Nebraska Psychiatric Institute Records

In 1948, the state of Nebraska authorized an interchange of facilities among the state hospitals and the University of Nebraska College of Medicine for teaching and treatment purposes. This authorization resulted in the Nebraska Psychiatric Unit at Douglas County Hospital at 42nd and Woolworth streets, Omaha, NE. The Board of Control appointed Cecil L. Wittson the Director of the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute (NPI) as Director of Mental Health in 1950, charging him with the responsibility of coordinating psychiatric treatment, training, and research in state operated facilities.

Due to space pressures, in 1951, Douglas County Hospital administrators gave notice that Nebraska Psychiatric Unit would have to vacate the hospital. Fundraising and planning for a new building began in 1952. The $1,500,000 structure, paid for by the State Board of Control and federal funds, was a cooperative project of the University and state Board of Control. The new contract expanded the program and changed its name to the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute (NPI) in January 1955. The completed building was dedicated on April 30, 1955.

Designed by architect John Latenser, Jr., NPI was the first area on the campus to focus on a pleasant environment, with plenty of light, open spaces, and nice furniture. The new building [NPI] had facilities for inpatients, outpatients, and day patients in the treatment areas. The original 96 inpatient beds included 60 for adults, 10 for geriatric research, and 26 for children. The activity areas included an occupational therapy shop, lounge and music room, gymnasium, beauty shop, and outdoor patio.  NPI offered training programs for psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric aides, psychiatric social workers, nurses on the graduate level, occupational therapists, group and recreational workers, and EEG technicians.  NPI faculty pioneered the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) in mental health treatment and teaching.   

The Board of Control appointed Cecil L. Wittson, the Director of the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute, as Director of Mental Health, charging him to coordinate psychiatric treatment, training, and research in state-operated facilities.   In April 1956, the medical profession's first system of CCTV for teaching psychiatry through patient observation was installed at the Nebraska Psychiatric Institute. The circuit was developed by General Precision Laboratory, Inc. of Pleasantville, N.Y. The new system allowed 150 people to see and hear inside the interview and treatment rooms.   

"Unfortunately, with few exceptions, state hospitals are some distance from the medical school...This is neither effective, practical, nor economical...We are piloting a realistic way of partly overcoming this geographical separation. This week we are installing (maybe I can hear them hammering now) a specially devised two-way audio communication system with the Norfolk State Hospital. This will permit the staff at Norfolk to listen to and question our visiting lecturers and to actively participate in joint staff meetings. In certain types of difficult cases we will call in other members of the medical college faculty - internists, surgeons, etc. - for a two-way consultation on the case. As those in the field know, there are relatively few instructors capable of supervising psychotherapy. This too can be done over the two-way phone." -Cecil L. Wittson, January 1955 

A research wing was added to NPI in 1960, and the following year the College of Medicine received the largest single grant ever received by the University of Nebraska. The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the COM $1,745,000 to NPI to continue and expand "mental retardation" projects underway.  Dr. Wittson's success and creativity led the University Board of Regents to appoint him dean of the College of Medicine in 1964. With Dr. Wittson's promotion, Dr. LaVern C. Strough became acting director, succeeded in 1968 by Dr. Merrill T. Eaton. Recognizing changes in the delivery of mental health services and the needs of the state, the Nebraska legislature placed the Institute entirely under the Board of Regents of the University in 1975. The end of NPI came on July 1, 1985, when responsibility for the patient care services was taken over by University Hospital.