Saint Elizabeths Hospital Saint Elizabeths Hospital is the District’s public psychiatric facility.  It was transferred by the federal government to the District in 1987 to become part of its public mental health system. The Hospital provides intensive, inpatient care for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness who need the security and structure to assist in their recovery. Saint Elizabeths also provides mental health evaluations and care to patients committed by the courts. The Hospital develops a personalized treatment plan to help each patient achieve the highest quality mental health outcomes. Saint Elizabeths Hospital is located east of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington. Its beautiful grounds and historic buildings date back to 1855, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1991 declared the site a National Historic Landmark. The campus was one of the first hospitals in the District to go smoke free in August 2007. Construction began in 2006 on a new 450,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility to replace the 150-year old Hospital. The new hospital incorporates the best practices in modern, in patient mental health care with an environmentally sensitive design and sustainable strategies. The new building’s therapeutic design includes bright and airy living and treatment areas, green spaces off each patient unit, and enclosed courtyards. A 28,000 square-foot green roof is likely the largest on any psychiatric facility in the country. The new hospital is scheduled for completion in late 2009. Follow the construction with monthly pictorial updates. On June 25, 2007, Saint Elizabeths Hospital and the US Department of Justice signed a Settlement Agreement that sets a timeframe for implementing changes regarding patient care. Saint Elizabeths Hospital is conducting a number of reports related to the Agreement. It publishes a trend analysis every other month that reports on key indicators such as patient census, admissions and discharges, unusual incidents, seclusion and restraint usage, and medication variances or adverse drug reactions.  The purpose of the report is to assist the Hospital in improving the quality of patient care by giving senior staff critical information regarding patients and its performance in delivering timely and effective services. In addition, the Hospital’s Environmental Self-Assessment Survey* is a qualitative process of data collection and reporting to identify areas of strength and those needing improvement throughout all hospital patient care units. The survey teams consisted of Department of Mental Health employees, consumers, and other outside surveyors. Fifteen survey categories included such diverse areas as general maintenance, food handling, linen handling, and therapeutic environment. Address: Saint Elizabeths Hospital 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-4000