The Geographic Unit as a Phase in Merging Hospital and Community Programs
Robert L. Rollins Jr. M.D.1 and
Nicholas E. Stratas M.D.2
1 Division of Mental Health Services, State Department of Human Resources, Raleigh, North Carolina
2 Raleigh, North Carolina
The geographic unit is one phase in the merger of hospital and community programs into one system of care. The authors describe six stages in the evolution of a mental health delivery system, starting with institutions offering acute and custodial care and ending with mental health programs providing one component of the comprehensive health programs in the catchment area. They also describe a model being tested in one state hospital's catchment area of facilitate the allocation of resources.
