The Illinois State Hospital for the Insane was established (1847) and its first patient admitted at Jacksonville on November 3, 1851. As additional hospitals were established, the state was divided into districts with the Jacksonville facility, renamed the Illinois Central Hospital for the Insane assuming responsibility for central Illinois patients. When administrative control of all state charitable institutions transferred to the Board of Administration (1909), the hospital name changed to Jacksonville State Hospital. Under the Civil Administrative Code of 1917, hospital jurisdiction transferred to the Dept. of Public Welfare. The Dept. of Mental Health assummed responsibility for the facility (1961), expanding hospital duties to include treatment for the developmentally disabled (1974). As a reflection of this change, the institutional name became the Jacksonville Mental Health and Developmental Center (1975- ).
The hospital participated in a departmental affiliation program for psychiatric nursing (1944-1974) which provided instruction in psychiatric nursing to students from general hospital nursing schools. The Psychiatric Nursing Affiliation Program offered two-, three-, and four-month terms of classroom instruction and practical training at Jacksonville State Hospital.
From the description of Psychiatric Nursing Affiliation Program annual reports, 1944-1974. (Illinois State Archive). WorldCat record id: 36678324
