Dr. C.F. Menninger believed medical treatment could be improved through collaboration and teamwork among professionals from various specialties, a novel idea in the early 1900s. Dr. Menninger pursued his vision of "a better kind of medicine and a better kind of world" and in 1925, joined by his sons Karl and William, he founded a 13-bed psychiatric hospital in Topeka, Kansas.

Menninger's pursuit of more effective treatments for children and adults with complex mental disorders resulted in many patients recovering during an era when most individuals with mental illness were institutionalized. As word of our success spread, patients came from around the country for hope and help. Inspired by our patients, Menninger staff forged many advancements that have become standard practice in mental healthcare.

• Published The Human Mind by Dr. Karl Menninger in
  1930, a best seller that helped educate the public about
  mental health
  
  
• Advanced milieu therapy, family systems therapy, interdisciplinary care and bio-psycho-social treatment
  
  
• Opened the nation's largest school of psychiatry in cooperation with the Veterans Administration after
  World War II
  
  
• Collaborated on the first manual of criteria for diagnosing
  mental illnesses
  
  
• Reformed the Kansas state mental health hospital and influenced similar reform nationwide
  
  
• Relocated to Houston in 2003 and affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital
  
  
• Ranked among the top 10 psychiatric hospitals for 18 consecutive years in U.S.News & World Report's "America's
  Best Hospitals"
  
  
• Pioneered a format for community-based mental health centers that became a national model for the delivery of local mental health services