Deinstitutionalization’s 92% bed decline

Adjusting for population growth, the number of people in public psychiatric hospitals fell from a 1955-equivalent 885,010 to 71,619 by 1994—about a 92% decline. This reframes deinstitutionalization not just as moving patients out but as a permanent removal of bed capacity at national scale. — It sets a clear baseline for current policy arguments about rebuilding psychiatric infrastructure, civil commitment, and the mental health–homelessness nexus.