A Unified System of Care: Blueprint for the Future
ALLAN BEIGEL M.D.1,
WILLIS H. BOWER M.D.2, , and
ALAN I. LEVENSON M.D.3
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz and Director, Southern Arizona Mental Health Center, 1930 E. Sixth St., Tucson, Ariz. 85719, and Chief of Psychiatry, Pima County Hospital, Tucson
2 Director, Arizona State Hospital, Phoenix, Ariz.
3 Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz.
The authors describe the means used in Pima County, Arizona, to unify and coordinate the policies and procedures of a state hospital system and a community mental health system in order to provide more effective delivery of mental health services at the community level. The cooperation of the state hospital also permitted the development of a deterrent to unnecessary state hospitalization and a reduction in the number of patients to a level at which more specific therapeutic programs could be developed to meet the needs of the patients who remained.
