For details on the evolution of both the facility and mental health treatment, including historical photos, please select from the following eras:

• 1913 – The Sanatorium is expanded with the addition of a new hospital building.
• 1920s – The facility expands again, including a new Children’s Building and tunnels connecting the 3 main hospitals.
• 1930s & ’40s – Occupational therapy is introduced, there’s a shift towards the provision of free treatment for tuberculosis patients and management of the facility is moved from the province to the Board of Trustees.
• 1950s – Major renovations greatly expanded services offered; tuberculosis treatments improve and a rehabilitation institute is formed to provide outpatient services to the physically challenged.
• 1960s – Hospital designated as a treatment centre for persons suffering from any kind of disability or illness, including emotional and psychiatric disorders; the first psychiatric service unit is established.
• 1970s – Last tuberculosis ward closed, focus shifts to rehabilitation medicine and new programs including forensic psychiatry and substance abuse added; dedicated cottages for specialized treatment of children and youth were also established.
• 1980s – Medium security unit created, regional rehabilitation centre and new Lady Grey building opened, a mobile clinic delivers services in remote areas of Quebec and Ontario.
• 1990s – Transitional living centre for treatment of head injuries opened.
• 2000-present – Major redevelopment project creates the first teaching hospital in Canada to be privately built and operated; century-old psychiatric hospital replaced with state-of-the-art facility to promote healing and foster research and education.

History of The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

1960s

1961 – Improved treatments, public awareness and government response to the crisis had resulted in a decreased number of tuberculosis cases. By December of that year, only 124 patients occupied the Sanatorium’s total bed capacity of 289.

As the need for tuberculosis beds dwindled, the Ottawa Department of Health designated the hospital as a treatment centre for persons suffering from any kind of disability or illness. 1961 also marked the establishment of the first Psychiatric Service Unit, as well as the signing of a Teaching Hospital Agreement with the University of Ottawa.

Later that year, the Department of Health designated the facility under the Community Psychiatric Hospitals Act 1969/61 as a hospital ‘for the care and treatment of emotional and psychiatric disorders.’

The clinic was part of a total program in which a Community Psychiatric Centre would be established to provide comprehensive service for the region, and to admit local patients for intensive psychiatric treatment previously admitted to the Ontario Hospital at Brockville. The clinic also assisted in the follow-up of patients discharged from Brockville.

1965 – As the number of tuberculosis patients decreased to 90, psychiatric admissions rose to 510 per year, with an average stay of 67 days and the physical rehabilitation visits totaled 9,903.

1967 – The Rehabilitation Institute of Ottawa relocated from Bank Street to the old Lady Grey building, providing outpatient services to individuals with physical disabilities.

1968 – Royal Ottawa Sanatorium was renamed the Royal Ottawa Hospital (ROH) to better reflect its new role and clientele.