Northstar Psychiatry – Eugene

I wish I could say the same thing about the previous two reviews, but unfortunately that wasn’t my experience. There were a trifecta of issues I must let potential patients know about. First, Darron was late to both… virtual appointments, and when I did meet with him the first time and mentioned a specific condition I have, he mocked it in the sense “oh ok I better not ever run late with you because I know how you all can get”, even gave him the benefit of the doubt by letting the comment slide, but he was late to the second appointment as well. With having a negative experience at another ketamine clinic, I was reassured it wouldn’t happen again and would be in good hands. The day I got there they had me explain my last experience with ketamine (scripted questions, not intentional) and soon after, the head provider had issues injecting me with saline (was hesitant to even do it looking back at the other nurse who kept ignoring her body language to pass it off to her), had air bubbles in the line and while I saw my vein getting bigger because she injected before the vein, she kept reassuring me to calm down and that everything was fine as if I was overreacting, until I told her to take it out of my arm and then from my reaction to this experience, it was if I was the problem and not them. Then I was transferred to Dr. Williams, and the first appointment went great, he listened and seemed to have understood my concerns and even had a meeting with his staff about it, which I greatly appreciated, but at the same time felt he had an internal judgment about me. So even though this all happened, I still gave them another try, but I had to cancel my 2nd appointment with him because I was in the midst of a crisis, and that I would follow up, which I did a few days later. No response came and again gave the benefit of the doubt (again) maybe it was due to a summer break or 4th of July, but 3 weeks went by and not a word from him, which I now believe it was because of the crisis I was having and his personal judgements. As if it would be too difficult to work with me moving forward, but if that was the case, at least respond and communicate that. Especially going through mental health challenges and being a professional in this field, but him not doing so and blatantly ignoring the messages was the last straw for me. Ghosting patients seems to be their strategy when they think the patient doesn’t align with their views as I’ve felt in my core they have a false narrative about me due to my experience at this clinic. Also, keep in mind ketamine clinics are popping up faster than medical professionals are fully trained in this specific area, so I encourage everyone to do their research.

Their team is top-notch, and Dr. Williams really listens.

Jessica Jiménez has been a great provider. If you are at a good place with your medication management, she provides quick, no nonsense telehealth appointments to just check up and see how you are doing, if you need… adjustments, and then simply schedules the next appointment. Very convenient if you are in a good place with your meds and get annoyed by appointments being unnecessarily drawn out when you just need your RX sent in. If you are more in the process of figuring out what meds and dosage you require, I am confident she’d still be fantastic and attentively provide the care and time needed for your psychiatric journey. I am hopeful I can start TMS soon if my insurance allows. No meds have helped with my anxiety and depression, but this is an exciting, new option. I think providing modern and cutting edge mental health treatments is fantastic. I am so glad I found Northstar after my last provider stopped taking my insurance. I was in a scary place unsure if I could receive an appointment and my prescriptions in time, but they came to my rescue! And, as a bonus, I have a new possible option for treatment-resistant depression!