mental health technician

licensed practical nurse

addiction counselor

support worker

housekeeper

Edgewood Health Network

I worked at Bellwood for about three and a half years as a nurse. It's not that it's a bad place to work as an addictions nurse, it's just that it's not good either. 

As a nurse at Bellwood you actually don't spend much time with patient's. Outside of med administration, you almost never see the patient's. Most of your duties consist of processing orders. After 9am patient's start seeing their doctors and after 11am the orders start rolling in. The problem Bellwood has is it's systems are outdated and inefficient. When there were 40 patient's you could run a facility the way it is run. Now that the number of patient's sits around 80 the system just doesn't work. Everything is a band-aid solution. Every solution is meant to solve a problem that doesn't need to exist. You will bang your head against a wall trying to fix the place, but you probably won't succeed. But I wish you luck. Because it's a for profit business and business is good, management doesn't listen to front line staff. Nurses burn out and quit and move on, which is a shame. If management would listen to staff instead of paying lip-service they could save money on turnover, instead they ignore nurses and end up hiring new ones once the old ones have had enough. 

Another problem is the therapists that work for BHS don't work with the nursing staff. They seem to have the notion that what they do is the only thing that matters for the patient's and this causes a lot of animosity between the teams. 

Now the good, the team of nurses that I worked with were great. They cared about the patient's and about each-other. We had each-others backs for the most part. The current nurse manager is wonderful, she really cares about the nurses that work under her. The support councilors are fantastic. As a nurse at Bellwood I could not have done my job well without them. A lot of them are in recovery and they get our patient population more than the nurses ever could. The PTSD team that worked for BHS when I was there were fantastic. I understand they've moved on which is a shame. 

The best part of working at Bellwood was seeing former patient's return as volunteers. When I would see someone return sober and healthy it was the most rewarding thing in my professional life. 

The money is okay, but the benefits have gotten worse than they used to be. 

Bellwood could be an amazing place to work, but as it stands it's bloated, out of touch and I think Dr.Gordon Bell would be ashamed of how it treats its staff. Things could change, but as it stands it needs a lot of work and I don't think anything will change with the current management.

This may be a little length but worth the read if you truly have interest in joining us at Gateway. 

It is truly an honour to work alongside such amazing people - both staff & clients. We are not a very large facility but I promise you’ll encounter some of the biggest hearts there is.

I can’t say it enough, it is a huge privilege & so incredibly rewarding to be apart of someone’s rerouted journey. As they are navigating through this next chapter of life, it is like nothing you’ve ever experience or will forget. The positive impacts you can have one anothers is such a beautiful gift & to learn how to offer that same kind of gift to other leaves me speechless quite honestly. 

It’s magical!

Each client commits to putting themselves first, as they lean into the program, put in the hard work & patiently wait to feel/see results. 
After 7 or 9wks when they have completed the program, our hope as they leave they have found some peace, feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally better than they were when they first arrived. We want them to enjoy & live life to its fullest and perhaps doing so for the first time or after so many years of avoiding/isolating themselves.
It is so incredibly beautiful to see positive shifts they each make as they go through our program. It is truly inspiring & you can’t help but feel all the feelings with them.

So…areas of improvement?
Well truthfully, no workplace is perfect. 

AND; In order to suggest/demand change or expect appreciation/acknowledgment from let’s say management as an example. 
We should also be willing to adjust/”change” when asked of us. Management/Leadership are just as deserving of the appreciation/acknowledgement - they continuously support whenever/wherever they can, even when not on call.
Old ways won’t open new doors.  You have to be open to new ideas or ask for more information to better understand,  or simply agree to disagree respectfully.

At the end of the day, despite any “in differences” because that is bound to happen anywhere you work. We all truly care & have the best interests for one another- for both staff & clients. 


Efforts are often undermined by larger systemic issues within the organization. Compensation does not reflect the level of responsibility required, and maintaining a healthy work–life balance is difficult due to disorganization and lack of operational structure.

There is little consistency between departments, which creates confusion for staff and clients alike. Expectations, rules, and approaches vary depending on the department, making it difficult to maintain a cohesive program or a stable therapeutic environment.

Workplace culture is also a concern. Many staff report feeling undervalued or diminished when interacting with members of the management team and the current supervisor/team lead. This dynamic negatively impacts morale and contributes to a lack of psychological safety within the workplace.

Professional boundaries are frequently blurred. Staff is overly familiar with clients, which weakens the therapeutic environment and creates inconsistent expectations. In a treatment setting, this lack of professionalism can negatively affect both client progress and team dynamics.

Accountability is also a major concern. Unprofessional or unethical behavior within the clinical team is not consistently addressed, and management does not appear to enforce clear standards of conduct, and blames others.

Unfortunately, strong staff are leaving because they feel unsupported. A respected supervisor was recently lost after commitments from management were not followed through on, which was disappointing for many staff who valued her leadership.

Operationally, the environment often feels chaotic. Policies and expectations for both staff and clients are unclear and inconsistently enforced, and programs such as the outdoor component lack clear planning, follow through or therapeutic structure.

There are also safety concerns regarding the condition and reliability of vehicles used for both staff and client transport.


There was visible discrimination, nepotism, and unfair treatment of employees. Lateral violence was evident after just one day of orientation on a walk through between. Seemed a bit toxic and evidence of a heirarchy/politics/lack of respect when there should be a feeling of Community and fair treatment.  You get a feeling of favourtism if you don't know anyone who works there, so Nepotism is also present. For a healing centre the management staff seem to be judgemtental and discriminatory towards their clients and people who struggle with addictions and mental illness.  I.e. giving unsolicited advice-while my back was turned  to a fellow prospective coworker (who I didn't know I was competing for a job with until after the fact) just because of her age, that she should be careful not to start a relationship with any of the male clients and that they were quote "sick,otherwise they won't be here"(disease mentality).  Assuming that she would be vulnerable and portraying ageism behaviour and labelling.  The hiring process needs to be shortened as well, discrepancies with the online job description as well needs to be cleared up and more concise about their expectations for the job and especially their inflexibility with time during training/orientation towards new support worker employees. Because they do make it seem like their flexible with their casuals but they're certainly not , they will hold it against you and choose employees who don't have other responsibilities other than just their jobs over qualified/experienced/educated workers. For example: doctors appointments and family obligations. Clear and direct Communication on both ends, is key for future applicants to get through the orientation aspect of the job.

Management is extremely toxic and tries to run the place on fear, playing one staff member off another.  Unlike some other treatment centers, this is PRIVATELY owned, so their overwhelming priority is simply recruiting clients to fill beds.  Some of the clients they accept are people with a history of violence and have been kicked out of many other rehabs.  Doesn't bother Bellwood; if you have a pulse and enough money, you're in.  Senior Management takes a health care approach mostly due to the fact that they know very little about how to help people with addictions.  If a client has a meltdown for any reason, you are immediately made to feel like it is your fault and chastised by management.  The clients ARE allowed to stay in treatment after they leave the facility grounds to go shop, have intimate relations with each other (co-ed facility) smoke weed or do other drugs, some more than once.  Clients regularly scream / spit at staff / punch walls / and physically threaten staff.  Management takes no action because they would rather have the client stay and keep paying.  

This makes is a very dangerous place to work.  They don't help many clients here; as everyone who is effective in addictions treatment knows, you cannot coddle and enable people with substance problems.  

I was hired on as an LPN with EHN in Calgary and I was excited. The building is beautiful, I loved the support staff they are beautiful people and with my previous experience in addiction I felt this was it for me. Shortly after being hired I noticed tension in the air and this made me a little leery. The orientation was very poor rushed during the days, and the medical director who is in control of the hiring and firing the LPN’s was so condescending and unwelcoming that it stunned me. After further conversations with the LPN's on staff I was told that in the short time EHN in Calgary had been opened they had fired several LPN's almost all of them and also that the medical director interactions with them had been similar in experience to my own. I started feel like I made a mistake taking this job. After a really bad interaction with the medical director I talked to the site manager about my concern and my regret that this job wouldn’t be a fit for me. The manger who I liked very much convinced me that the behavior displayed was a one off for the MD, so I decided to stay and give it another shot, but only a few days after the medical director told me EHN was letting me go because I was unable to recognize hypertension. I’m a nurse with 20 years experience including working in ER, and working in addictions and being told that I was being let go because I couldn't recognize hypertension was laughable. Suggest that you only take the job if your really desperate, or when a new medical director is hired.

If you are looking to help clients with mental health and addiction and you are passionate about your work, you will surely get that experience and it's very rewarding.  However, if you are looking to be recognized for your hard work or to be a part of a functional team environment, think again.  The management team at Bellwood Health Services are so far removed from the frontlines they have no clue how the facility runs or even care how toxic they continue to make the environment.  There are so many passionate staff that get burnt out and when they ask management for help nothing gets done about it, so staff either take a leave of absence or end up resigning.  Seems like only self-absorbed managers seem to move up the corporate ladder.  Not once in three years did a manager ever provide me with supervision or feedback, nor professional development (as stated in the job description).  The environment has gotten so toxic that even caring staff members have a self preservation attitude rather than being a team player.  It really is a shame that a mental health facility does not honour and support their own staff.  This toxic environment would be the hardest part of the job, not supporting the clients-they were the best part of the role for me and the main reason I showed up and gave my all to them.  If you are looking for good health care benefits this was an advantage of the full time role.

The workplace was consistently challenged by significant systemic issues. Chronic staffing shortages compromised both staff safety and the quality of client care, and safety frequently did not appear to be treated as a genuine organizational priority. Communication between departments was poor and ineffective, and there were limited and inadequate training opportunities for staff. Policies were often either not in place or not consistently followed, contributing to confusion and operational risk. Appropriate security measures were not sufficiently implemented, which was especially concerning given the size of the site and the presence of multiple buildings. Team cohesion was lacking, with minimal collaboration and significant divides between departments and staff groups. Leadership frequently demonstrated an authoritarian, top-down approach that discouraged open dialogue and psychological safety, while clinical leadership at times appeared overly permissive with clients, res
ulting in boundary concerns. Incidents of aggression toward staff were not adequately addressed, contributing to an unsafe and unsupported work environment. Overall, ongoing management failures and a dysfunctional workplace culture ultimately made the role unsustainable long-term.

An addictions and mental health facility, that does not support their employees.  Nepotism runs rampant throughout management and they don’t try to hide it.  Present as an open feedback culture, however, if you voice your concerns they go unheard or you are penalized.  They have upper management with no clinical experience or education making clinical decisions.  If you try to meet with upper management they will cancel or no show for your meeting time, so your concerns are never addressed.  The staff on the floor do amazing work with the patients, as long as they can keep from management micromanaging every single move. No recognition for employees actually doing the hard work, as decisions are made by the manager who sits behind a desk and computer screen all day. The level of stress and toxic behavior is not worth the minimal pay.  They market as a helping and healing facility, but at the end of the day it is a money making business and it comes down to dollars that are coming in.  Discharge criteria for patients  is decided by someone with no clinical training.  Favoritism from management will decide on your wage, job title, and if you are heard.  The focus is not on the patients and what is the best care for them.  High employee turnover at all levels speaks for itself.   Employees that do stay and do the work are burned out, with many going on stress leave.   There is no employee advocate, and supervisors are unfairly thrown in to a large workload while expected to manage large numbers of employees and clients.  

I have been employed at Gateway Recovery Centre since its inception in the spring of 2021. There is nowhere I'd rather be. The relationships I have been privileged to forge with clients and fellow staff are priceless. These relationships have been allowed to flourish in large part because of the workplace culture. It is a joy coming to work each day. Management has fostered an environment that allows us to thrive, be ourselves, and bring our own unique gifts to the table. The leadership team has placed its faith in staff and our capabilities. I have never felt micro-managed. I have always felt supported. I am excited that Gateway affords the opportunity for growth, both personally and professionally. It is clear that management is fully invested in the success of the employees. Of course, we are in the serious business of recovery; we are here for our treasured clients, providing support, listening with purpose and offering encouragement. Despite the seriousness, however, laughter is often heard from clients and staff alike. This is music to the ear. It has been wonderful witnessing the growth in our clients as they navigate their steps of recovery. And it is a pleasure to collaborate with colleagues in ensuring that we as a team remain steadfast in our commitment to providing the highest quality of care and service to all that walk through our door. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Mental health technician 67 salaries reported	$22.47 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 51 salaries reported	$34.92 per hour
Addiction counselor 28 salaries reported	$75,750 per year
Support worker 36 salaries reported	$23.52 per hour
Housekeeper 19 salaries reported	$21.06 per hour

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