Government of New Brunswick
Health

Role of Psychiatric Hospitals

The Psychiatric Hospitals' responsibilities are to:

  • Provide specialized treatment and rehabilitative services for patients with psychiatric problems that are difficult to manage and are of medium or long term duration. The instability of their medical psychiatric condition and the need for highly specialized intervention and supervision, would be decisive factors in their hospitalization. Four groups are identified as follows:
    • elderly patients suffering from a major mental illness and who are not appropriate for placement in nursing homes;
    • developmentally delayed patients with psychiatric disorders and severely disruptive/aggressive behavior;
    • patients with schizophrenia who are chronically psychotic, assaultive or suicidal; and
    • chronic schizophrenic patients who exhibit behavior, which makes them vulnerable to exploitation or is unacceptable even in enlightened communities.
  • Serve as specialized forensic centres for long term "intensive" care, long-term forensic services, and observation and treatment of cases that present high security risks. (A single forensic inpatient unit is located at the Restigouche Hospital Center.)
  • Serve as a specialized inpatient resource for other mental health services.
  • Serve as a support centre for evaluation, research and training in the fields of mental health.
  • Provide psychiatric telephone consultation or on-site support services to other agencies, in particular for psychogeriatric patients or developmentally handicapped.