Difference between revisions of "Massachusetts Mental Health Center"
M-Explorer (talk | contribs) |
M-Explorer (talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
[[Category:Rambling Plan]] | [[Category:Rambling Plan]] | ||
[[Category:Preserved Institution]] | [[Category:Preserved Institution]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Asylum Books]] | ||
Revision as of 07:00, 8 June 2010
| Massachusetts Mental Health Center | |
|---|---|
| Construction Began | 1911 |
| Current Status | Preserved |
| Building Style | Rambling Plan |
| Location | 74 Fenwood Road, Boston, MA |
| Alternate Names | Boston Psychopathic Hospital |
The Boston Psychopathic Hospital was the first mental health hospital in Massachusetts.
In November 1909 the site for the hospital was purchased on Fenwood Road, 5 minutes' walk from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Elmer E. Southard was appointed director of the hospital early in 1910, to supervise its construction. On June 24, 1912 the Psychiatric Hospital was formally opened as a department of Boston State Hospital.
On May 1, 1919 the Massachusetts State Psychiatric Institute was separated from the Psychopathic Department of the Boston State Hospital, which relieved the psychopathic department of scientific research, leaving it with purely hospital functions. On December 1, 1920 the psychopathic department was made into a separate Boston Psychopathic Hospital, under director Dr. C. Macfie Campbell. It was later renamed the Massachusetts Mental Health Center.
It was initially created to provide for the reception, diagnosis, and disposition of acute psychiatric patients in Boston, usually admitting patients for short periods only. After diagnosis patients were transferred to state hospitals or discharged for outpatient care. As the institution developed a reputation for acive teaching and research in psychiatry, cases from other state hospitals were transferred to it for observation or special treatment. After the first few years outpatient care was offered not only to discharged patients, but to the general public, with emergency and diagnostic services and special units for children and adolescents. The outpatient department of BPH was renamed the Southard Clinic in the mid-1940's in honor of the first superintendent.
By 1943 BPH was no longer a receiving hospital for all patients. Its focus instead shifted to treating and researching various mental illnesses. While many of the state hospitals were primarily custodial in nature, BPH emphasized treatment. During the 1950's and 60's it became more of a community-based facility, which was formalized when it was assigned DMH catchment areas in 1967. At the same time the change of name to Massachusetts Mental Health Center reflected its evolution into a multifaceted facility. [1]
Books
- History of the Psychopathic Hospital 1922 written by L. Vernon Briggs, M.D.
