Institute of Mental Health

The Institute of Mental Health (Abbreviation: IMH; Chinese: 心理健康学院) is a medical complex in Singapore specialising in the treatment of patients with mental illnesses. It is presently located on a sprawling 450,000 square metre site within the Buangkok Green Medical Park at Buangkok, and was established there in 1993.

IMH was originally known as Woodbridge Hospital (板桥医院). Today, the name Woodbridge refers only to the hospital wing of IMH, part of the IMH's complex of outpatient clinics, services and research units. The hospital has 2,425 beds.

History
Woodbridge Hospital began as a 30-bed building at the corner of Bras Basah Road and Bencoolen Street in 1841. It was then known as The Insane Hospital. It was renamed the Lunatic Asylum in 1861, and moved to a site near the old Kandang Kerbau Maternity Hospital, and then to Sepoy Lines in 1887. Moved to Yio Chu Kang in 1928, it became known as The Mental Hospital. To shake off the stigma associated with mental illness, the institution came to be called Woodbridge in 1951, after a wooden bridge in the area.

As a result of a restructuring exercise in the local heathcare scene, the hospital became a member of the National Healthcare Group in 2000.

In April 2006, the Woodbridge Hospital compound was marked as Singapore's 83rd historic site by the National Heritage Board (NHB). IMH also set up a museum to showcase artefacts from the hospital's history. The site was marked and the museum officially opened by Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan on 10 April 2006.

Reference

 * The Straits Times, Woodbridge is made historic site No. 83, 11 April 2006