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Boston Mental Health

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Boston Mental Health Articles




Boston Mental Health

Boston is one of the oldest and most affluent cities in the United States. In line with one of its nicknames, “Puritan City,” the Puritan values of hard work, moral uprightness, and education remain have molded and remain a part of Boston's culture and are demonstrated in the co-operative efforts of government, educational institutions, and medical facilities to provide a unique and inclusive range of mental healthcare options for its citizens.

Boston Public Health

Because Boston is the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, most public health programs are administered by the state’s Bureau of Hospitals, which is organized in a system of four multi-specialty hospitals that provide acute and chronic hospital medical care to individuals who cannot access facilities in the private sector. Although not located in Boston, mental health programs in three of these state-run hospitals make needed care accessible to all residents of Boston as well as all Massachusetts residents.

The Medical/Behavioral Unit at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, MA is designed to meet the mental health needs of patients:

  1. who need diagnosis outside of an ambulatory setting 
  2. with acute, chronic mental disorders 
  3. who need physical rehabilitation and can tolerate and/or participate in 3 hours of daily therapy.

Tewksbury Hospital (Tewksbury MA) provides comprehensive treatment, care, and comfort to adults with chronic medical and mental illnesses. Specialties include:

Western Massachusetts Hospital (Westfield, Massachusetts) is a long term medical and specialty care hospital and serves as a medical “safety net” for uninsured and underinsured citizens. Western Massachusetts Hospital provides both acute and chronic hospital care to patients with a variety of chronic diseases and complicated medical conditions. Mental health initiatives include treatments for those with:

The Private Sector

In 1994, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital formed Partners Health Care. Since it’s founding, Partners has become an intricate system that provides Bostonians with a full range of physical and mental health care programs and treatments. Among its member hospitals, several provide mental health care initiatives that span the gamut of comprehensive research, diagnosis, and treatment. Although Harvard University is based across the river in Cambridge, MA, Harvard Medical School is located in Boston and is affiliated with several of Partners Health Care facilities, including the two founding institutions.

Brigham and Women's Hospital is one of the finest hospitals in Boston and consistently named to the US News index of top hospitals. A major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s is a world-renowned center for advanced patient care and known for innovation in virtually every area of medicine. The recent integration of its neurology and psychiatric departments with those of Faulkner Hospital provided both institutions (now known as BW/F) with a full spectrum of comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services.

Founded in 1811, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is the third oldest general hospital in the United States and the oldest and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The world-renowned medical center offers care in virtually every medical specialty. MGH was named one of the country's best hospitals for the fifteenth year, ranking third nationwide. Its Department of Psychiatry has enjoyed a #1 ranking for 10 consecutive years. An affiliation with McLean Hospital (Belmont, MA) allows for comprehensive coordination of medical and psychiatric services. McLean Hospital maintains the largest program of research in neuroscience and psychiatry of any private psychiatric hospital in the United States.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is yet another teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. BIDMC treats patients with a wide range of mental disorders including anxiety and psychotic disorders; personality disorders; co-morbid psychiatric and substance abuse disorders; co-morbid psychiatric and medical disorders, and eating disorders. The Behavioral Neurology Unit at BIDMC is a unique outpatient specialty clinic that offers diagnosis, treatment, and long-term follow-up for patients with mental health problems.

The Center for Forensic Psychiatry at BICMC provides consultation on legal issues of mental health including:

In addition to Partners affiliates, several other excellent hospitals provide comprehensive mental health services for Bostonians.

Boston Medical Center is the primary teaching hospital for Boston University School of Medicine. With emphasis on community, the mission of Boston Medical Center is to provide accessible health services to all, making it the largest safety net hospital in New England. As well as full outpatient mental health services for patients of all ages, Boston Medical Center also provides Psychiatric Emergency services including triage, extended evaluation, and crisis intervention.

The US News has consistently rated Children's Hospital-Boston, as one of the nation's top pediatric hospitals for the past 16 years, this year rating it #2 in the nation. Children's offers a complete range of health care services for children from birth through 21 years old, including the best in mental health services. Their Department of Neurology is the oldest, largest and best-known program in child neurology in the world and the Department of Psychiatry provides integrated clinical services and preventive interventions to children and families of all socioeconomic levels and cultural backgrounds.

Behavioral health care services at Franciscan Hospital for Children address a full range of behavioral, emotional, and learning problems. In addition, Franciscan Hospital specializes in treatment of developmental disabilities, mental health problems brought about by medical disorders, and traumatic brain injuries.

Arbour Health System is the largest private mental health system in Massachusetts, made up of Arbour Hospital-Boston, the Boston Center plus several facilities throughout Massachusetts. Arbour Health System provides care for patients over five years old in a range of services that include evaluation, crisis stabilization, and treatment for patients with mental illness, dual diagnosis, and addiction problems.

Adult inpatient psychiatric services provide short-term admission for intensive diagnostic evaluation and treatment to stabilize individuals in crisis. The Arbour Hospital Adolescent and Family Services Department is dedicated to providing acute psychiatric services for adolescents and their families. Boston Center, offers mental health services for children and adolescents ages 5-18 years.

The Medical Behavioral Services Program at Jewish Memorial Hospital is designed to meet the needs of patients with dementia or psychiatric disorders who need hospitalization for medical problems. Jewish Memorial serves patients with a wide range of disorders, including those complicated by medical or neurological problems. An intensive program of activities and groups encourages patients to regain their previous skills and independence in settings that are compatible with their present physical abilities.

The Department of Psychiatry at Tufts-New England Medical Center offers comprehensive psychiatric and neuropsychiatric evaluations, consultations and treatment on an inpatient and outpatient basis to both adults and children with disturbances related to behavior, emotions, thought processes, learning, and acute and chronic medical illnesses. The Division of Adult Psychiatry offers psychiatric inpatient care, consultation and outpatient services, including an emergency service for patients in acute psychiatric crisis.

While the specialty of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute isn’t mental health, no article on Boston Mental Health would be complete without mention of its programs for survivors. Its Perini Family Survivors’ Center has several programs in place to address the long-term physical and emotional needs of cancer survivors, and to offer them the tools to live as fully as possible.

See Also:

Boston Mental Health Clinics