The Impact of a Mental Health Center on Admissions to a State Hospitals System

The authors describe a study of admissions to the Texas state hospital system from the catchment area of a community mental health center in San Antonio and from the surrounding county; the study compared geographic sources of admissions, admission rates, and characteristics of state hospital patients admitted in one-year periods before and after the mental health center opened. Characteristics of patients admitted to the state hospitals and the center in the second period were also compared. State hospital admissions did increase after the center opened, but totaled slightly less than the number admitted to the center. Significant changes occurred in the ethnic and sex distribution and educational level of admissions to the state hospitals in the second period. The authors discuss the findings in relation to such issues as the need for administrative links between state and community mental health systems.