PSYCHIATRIC, COMMUNITY AND RACIAL INTEGRATION IN A GENERAL HOSPITAL

A description of 5 years' experience involving a cooperative effort is presented. The chief cooperating agencies involved are the State and City governments, a community general hospital, and the Department of Psychiatry of a large university. This cooperation has worked rather smoothly with some administrative problems. Integrating a large psychiatric service in a community general hospital has not worked smoothly. Community-hospital cooperation has proceeded, but can be developed much more extensively.

Race relationships within the Department of Psychiatry have been the subject of special scrutiny, and the results of a pilot survey in this area are given. This preliminary survey has included some of the social and diagnostic characteristics of the patient population, and ways in which patients are treated psychiatrically. These figures are presented in terms of race and sex as applied to patients selected for intensive psychotherapy, electroshock, transfers to other hospitals, outpatient clinic referrals, discharges against medical advice, readmissions to the service, and length on the service.