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The Hall Mercer
Community Mental Health & Mental
Retardation Center
The Hall Mercer Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation
Center was established in 1965 in response to changes which took
place in the treatment methods of mental health disorders in
the 1950s and 1960s. Although inpatient care had been the most
widely accepted mode of treatment for years, by the 1950s there
was growing concern about the conditions in many state-run mental
hospitals. In addition, medications were developed which enabled
many former patients to live outside of a hospital setting. These
factors, combined with a great deal of popular, political and
economic support, paved the way for the creation of community-based,
outpatient social programs throughout the country.
Hall Mercer, as it is known in the community, provides ongoing,
personalized assistance to individuals who might otherwise be
hospitalized or left on their own without help. As the funding
available for the treatment of the mentally ill has diminished
in recent years, Hall Mercer has focused on aiding the most severely
ill members of the community, including the homeless, AIDS afflicted
patients, the elderly and children born to drug-addicted mothers.
These and all other Hall Mercer clients have access to a wide
spectrum of outpatient services, as well as all inpatient services
provided at Pennsylvania Hospital.
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