Operation of a medical-psychiatric unit in a general hospital setting.

Patients with coexistent medical and psychiatric disorders, when both require acute-level care, are managed only with considerable difficulty in traditional hospital settings. A unit designed to offer such patients comprehensive care is described, its clinical and educational advantages discussed, and the essential administrative features of its operation identified. Since very few comparable units exist at the present, our model is offered in the hope of encouraging and assisting their future development. In view of current trends in the evolution of our field, this type of unit may well represent the advancing edge of inpatient psychiatry.