�ձ��𳦲��’s Heritage Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) program opened in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood in 2005 nestled amongst the hidden oasis of Sausal Creek. While a lot has changed over the years, the 26-bed program continues to thrive with its recovery- and person-centered approach to mental health services.

“We have a multi-disciplinary team including psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and rehab therapists that all work together to help individuals reach their goals and stabilize during their stay here,” said Marianne Doyle, administrator of Heritage PHF. “We have an excellent, dedicated staff of nearly 70 people that offer a wide variety of groups for individuals to participate in, including outdoor activities.”

Heritage’s extensive programming for their members is formed based on the principles and approach of �ձ��𳦲��’s Recovery-Centered Clinical System (RCCS), a richly personal, holistic, and comprehensive approach to recovery.

“Recovery looks different for every individual,” said Marianne. “I think that we provide a pretty dynamic offering of groups to meet the needs of individuals coming from a wide variety of backgrounds. We have several long-standing staff, including some who live in the neighborhood, and then we have an influx of new staff that always bring new energy and ideas to the program.”

“One of the things that Heritage has that not every Psychiatric Health Facility has,” said Chandra Thomas, �ձ��𳦲��’s Regional Director of Operations in Northern California, “is that we make our meals in-house. We have our own dietary department that works with the treatment team to deliver meals to residents staying with us, which is a really special feature. There’s no meal-service coming in and delivering food on trays we have to reheat, it’s made in-house, just like at home.”

“It is a fast-paced, high-intensity program,” said Chandra. “Our staff are driven and passionate about helping people get better. We are an inpatient program seeing people in times of acute crisis, sometimes at their most ill, and sometimes in a matter of days we get to see people do a 180 – they have hope, and we see them open up to the recovery process. That kind of feeling is like nothing else, which is why our staff are like nothing else.”

Heritage continues to grow in its programming and ideas to better serve their members. For more information about the program, you can click here to be directed to their website page. If you are looking for any job opportunities at Heritage, you can to view our job board and search for Heritage in the WHAT box.