TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Kathryn MacKenzie said she was stuck in a Pasco County mental health facility and kept there for money, not medical reasons.
MacKenzie said she needed her medication adjusted, but a trip to a local emergency room turned into a seven-day stay at North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital in Wesley Chapel.
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8 on Your Side
The company that owns the hospital tells 8 On Your Side they never make decisions for financial reasons.
Mackenzie doesn’t believe it.
She said the very sight of North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital off State Road 56 brings back terrible memories.
“The perception of the outside it almost looks like a resort and on the inside it’s the total opposite,” MacKenzie said.
In August 2020, the veteran social worker had just moved to Tampa Bay to take on a new job.
MacKenzie suffers from bipolar disorder, but said the condition was well-regulated for years with the right prescriptions. She said she was having an issue with her medication, and didn’t yet have a local psychiatrist to consult, so she went to a Pasco County ER for help.