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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & MENTAL HYGIENE

PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES

MENTAL HYGIENE ADMINISTRATION

Dix Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center
55 Wade Ave., Catonsville, MD 21228
[photo, Dix Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center, 55 Wade Ave., Catonsville, Maryland] The Mental Hygiene Administration originated in 1886 as the State Lunacy Commission (Chapter 487, Acts of 1886). The Commission inspected public and private institutions for the insane and advised their boards of managers. In 1922, the Commission was replaced by the Board of Mental Hygiene (Chapter 29, Acts of 1922). The Board, in turn, was superseded by the Department of Mental Hygiene in 1949 (Chapter 685, Acts of 1949). Not only was the Board of Mental Hygiene abolished in 1949, but so also were the separate governing boards of the State mental hospitals. In that year, the Department of Mental Hygiene became responsible for the custody, care, and treatment of mentally ill persons. The Department of Mental Hygiene became part of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 1969 and subsequently reorganized as the Mental Hygiene Administration (Chapter 77, Acts of 1969). In July 2008, the Administration moved under the Deputy Secretary for Behavioral Health and Disabilities (Chapter 661, Acts of 2008).

Dix Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center, 55 Wade Ave., Catonsville, Maryland, April 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

The Administration oversees the Public Mental Health System by planning, setting policy, and allocating resources. To ensure that Marylanders receive appropriate treatment, the Administration provides mental health services both in the community and through institutions (Code Health - General Article, secs. 10-201 through 10-208).

Mental Health Crisis Response System. Within the Mental Hygiene Administration, the Maryland Mental Health Crisis Response System formed in October 2002 (Chapter 371, Acts of 2002). The Administration consults with family members, and consumers and advocates of mental health services to develop a statewide network to respond to the current mental health crisis. To reduce threatening situations involving those needing mental health services, the network provides assistance to prevent suicides, homicides, arrests, and unnecessary hospitalizations. This assistance includes a hotline for suicide prevention, treatment referrals, telephone assistance for mental information, and even transportation of patients to emergency appointments. The network coordinates its work with core service agencies (local health departments), police, emergency medical personnel, and mental health providers.

Seven psychiatric hospitals are overseen by the Mental Hygiene Administration:

The Administration also is responsible for two residential treatment centers for youth:

The Director of Mental Hygiene heads the Administration. Certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the Director is appointed by the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene. With the approval of the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Director of Mental Hygiene is empowered to make State grants-in-aid to further community mental health services (Chapter 125, Acts of 1966). The Director supervises programs receiving these grants-in-aid (Code Health - General Article, secs. 10-101 through 10-1203). Local mental health advisory committees also are authorized for each county and Baltimore City (Code Health - General Article, secs. 10-308 through 10-312).

WALTER P. CARTER CENTER

630 West Fayette St., Baltimore, MD 21201

The Walter P. Carter Center first offered community mental health services to Baltimore City residents in 1967. Now, these services consist of inpatient care for adults (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406).

At its present site, the Center opened in 1973. It was named for Walter P. Carter, the civil rights leader. In west Baltimore, the Center is located next to the Veterans Administration, and near the University of Maryland Hospital.

EASTERN SHORE HOSPITAL CENTER

P. O. Box 800
Route 50, Cambridge, MD 21613 - 0800

Eastern Shore Hospital Center began in 1912 as Eastern Shore State Hospital (Chapter 187, Acts of 1912). Built on the banks of the Choptank River, the Hospital admitted its first patients in 1915. In 1973, it was renamed Eastern Shore Hospital Center (Chapter 740, Acts of 1973). In August 2001, the original hospital was replaced by a new 80-bed facility in Cambridge.

The Center cares for patients with mental illness who reside on the lower Eastern Shore. The facility is funded for a daily average of 80 patients (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406).

THOMAS B. FINAN HOSPITAL CENTER

[photo, Thomas B. Finan Hospital Center, 10102 Country Club Road, Cumberland, Maryland] P. O. Box 1722
10102 Country Club Road, Cumberland, MD 21502 - 1722

Opened in October 1978, the Thomas B. Finan Hospital Center is a multi-purpose psychiatric facility which serves Allegany, Frederick, Garrett and Washington county residents of all ages with mental illnesses (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406). Services extend as well to youth from Carroll, Howard and Montgomery counties.

Thomas B. Finan Hospital Center, 10102 Country Club Road, Cumberland, Maryland, July 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

The Center is staffed to accommodate and treat 72 adult and 24 geriatric patients, and 23 adolescents in small, 25-bed cottages. It also includes three cottages that house treatment programs for addicts. These are operated by the Allegany County Health Department. The one-cottage Massie Unit, licensed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to the County Health Department, treats adults who abuse drugs and alcohol. The two-cottage Jackson Unit, licensed by the Department of Juvenile Justice to the County Health Department, treats juveniles with substance abuse problems or children in need of supervision. Another cottage is leased to Archway Station, Inc., as a 16-bed rehabilitation apartment complex. Also on the grounds of the Finan Center, the Joseph D. Brandenburg Center serves persons with mental retardation through programs of the Developmental Disabilities Administration.

CLIFTON T. PERKINS HOSPITAL CENTER

P. O. Box 1000
8450 Dorsey Run, Jessup, MD 20794 - 1000

The Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center is the State's only maximum security hospital. Formally established in 1959 as Maximum Security Hospital, it was placed under the Department of Mental Hygiene. In April 1960, the Hospital was renamed to honor Dr. Clifton T. Perkins, Commissioner of Mental Hygiene from 1950 to 1959 (Chapter 814, Acts of 1959). Dr. Perkins had planned and defined the function of the Hospital but died before it opened early in 1960. In 1973, the Hospital became the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center (Chapter 740, Acts of 1973).

Patients referred by the courts of Maryland for pretrial psychiatric evaluation are treated by the Center. It is a residence for individual offenders who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity. The Center also serves as a hospital for prisoners who become mentally ill and require involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. Prisoners are committed to the Center for an indefinite length of time and only can be released upon the authorization of a judge. From other State psychiatric hospitals, the Center also accepts patients whose illness requires maximum security treatment for a period of time. The Center is funded to serve a daily average of 250 patients (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406).

SPRING GROVE HOSPITAL CENTER

Wade Ave., Catonsville, MD 21228
[photo, Bland Bryant Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center, Catonsville, Maryland] Spring Grove Hospital Center is the oldest hospital for the mentally ill in Maryland, and the third oldest in the United States. It was established in 1797 in Baltimore at Monument Street and Broadway, the site where the Johns Hopkins Hospital later would be constructed (Chapter 102, Acts of 1797). First authorized as a "common State hospital" (the first public hospital in Maryland), it originally came under the auspices of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, and was run by private physicians. In 1834, however, the State assumed its control and called it the Maryland Hospital. It was renamed the Maryland Hospital for the Insane in 1838, and moved to its present site at Catonsville in 1872. Renamed Spring Grove State Hospital in 1912 (Chapter 187, Acts of 1912), it became Spring Grove Hospital Center in 1973 (Chapter 740, Acts of 1973).

Bland Bryant Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center, Catonsville, Maryland, April 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

[photo, Foster Wade Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center, Catonsville, Maryland] With 295 inpatient beds and 62 assisted-living beds, the Center provides acute, subacute and long-term psychiatric care to adult and geriatric patients from Baltimore City, and Baltimore and Harford counties. For those jurisdictions, the Center also conducts evaluations to determine competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406).

Foster Wade Building, Spring Grove Hospital Center, Catonsville, Maryland, April 2003. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

SPRINGFIELD HOSPITAL CENTER

[photo, Springfield Hospital Center, Sykesville, Maryland] 6655 Sykesville Road, Sykesville, MD 21784

Springfield Hospital Center formed in 1894 as the Second Hospital for the Insane of the State of Maryland (Chapter 231, Acts of 1894). The Hospital opened for patients in 1896. It was renamed Springfield State Hospital in 1900 (Chapter 70, Acts of 1900), and Springfield Hospital Center in 1973 (Chapter 740, Acts of 1973).

Springfield Hospital Center, Sykesville, Maryland, August 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

A regional psychiatric facility, the Center admits patients from northern Baltimore City and Carroll, Howard and Montgomery counties, as well as mentally ill deaf patients statewide. The Center is the largest State facility for the care of persons with mental illness, with a licensed capacity of 522 beds. (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406).

UPPER SHORE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER

P. O. Box 229
Scheeler Road, Chestertown, MD 21620 - 0229

Opened in 1982, the Upper Shore Community Mental Health Center is a multipurpose mental health hospital. It serves a daily average of 43 patients and provides psychiatric services for eligible persons, 16 years of age and older, from Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot counties. The Center also holds a 15-bed juvenile detention center and a 20-bed intermediate care unit for alcoholics over the age of 18 (Code Health - General Article, sec. 10-406).

ADULT & ELDERLY SERVICES

CHILD & ADOLESCENT SERVICES

Child and Adolescent Services formed in 1984. It is responsible for two residential treatment centers for youth: the Regional Institutes for Children and Adolescents in Baltimore and Rockville.

REGIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS - BALTIMORE
605 South Chapel Gate Lane, Baltimore, MD 21229

The Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents - Baltimore opened in 1958. Formerly on the grounds of Rosewood State Hospital in Baltimore County, the Institute moved to southwest Baltimore, near the U.S. National Cemetery, in the early 1970s.

Serving Baltimore City and Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, the Institute provides intensive inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care for youths between ages 12 to 18 with serious emotional illnesses. The Institute is funded for a daily average of 37 residential patients and 50 day patients.

JOHN L. GILDNER REGIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS - ROCKVILLE
15000 Broschart Road, Rockville, MD 20850

In 1980, the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents - Rockville received its first patients. The Institute provides treatment and education services to children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years with severe emotional disabilities from Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's and Washington counties. It offers an intensive diagnostic and treatment unit, and residential and day treatment. Educational services are provided by the Montgomery County Department of Education. The Institute is funded to serve an average daily population of 80 young people in residence and 100 children between the ages of 5 and 18 in day treatment.

On May 9, 2001, the Institute was renamed for its founding chief executive officer, John L. Gildner, who died in November 1999.

FORENSIC SERVICES

Forensic Services is part of the Mental Hygiene Administration.

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