 counselors during my 5 year 'tenure'... a bit more than ideal but it's hard to maintain any employee in this area with the wages they offer let alone one who is likely an ex-addict themselves who statistically speaking likely 'got clean' through the dominant form of treatment (12 Steps) and may likely be biased against medication assisted treatment. In other words... one has to be pretty passionate to work here, with the amount of BS and pain I see (some) of the clients heap upon the staff. As far as the non-counseling things go, the clinic follows the rules which are very favorable for those that follow them and IMO not very harsh for those that don't. If you have trouble getting to the clinic, they can connect you with services that will get you there. Also take home doses are given as soon as the law permits.. granted you do the simple things they are required by law to say to do (don't miss doses, attend counseling and have something going for you... work/school/etc). The line for dosing is a bit longer these days then it used to be (10 or 15 minutes isn't unheard of)... but after a few months of following the rules you'll only have to experience the line a couple times a week and then less and less as you get more take-homes. I do think there is always room for improvement, one area in particular in which I think it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg (like having a doctor there to treat non-addiction related issues) is facilitating group therapy of some kind. Overall though.. it's hard for me to imagine a better clinic (I have only been to this one), horror stories I read on the internet and the clinics I've guest dosed at in SoCal make me think there is something pretty special about BAART.. unlikely to be found in a lot of the country. Best practices with friendly and colorful staff bring some light to a very very dark place that many find themselves in. Also the parking and surrounds are good, the VA campus is quite pretty.. hopefully BAART can get a new building someday in the future once the current wave of opiophillia is seen as the province of compassionate psychological and medical professionals instead of the hodgepodge of laymen in dark church basements preaching 'what worked for them'...some of whom I assume are very good people.

Excellent staff & opioid medical services. For REDUCTION or MAINTENANCE of opioid/opiate dependence. Avoid overdosing on skanky street drugs. This service is literally a lifesaver. No stigma. Avoid dying trying to self-treat. Clients represent every walk of American society. Great people. Stop putting this off!

The staff is great. This is how to avoid overdosing on illegal, minimally trustworthy street drugs. BAART is for MAINTENANCE or REDUCTION. Good place for chronic pain patients who have been ABANDONED by their doctor. Avoid surprise overdose death today!