Dr Thomas Kirkbride

• American

• Mental Illness

Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809-1883) was a physician and advocate for the mentally ill. As superintendent and physician-in-chief of the Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane, Kirkbride developed standards for humane treatment of patients that included designing hospital buildings that would increase the individual treatment for patients and operational effectiveness for staff. The Kirkbride System, adopted in 1851, was the official standard of the Association of Medical Superintendents. - AsNotedIn