The Comprehensive Mental Health Center: Uncharted Horizons for Inpatient Services
HARVEY J. NEWTON M.A., M.D.1
1 Center Director and Chief Psychiatrist, Belmont Hills Neuropsychiatric Center, P. O. Box 37, Ralston Avenue, Belmont, Calif. 94002, and Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine
Widespread enthusiasm for the "bold new approach" to treatment of the mentally ill embodied in federal community mental health legislation has tended to mask uncertainty regarding implementation of effective treatment programs. The author views with alarm the unqualified endorsement of treatment in general hospital services, considering the relative absence of documented results. He proceeds to compare treatment in contrasting hospital settings, noting the advantages of specialized psychiatric hospitals, and offers two generalized models for community inpatient services which he believes merit further exploration.
