Kirkbride Buildings

Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride’s method of treatment for mental illness was to provide humane treatment for patients on sprawling hospital grounds which would restore sanity to a damaged mind. He also believed that “the number of patients in any situation should never exceed the number (of patients) whom the superintendent could know intimately.” This method of treatment became known as the Kirkbride Plan and the sprawling, hospitals which were erected to bolster this idea have become known as Kirkbride Buildings.

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