British Columbia’s Provincial Hospital for the Insane is renamed Woodlands School

1950. Woodlands School was British Columbia’s first asylum for mentally ill individuals (Woodlands Institution, n.d.). It originally opened in 1878 in New Westminster, as the Provincial Asylum. It was then renamed the Public Hospital for the Insane (Woodlands Institution, n.d.). During these times, the institute sought to treat the "feeble-minded" and "lunatics" (Woodlands Institution, n.d.).

However, in 1950, it was renamed the Woodlands School due to its shift in focus towards becoming an educational and training facility for disabled children, instead of custodial care for those with disabilities (Woodlands Institution, n.d.). This ended the mixing of child patients with adults who suffered from various mental disorders. It also represented a shift in focus of care of the disabled. By 1953, Woodlands already had approximately 1000 patients, and even more on the waiting list. The institution closed in 1996.

Residents of the Woodlands school were subjugated to abuse and sexual sterilization while institutionalized - some of which were performed illegally after the Sexual Sterilization Act of British Columbia was repealed in 1973. Details of these findings were outlined in the review of the Woodlands School commissioned in 2001, "The Need to Know: Administration Review on Woodlands School". Some survivors pressed for a class action lawsuit in 2010. Compensation settlements have been offered between $3,000 and $150,000, although the process is slow with few claimants.

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung

British Columbia’s Provincial Hospital for the Insane is renamed Woodlands School

1950. Woodlands School was British Columbia’s first asylum for mentally ill individuals (Woodlands Institution, n.d.). It originally opened in 1878 in New Westminster, as the Provincial Asylum. It was then renamed the Public Hospital for the Insane (Woodlands Institution, n.d.). During these times, the institute sought to treat the "feeble-minded" and "lunatics" (Woodlands Institution, n.d.).

However, in 1950, it was renamed the Woodlands School due to its shift in focus towards becoming an educational and training facility for disabled children, instead of custodial care for those with disabilities (Woodlands Institution, n.d.). This ended the mixing of child patients with adults who suffered from various mental disorders. It also represented a shift in focus of care of the disabled. By 1953, Woodlands already had approximately 1000 patients, and even more on the waiting list. The institution closed in 1996.

Residents of the Woodlands school were subjugated to abuse and sexual sterilization while institutionalized - some of which were performed illegally after the Sexual Sterilization Act of British Columbia was repealed in 1973. Details of these findings were outlined in the review of the Woodlands School commissioned in 2001, "The Need to Know: Administration Review on Woodlands School". Some survivors pressed for a class action lawsuit in 2010. Compensation settlements have been offered between $3,000 and $150,000, although the process is slow with few claimants.

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung