Alaska Psychiatric Institute
Alaska Psychiatric Institute | |
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Geography | |
Location | Anchorage, Alaska, United States |
Coordinates | 61°11′08″N 149°49′44″W / 61.185511°N 149.828968°W |
Organization | |
Type | Specialist |
Services | |
Beds | 72 |
Speciality | Psychiatric hospital |
History | |
Opened | 1962 |
Links | |
Lists | Hospitals in Alaska |
The Alaska Psychiatric Institute is a psychiatric hospital in Anchorage, Alaska that provides inpatient and outpatient mental health services for the state.[1]
Operation
The institute has a normal capacity of 72 beds with a stretch capacity of 80. There have been concerns that this is not enough to meet demand.[2]
The beds are organized into three units: medium to long term, adolescent, and secure forensic.[3]
The Joint Commission recognized the institute in 2012 for being in the top third of its national performance rankings for psychiatric hospitals.[4]
History
The Institute opened in 1962.[5] It was commissioned in 1956 as part of the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act which allotted 6.5 million dollars for its construction.[6]
In 1992 the institute employed 282 staff.[7]
Incidents
In 1982, while on limited release from the institute, Charles L. Meach, who had previously beaten a man to death and been found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1973, committed four murders.[8]
In 1985 the director of the institute was taken hostage at gunpoint by a patient. The situation was resolved the following day without injuries.[9]
Myers v. Alaska Psychiatric Institute
In 2003 Faith Myers was involuntarily committed to the institute by her family for refusing medication. The institute petitioned the
References
- ^ "Alaska Psychiatric Institute". dhss.alaska.gov.
- Fairbanks Daily News Miner, 4/21/2010.
- ^ "Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) - Alaska Psychology Internship Consortium". www.ak-pic.org.
- ^ Sarana Schell. "Alaska Psychiatric Institute recognized for high quality care in 2012". Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, 11/19/2013.
- ^ "Governor tours new psychiatric hospital". SitNews, 10/14/2004.
- ^ Rogers, Stanley J. "I. The Medical Program and the First Year Operation." Psychiatric Services 15.5 (1964): 243-247.
- ^ Natalie Phillips. "Psychiatric Institute Lays Off 14 Workers". Anchorage Daily News , 8/1/1992.
- ^ Wallace Turner (June 22, 1982). "New law on insanity plea stirs dispute in Alaska". New York Times.
- The Deseret News, 9/25/1985.
- ^ Hinton, Jeremy, and Robert Forrest. "Involuntary Non-emergent Psychotropic Medication." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online 35.3 (2007): 396-398.