Alexander Gralnick, M.D., Award for Research in Schizophrenia

Dr. Alexander Gralnick was the founder of High Point Hospital, in Port Chester, New York. He founded High Point Hospital in 1951 as a model for an alternative to large institutional, public, and private psychiatric hospitals. He believed that the general standard of care for people with major psychiatric disorders was to place people in institutional settings to manage their condition. His objective was to create a smaller environment in which over the shortest period of time possible for each condition, a patient’s condition could be treated, and they could return to a normal life with ongoing managed care by their families.

His philosophy for High Point Hospital, a 43-bed private psychiatric hospital, was based on “Milieu therapy.” Its approach was to create a holistic and supportive social environment to promote healing. The interactions among all staff and patients were designed to support the therapeutic goals of each patient. Traditional medical treatments necessary for patients with schizophrenia and other severe forms of mental illness that were common to all psychiatric hospitals were used within this overall environment.

Though his approach was designed as an alternative to long-term institutionalization, he was nonetheless outspoken about the failures of deinstitutionalization. He was among the psychiatrists who felt the broader political and social system was failing to provide the community-based support required for its successful implementation.

Dr. Alexander Gralnick was born in New York City. After earning his undergraduate degree from Columbia University, he received his medical degree from Rush College and completed psychoanalytic training at New York Medical College. He spent six years at Central Islip State Hospital, where he rose to supervising psychiatrist, before opening a private practice in Manhattan. In 1951, he founded High Point and later established the Gralnick Foundation to advance research on mental illness and its treatment.

A specialist in schizophrenia and suicide, Dr. Gralnick taught at New York Medical College for about 15 years, authored 105 scientific papers and eight books, and earned numerous professional honors. Deeply engaged in social issues, he was active in peace and anti-nuclear movements. He served as vice president of the Society of Medical Psychoanalysts, President of both the Central Neuropsychiatric Hospital Association and the National Association of Private Psychiatric Hospitals and held leadership roles in several international psychiatric organizations. A Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), he was honored in 1996 when the APA established the Alexander Gralnick, M.D., Award for Research in Schizophrenia to recognize significant contributions to early detection, treatment, and psychosocial understanding of the disorder.