1897. In an attempt to “humanize” the New Westminster asylum, the institution is renamed the Provincial Hospital for the Insane (BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services, 2013). The institution would eventually become Woodlands.

When the asylum opened, it was meant to treat "lunatics" and the "feebleminded" (Woodlands Institutions, 2015). By 1899, due to lack of social services, the number of patients in the hospital reached 300. However, by that point, the hospital is overcrowded, and the staff cannot provide adequate care for all patients (BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services, 2013). Mistreatment of patients was also reported (Woodlands Institution, 2015). The focus of the hospital changed again in the 1920s, to focus only on patients with intellectual disabilities (Woodlands Institution, 2015).

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung

• BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services. (2013). History: BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services Timeline. BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services website. Retrieved from http://www.bcmhsus.ca/History.htm.

• Woodlands Institution. (2015). Inclusion BC. Retrieved from http://www.inclusionbc.org/our-priority-areas/disability-supports/institutions/woodlands-insitution