The Kashchenko Psychiatric Hospital complex is an architectural ensemble and active medical institution in the Historic Center of Nizhny Novgorod, located at Ulyanova Street, 41. The complex was built in 1886–1888 to a design by St. Petersburg architect I. V. Shtrom, under the supervision of engineer-architect Byshevsky, and has been recognized as a monument of urban planning and architecture.[2] The modern successor to the historic hospital — the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution of Nizhny Novgorod Region "Nizhny Novgorod Regional Clinical Mental Health Center named after P. P. Kashchenko" (NKCTMH) — is the leading specialized psychiatric institution of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1]
History of Construction and Foundation
The predecessor of the hospital was a 30-bed psychiatric ward at the Martynov Hospital, opened in 1837. By the late 1870s it was catastrophically overwhelmed: in 1878, the hospital's senior physician D. A. Vensky reported to the zemstvo assembly on the unacceptable conditions in which patients were kept. Following the report, the zemstvo allocated 60,000 rubles for the construction of a new hospital, and in 1884 added another 101,000 rubles. Construction began in 1886 on a site already occupied by six small wooden buildings belonging to the women's ward of the Martynov Hospital. Two of these have survived to the present day in rebuilt form — they now house a club, a catering facility, and a labor inspector's office.[2]
In 1886–1888, two main buildings were erected — one for men and one for women: one wooden, the other stone with wooden wings. The buildings were equipped with running water and sewerage, stove heating with supply ventilation and exhaust systems, and electric lighting — a remarkably high standard of amenity for the time.[2]
Kashchenko's Work and Medical Reforms
In 1888, P. P. Kashchenko, who had previously worked at the Burashevo Psychiatric Colony in Tver Governorate, was invited to join the hospital; in 1889 he became its director. The hospital's name has traditionally been associated with him, although the complex itself was built before his arrival.[2]
Kashchenko consistently introduced humane methods of treatment: he abolished physical restraints, organized workshops in the former main building of the women's hospital (now the club) — including a sewing room, a carpentry workshop, a basket-weaving shop, and a straw-work shop — and laid out a garden and vegetable plot. Labor and cultural therapy became the foundation of the treatment process. The hospital was among the first institutions in Russia where such methods were applied systematically.[2] After the establishment of a colony for the mentally ill near the selo of Lyakhovo and a family-care colony in the village of Kubintsevo near Balakhna, the Kashchenko Hospital became the admissions and triage unit of a three-tier system for treating the mentally ill that was unique to Russia.[2]
In addition to Kashchenko, the hospital was at various times staffed by psychiatrists S. I. Mitskevich, A. I. Pisnachevsky, Ya. G. Ilyon, and N. V. Ivanov.[2]
Current Status
The architectural complex has been preserved in virtually its original form and continues to serve its original purpose.[2] As a result of the reorganization of the psychiatric services of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the NOKTsPZ united several institutions: Clinical Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 of Nizhny Novgorod, Psychiatric Hospital No. 2, Nizhny Novgorod Regional Psychoneurological Hospital No. 3, and the Dzerzhinsk Psychoneurological Dispensary.[1]
At the time of publication, the center had 750 beds, 11 inpatient departments, an outpatient department, and diagnostic and treatment services. Within the institution operates the region's only children's psychiatric department, with 60 beds. The center serves as the organizational and methodological center for coordinating the activities of all psychiatric institutions in the region. Since 1993, it has regularly hosted advanced training courses for mid-level medical staff of psychiatric institutions in healthcare and social protection.[1]
Sources
- nokcpz.mznn.ru — GBUZ NO "Nizhny Novgorod Regional Clinical Center for Mental Health named after P.P. Kashchenko"
- autotravel-nn.ru — The complex of Kashchenko P.P. Psychoneurological Hospital — A monument of urban planning and architecture in Nizhny Novgorod