Alberta Hospital Edmonton is a psychiatric

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...

 hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 operating under the governance of Alberta Health Services

Alberta Health Services

Alberta Health Services is the province-wide organization responsible for providing hospital and other health care in the Canadian province of Alberta. Known as the "superboard", it was created in May 2008, with the abolition of nine previous regional health authorities, the Alberta Mental Health...

. It is located in the northeastern portion of Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and was founded on 1 July 1923.

Admission and continuing treatment at Alberta Hospital Edmonton can be voluntary, formal under the Mental Health Act

Mental Health Act

Mental Health Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom relating to Mental health law.The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been known as a Mental Health Bill during its passage through Parliament....

, or in the Forensic Psychiatry Program under the Criminal Code of Canada

Criminal Code of Canada

The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...

. Referral agents include physicians, mental health professionals, other health care facilities, community agencies, courts, corrections, police, and family, in addition to self-referral.

Each Alberta Hospital Edmonton program has an inpatient and a community component. Interdisciplinary teams are made up of program managers, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychometrists, nurses, psychiatric aides, social workers, occupational therapists, recreation therapists, physiotherapists, therapy assistants, counselors

Licensed Professional Counselor

Licensed professional counselor is a licensure for mental health professionals. The exact title varies by state, but the other most frequently used title is licensed mental health counselor . Several U.S. states, including Illinois, Maine, and Tennessee, have implemented a two-tier system whereby...

, pharmacists, dieticians, chaplains and support staff.

Grand Opening

• Opened Sunday, July 1, 1923 as the "Institute for the Feeble Minded"
  • Dick Reid
    Richard Gavin Reid
    Richard Gavin "Dick" Reid was a Canadian politician who served as the sixth Premier of Alberta from 1934 to 1935...
    
    . the Minister of Health
  • Archie Matheson
    Archie Matheson
    Archibald Malcolm Matheson was a Canadian politician who represented Vegreville in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1921 until 1935. He was elected in the 1921 election and re-elected in 1926 and 1930 as a member of the United Farmers of Alberta , which was the governing party of his...
    
    , the MLA from Vegreville
  • John Edward Brownlee
    John Edward Brownlee
    John Edward Brownlee was the fifth Premier of Alberta, Canada, serving from 1925 until 1934. Born in Port Ryerse, Ontario, he studied history and political science at the University of Toronto's Victoria College before moving west to Calgary to become a lawyer...
    
    , the Attorney-General

Recent History

In August 2009 Alberta Health Services

Alberta Health Services

Alberta Health Services is the province-wide organization responsible for providing hospital and other health care in the Canadian province of Alberta. Known as the "superboard", it was created in May 2008, with the abolition of nine previous regional health authorities, the Alberta Mental Health...

 announced that it will be closing 106 of the 410 beds at the hospital. The AUPE has been strongly opposed to the closers and have staged many protests and have made several television commercials at an attempt to gain support.

Buildings

There are 45 buildings at AHE spread over 275 acres (1.1 km²). The buildings on the site were named numerically in the order in which they were built originally but now the order has no relevance.

1 Building

• Originally the first dormitory
• contained the apparel shop and Highwood School until closed in 2006

2 Building

• Remains standing, but unused. It used to be a supplementary dormitory where numerous patients were also treated.

Old 3 Building

• Contained 2 units 3B and 3C
• Demolished and replaced with current 3 building

3 Building

• Helen Hunley Forensic Pavilion
• contains X-ray
  X-ray
  X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
  
   and CT scanning equipment
• Dorran Auditorium
• Pool and gymnasium

4 Building

• Currently demolished
• formerly held patients; following closure for patient care, became a dormitory for staff

5 Building

• Rose Sinclair Pavilion
• Not in use but still standing. Used to be the old Forensic Pavilion until Forensic Psychiatric Services moved to the now 3 Building.

6 Building

• Laundry

7 Building

• Woodwork shop
• Unused as building is condemned

8 Building

• Rachel H. Young Pavilion
• Contains Rehabilitation units; including the Specialized Treatment, Assessment and Rehabilitation Services (S.T.A.R.S.)
• Contains Budz Bistro (coffee shop run by patients as part of a patient program, but is now not in operation)

9 Building

• Contains library, pharmacy, pastoral/spiritual care, AV and computer lab
• Contains Central Services, Highwood School and Apparel Shop

10 Building

• AD MacPherson Pavilion
• Houses Admitting and is part of the Adult Psychiatric Program.

11 Building

• Cottonwood
• Remains standing but unused

12 Building

• AR Schrag
• ECT therapy
  Electroconvulsive therapy
  Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
  
  
• Geriatric units used to reside here however have been moved to Villa Caritas.

14 Building

• Storage, but is now demolished in preparation for a new Food Services building.

15 Building

• Administration and HR

16 Building

• Used to function as a Fire Hall when AHE had its own fire department, but has been since converted into a car wash, framing shop and bottle depot. 16 Building is run by staff but staffed by patients, who are taking part in patient programs.

17 Building

• Food and Nutrition Services
• Main cafeteria found here

18 Building

• Power plant

19 Building

• Facilities management offices

20 Building

• Greenhouse and RSVP gift shop
• Originally patients were paid a small stipend for working in the greenhouse. However, this is no longer funded.

21 Building

• Stores/Purchasing

Cameron Hall

• Demolished

Water Tower

• Due to its height, this structure is visible throughout the Alberta Hospital site and to the outlining area.

Programs

• Adult psychiatry (Ages 18–65)
  • CLiP (The Community Living Program) provides support to psychiatric patients within the community upon discharge from the hospital
• The Northern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Program