Cherry Hospital

Cherry Hospital

Cherry Hospital

Cherry Hospital is a premier psychiatric hospital providing in-patient care to those in the region with the most significant need. Physicians who work here are those with a desire to embrace the challenge and to practice psychiatry in an environment where they can learn and grow in their profession.

In addition to the environment, Cherry Hospital is a state hospital and the employees enjoy the benefits of being employed by the great state of North Carolina. We offer a very competitive salary and a benefits package.

Cherry Hospital is in a very convenient location. Employees are able to live in the Raleigh/Durham Triangle area and commute to the hospital with ease or live near the coast. Goldsboro is situated about 30 minutes out of Raleigh and about an hour from the pristine white sands of the NC Coast. In addition, the beautiful NC mountains are just a 3 hour drive as well --- the breathtaking Blue Ridge Parkway awaits!  
Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States

Company Information

Cherry Hospital is a 197-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital serving the citizens of 38 eastern North Carolina counties. The hospital is operated by the Department of Health and Human Services, State of North Carolina. It is one of three state psychiatric hospitals in North Carolina.

Our Mission is to provide excellent, psychiatric care to individuals with the greatest need and the least resources.

Our Philosophy is that, as a human service organization, anything and everything done within the hospital shall be done for the purpose of improving the quality of service to our customers.

Our Vision is to be trusted and respected as the best hospital in North Carolina for treatment of severe mental illness.

Cherry Hospital serves as a major training site for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University through a contractual relationship. Third year medical students, psychiatry residents, and child fellows routinely train at Cherry Hospital, where they are supervised by Cherry Hospital physicians. Teaching physicians hold clinical faculty appointments at the Brody School of Medicine.

Cherry Hospital is accredited by the North Carolina Medical Society to provide Continuing Medical Education (CME) to physicians and is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Acreditation (ANCC). The hospital also provides continuing education to psychologists, social workers, and teachers by working closely with Eastern Area Health Education Center (AHEC), South East AHEC, Southern Regional AHEC, and North Carolina Psychological Association.

The hospital is affiliated with 13 schools of nursing. Throughout the year, nursing schools complete clinical rotations in various treatment areas. The objective of the clinical experience is to provide nursing students with learning opportunities regarding the care of individuals with mental health needs.

In addition, Cherry Hospital has affiliations with several colleges and universities for internship placements in social work, psychology, teaching (exceptional children), dental hygeine, pharmacy and therapeutic recreation. The hospital has affiliations with colleges/universities in several other states for occupational therapy internships.

Company History

In 1877, the North Carolina General Assembly appointed a committee to recommend the selection of a site for a facility for the black mentally ill which would serve the state. On April 11, 1878, 171 acres (69 ha) of land two miles (3 km) west of Goldsboro were purchased. The site was described by Governor Zebulon Baird Vance as ideal for a hospital building because of good elevation in a high state of cultivation and central location for the black population.

On August 1, 1880, the first patient was admitted to the then named "Asylum for Colored Insane". Since that time, there have been several name changes including: The Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum, Eastern Hospital, and State Hospital at Goldsboro. The name was changed to Cherry Hospital in 1959 in honor of Governor R. Gregg Cherry.

The bed capacity for the hospital when established was seventy-six but over one hundred patients were crowded into the facility by Christmas of 1880. On March 5, 1881, the Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum was incorporated and a board of nine directors appointed. A separate building was established for treating tubercular patients. In addition, a building for the criminally insane was opened in 1924.

Tranquilizing medications were widely used by 1955 and helped revolutionize patient treatment. As a result of extensive use of psychotropic drugs, the rate of discharges began to increase and the length of hospitalization decreased. The resident population remained stable at 3,000 patients between 1950 and 1965. The highest rate of occupancy was approximately 3,500 patients. During its first 100 years of service, the hospital served 91,000 patients.

For the first eighty-five years of its history, Cherry Hospital served the entire black population for the State of North Carolina. In 1965, the hospital joined other state hospitals in implementing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Cherry began serving patients from the thirty-three counties in the Eastern Region in 1965 by providing services for all races. Black patients at Cherry were transferred to hospitals in their appropriate region while Cherry received white patients from other hospitals in other regions.

Treatment units
The Adolescent Unit is a specialty unit providing inpatient treatment for mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally disturbed adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. The unit provides diagnostic evaluation that includes psychiatric, medical, nursing, individual and group therapy, family counseling, nutritional services, therapeutic activities, structured group living, vocational evaluation and rehabilitation, and interagency correlation. Adolescents are enrolled in a year-round accredited school program.

The Adult and Acute Admissions Unit is for patients between the ages of 18 and 60. It is designed for patients who are admitted in crisis and with many types of mental illness. It is a short term unit and family and community involvement is encouraged to assist with the transition back to the community.

The Geriatric Admissions Unit provides treatment for patients 60 years and older. While most of the patients in the unit have confusion and/or disorientation associated with dementia, there are others with persistent mental illness. Although patients are usually ambulatory, many suffer from age-related physical illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, arthritis or cardiovascular disease. Most require some assistance with their basic needs. The objective of the unit is re-motivation, reorientation, and rehabilitation of patients in an effort to return them to their community and families.

The Psychiatric Rehabilitation Unit provides treatment and rehabilitation services to adults 18 and older with severe and persistent psychiatric illness. Efforts are aimed at reducing symptoms and developing the skills needed to achieve independent functioning. Patients participate in work therapy, therapaws, and in counseling sessions. A wellness clinic is part of the patients' program in order to familiarize them with routine health checks and to encourage follow-up with physicians after discharge.

The Psychiatric Medical Unit is a unit for the treatment of psychiatric patients with physical illness who cannot be managed on a general psychiatric unit due to the nature and severity of the medical illness. Patients are admitted to this unit from other hospital units.

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