State Agencies
MENTAL HYGIENE
ADMINISTRATION
Vacancy, Director
Alp Karahasan, M.D., Ph.D., Deputy Director
201 W. Preston Street
Baltimore 21201 Telephone: 383-2695
The Administration, formerly the Department
of Mental Hygiene, was established by Chapter
685, Acts of 1949, to supersede the Board of
Mental Hygiene. This Board, created by Chapter
29, Acts of 1922, as part of a reorganization of
the Executive Branch, had carried on and
expanded the functions of the State Lunacy Com-
mission, established by Chapter 487, Acts of
1886, to inspect public and private institutions
for the insane and to advise their Boards of Man-
agers. The Act of 1949 abolished not only the
Board of Mental Hygiene but also the separate
governing boards of the State mental hospitals
and gave the Department full and plenary powers
over, and supervision of, all matters relating to
the custody, care, and treatment of persons of un-
sound mind.
The Administration is headed by a Director,
certified in psychiatry by the American Board of
Psychiatry and Neurology and appointed by the
Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene. The Di-
rector is responsible for discharging the functions
assigned by the Secretary of Health and Mental
Hygiene and for the direction of the hospitals and
facilities within the Administration.
Under the provisions of the Maryland Commu-
nity Mental Health Services Act of 1966 (Chapter
125, Acts of 1966), the Director of Mental Hy-
giene, with the approval of the Secretary of
Health and Mental Hygiene, is empowered to
make State grants-in-aid to further community
mental health services. The Act also provides that
he is to supervise the programs receiving these
grants-in-aid. The Act contains provisions for the
establishment of local mental health advisory
committees (Code 1957, Art. 43, sec. 1J).
To improve continuity of care between commu-
nity and hospital programs, a regionalized struc-
ture, consistent with State HSA designated areas,
has been adopted by the Administration. Dr.
Sanford Bienen and Dr. Ronald Cann have been
appointed Assistant Directors for the Southern
and Central Maryland areas, consistent with Ar-
ticle 59, sec. 8c. Their regional offices, along with
those of Dr. Harold English and Dr. Robert
Grooms, have allowed for the implementation of
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Health and Mental Hygiene/171
policies that have shortened length of hospital
stays, improved community mental health pro-
grams for the severely psychiatrically ill, and in-
creased the continuity of care between the hospi-
tal and community programs.
CLIFTON T. PERKINS HOSPITAL
CENTER
Stuart Silver, M.D., Superintendent
P. 0. Box 1000
Dorsey Run Road
Jessup 20794 Telephone: 792-4022
The Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center was
established by Chapter 814, Acts of 1959, as
Maximum Security Hospital. It adopted its pres-
ent name in 1960. Designed to provide active
treatment programs within a setting of maximum
security, the hospital is located midway between
Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The hospital receives patients who are referred
by the courts of Maryland for pretrial psychiatric
evaluation and provides a residential service for
individual offenders who have been found to be
not guilty by reason of insanity, as well as hospi-
talization for inmates of penal institutions who
become mentally ill and require involuntary psy-
chiatric hospitalization. In addition, the hospital
accepts transfer patients from other State psychi-
atric hospitals when their illness requires maxi-
mum security treatment for a period of time. The
hospital is designed for a capacity of 246.
CROWNSVILLE HOSPITAL CENTER
Bertram Zimmerman, M.D., Administrator
Crownsville 21032 Telephone: 987-6200
Crownsville Hospital Center, established by
Chapter 250, Acts of 1910, as the Hospital for
the Negro Insane of Maryland, was opened to
patients in 1911. It adopted its present name by
Chapter 187, Acts of 1912. Chapter 685, Acts of
1949, omitted reference to race. The hospital ad-
mits mentally-ill patients from Anne Arundel,
Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties as well
as some patients from Baltimore City. Crowns-
ville is located approximately eight miles west of
Annapolis on Route 178, four miles from Route
3. This facility is licensed for 625 patients and in-
cludes programs for the mentally retarded and al-
coholic within its buildings.
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