Our work in the community is made possible because of our many public and private partnerships. Learn more about our valued community partners.

Based on a Vision and a Model Vail Place is named after Dr. David Vail, a psychiatrist trained at Harvard Medical School. He became the Medical Director of Minnesota’s Department of Public Welfare (now the Dept. of Human Services) for 11 years before he died at the early age of 45 in 1971. During his tenure, Minnesota was recognized as a leader in humanizing its psychiatric facilities – changing them from custodial institutions to treatment programs designed to meet the specific needs of their residents.

Dr. Vail’s work also resulted in the expansion of state-supported community services. It seems to me, he said, that there is no reason why the greatest part of major mental disorders cannot be dealt with at the community level.

With Dr. Vail’s vision in mind, Vail Place opened in 1981, to meet the growing need for community services resulting from de-institutionalization. Vail Place is based on “clubhouse model” programs. These are internationally-replicated psychosocial rehabilitation programs that offer dignified, consumer-centered services that have proven effective in reducing hospitalizations and promoting recovery and reintegration in the community. The first facility opened in downtown Hopkins, with the South Minneapolis facility opening in 1988.