The Future Role of the State Hospital

A crucial issue confronting both state mental hospital administrators and planners of community mental health services is to assess the contributions the hospitals can make to a comprehensive network of services for the mentally ill. On the following pages are reports of three national conferences devoted to that issue. Presented in chronological order, they summarizse information from meetings held in Buffalo, New York, in October 1973, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, in January, and in Scottsdale, Arizona, in February. Participants considered such aspects as whether the state hospitals should be—or can be—closed, what realistic alternatives are available, and what modifications can be made in existing hospital programs to keep them viable.