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Winnebago Mental Health Institute: Patients and Services

Winnebago Mental Health Institute offers services that help people with mental health needs.

Where to get help

At our facility, we don’t take walk-ins. This means you cannot check in without a referral. If you need help, either:

Our patients

Patients come to us based on a referral from county health and human services agencies and the court system. We cannot admit people who show up at our doors without a referral. We have two types of patients:

  • Civil patients—These are patients who are ordered to get psychiatric assessments and treatment at a mental health facility. Patients are inpatient, which means they check in and stay for a period of time. This process happens through emergency detention and commitment proceedings.
  • Forensic patients—These are patients who a court orders to get either:
    • A mental health competency evaluation—Looks at a patient’s mental health. Confirms how much they remember or know about their criminal charges.
    • Treatment to competency services—Care for a patient who a court finds unable to go to trial due to a mental health condition. Treats the patient to restore mental health.
    • Treatment for mental illness—Care for a patient found not guilty of a crime because of mental illness.

Types of care units

Winnebago Mental Health Institute has seven patient care units that offer different services:

  • Choices—Forensic unit in Gordon Hall
    • Helps prepare patients to get back in the community
    • Includes work programs
    • Treats long-term patients, male and female, who need general psychiatric care
    • Has minimum security
  • Gemini—Civil admission, assessment, and treatment unit in Gordon Hall
    • Helps patients return home to their community
    • Uses an intensive treatment program
    • Can treat men and women dually diagnosed with a mental illness and substance use issues
    • Has minimum security
  • Petersik Hall South—Admission, assessment, and treatment unit
    • Has both men and women patients
    • Has medium security
  • Petersik Hall North—Admission, assessment, and treatment unit
    • Has both men and women patients
    • Has medium security
  • Sherman Hall North and South—Civil units
    • Helps patients manage symptoms
    • Includes patients who are checked in to get a psychiatric assessment, stabilize or manage medicine, and get treatment
    • Treats both men and women
    • Has minimum security
  • Youth Services Unit—Civil assessment and treatment unit in Sherman Hall
    • Helps kids and teens with:
      • Psychiatric disorders.
      • Behavioral disorders.
      • Developmental disabilities.
      • Dually diagnosed mental health and substance use issues.
    • Works with the patient, their family, and staff from the county where the patient lives
    • Uses one-on-one and group treatment
    • Offers short-term treatment options that focus on getting back in the community
    • Has a male wing and female wing
  • Waterwood School—For patients who need K–12 education services
Last revised December 23, 2022