San Francisco Mental Health

San Francisco is a consolidated city-county with a 2004 estimated population of 744,230, making it the fourth largest city in California. It stretches from the mainland United States and encompasses several islands in the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Strait. Among the more notable San Francisco Islands are Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the Farallon Islands, located 27 miles offshore.

The Golden Gate City has stolen the hearts of many. The Reverend Billy Graham remarked, “The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here." In 1891, Rudyard Kipling fondly described San Francisco as “a mad city, inhabited by perfectly insane people”. President William Howard Taft described San Francisco as “The City that knows how” and John Steinbeck called San Francisco “a golden handcuff with the key thrown away”. It is apparent that San Francisco has both the key and the know how to provide effective treatment of mental health disorders.

The San Francisco MHP (Mental Health Plan) is available for San Francisco residents with limited or no resources. Services are provided either free or at a minimum to recipients of Medi-Cal benefits and to others on a sliding scale. This robust program taps resources both in the public and private sectors to provide San Franciscans with a full range of mental health services including private psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists as well as a varied number of community mental health programs.

The San Francisco Behavioral Health Facility (SF-BHF), formerly known as the Mental Health Rehabilitation Facility (MHRF) provides diagnostic evaluation and treatment services for residents with severe and persistent mental illnesses. Designed to promote independence and improve the quality of life for those with mental health problems, the goal of the SF-BHF is to return them to productive lives within the community.

The SF-BHF provides 147 bed for adults with around the clock nursing service and a full range of programs, including those designed for the elderly, for residents with physical health issues, and those with complex behavioral problems like dual diagnosis.

San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) is the largest provider of acute psychiatric care and the only San Francisco provider of emergency mental health services. Eleven beds of its mental health unit are dedicated to the care of forensic patients.

In addition to other services, SFGH provides specialized treatment for the mental health needs of HIV and AIDS patients, homosexual patients, victims of abuse and violence, and Asian and Latino residents who speak English as a second language and collaborates with the community in development of programs for mental health disorders such as dual diagnoses and substance abuse.

University of California - San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF Medical Center) was rated 5th in neurology and neurosurgery by the US News. It was also rated for the 13th best Psychiatric Department in the nation. Among its superior psychiatric programs, the UCSF Medical Center specializes in treating depression. Other mental health services include treatment for anxiety disorders, eating disorders, autism, and PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder).

The UCSF Children's Hospital offers a full range of outpatient services for children, adolescents and their families. Along with PDD and autism, areas of expertise include depression, mania, ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and Tourettes syndrome.

San Francisco VA Medical Center mental health services include a full range of nationally recognized programs to care for veterans with emotional problems. Mostly staffed by faculty members of the University of California School of Medicine, the center offers individual, group, medication and family treatment for conditions that run the gamut from substance abuse to treating post-traumatic stress disorder. The center also offers special programs for women, the elderly and HIV/AIDS patients.