PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A mental health counselor said she felt pressured to keep patients at the Pasco County facility where she worked because the company put profits before the needs of patients.

That company told 8 On Your Side they never make decisions about patients for financial reasons, but the counselor believes otherwise.

Tampa Bay woman says she was stuck in mental health facility, kept there for money

Investigator Brittany Muller also reported about a woman who claimed she was held for seven days at this same facility. Kathryn MacKenzie believed she was kept at North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital in Wesley Chapel not for medical reasons, but for her insurance benefits.

Now, Jessie Roeder, a counselor who worked at the same facility, is sharing her story. Roeder said she was told to limit patient discharges and keep patients at the hospital.

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As a licensed mental health counselor, Roeder aims to advocate for those unable to do so themselves. She said she was bothered by the way some patients are treated.

"I looked out my office window, and there was a gentleman, half-naked who had just been discharged with no clothes onto the streets half-naked," she said. "And I saw his butt out my window, and they said he didn't want to put on clothes. I said, well doesn't that mean that he's probably not well enough to be discharged? And the response was he doesn't have insurance."

Roeder said she was hired to help improve patient care at Acadia Healthcare's Park Royal Hospital in Fort Myers. After a year, she took the reins as chief operating officer at another Acadia facility, North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital.

Roeder said she disagreed about the length of time some patients were being kept at the hospital.

"The CEO and I were not on the same team, and I left after being asked to keep people on the Baker Act longer than they should," she said.

Under Florida's Baker Act, patients can be held against their will for 72 hours if they are suspected of posing a threat to themselves or others.

"The problem is there's a loophole in the law," she said. "So, if after 72 hours, within that 72 hours, [if] I feel that you're still at risk, I can petition the court to stay longer and you get your day in court, but let's say that day isn't for three more days. Is that really your day in court?"

According to Pasco County court records obtained by 8 On Your Side, North Tampa Behavioral Health filed 5355 petitions to extend a patient's stay between 2019 and 2024. Of those, judges signed off on just 56 of them — a little more than 1%.

"That means 99% of the Baker Acts weren't probably valid and needed to be discharged," she said.

North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital is owned by Acadia Healthcare. The Tennessee-based company operates 54 psychiatric hospitals nationwide and is currently valued at $7 billion. A recent New York Times investigation questioned the reasons that some patients were held, and we began asking the same questions.

However, Roeder thinks patient stays may be extended for a different reason.

"It's a way to make money off of people who are sick, and the more that you keep them in the hospital, the more money you make," Roeder said. "So, it's not your best interest to make them better."

Roeder said she left the company in 2019, after just three months at the Wesley Chapel facility. She said she reached her breaking point after a veteran suffering from PTSD came to the hospital seeking therapy and treatment and ended up being held at the facility.

"He was Baker Acted for five days," Roeder said. "It limits them from ever coming back for treatment. None of those people are going to come back and think that mental health is actually for them when they got institutionalized the one time they tried to ask and speak up."

Acadia has told us they cannot comment on individual cases due to rules regarding patient privacy.

If you have had an experience with North Tampa Behavioral Health Hospital or another Acadia facility that you want to share, email Investigator Brittany Muller at . She would like to hear from you.