There Was Once an Asylum
This site not only provides an overview of mental health history and its implications for Goodna, but also explores the complex relationship between memory and history.
There are stories we may never know, but this site uncovers the history, revealing the layers of understanding that underpin the present.
It is done in a way that honours the patients, clients, and the people.
Barrett Centre
Opened in 1979, the Barrett Centre was named in honour of Dr R.H. Barrett, a former psychiatrist who was Deputy Medical Superintendent it was a 160-bed unit for acute admissions and shorter-stay patients, distinct from the longer-stay patients in other wards at Wolston Park Hospital. In 2000, the Barrett Centre had been decommissioned by the time of the broader Wolston Park Hospital closure, and many of its structures were later demolished (excluding the Barrett Adolescent Centre). Barrett Psychiatry Unit was established to provide acute care.
It comprised eight separate buildings, a reception and admission block, three wards with 32 beds, two wards with 16 beds, a cafeteria and a medical officer's flat. The Barrett Adolescent Centre (BAC) was a public mental health facility that operated between 1983 and January 2014 on the campus of The Park – Centre for Mental Health at Wacol. It provided extended inpatient treatment for adolescents with severe and complex mental illnesses and treated patients aged between 13 and 18 years old. It had a capacity for 15 inpatients, five-day patients, and a small number of outpatients. There was also a waiting list for admission as an inpatient or a day patient.
The clinical director of the BAC, a psychiatrist, led a multi-disciplinary team of medical, nursing and allied health staff.
There was an on-site school, the Barrett Adolescent Centre Special School (BACSS), which operated from 1985 and was managed by the Department of Education. On 6 August 2013, the then Minister for Health announced that the BAC would close.
Two processes were set in place. The first was to identify appropriate alternative services for the then patients, and the second was to develop a new suite of services intended to cater for adolescents with extended treatment needs, including those who might otherwise have been admitted to the BAC. The first process was undertaken by West Moreton Hospital and Health Service (WMHHS).
The second process was led by Children’s Health Queensland HHS (CHQ).
