CPI was founded in 1972 by Alan Furst and his father, Dr. William Furst, MD. Prior to 1972, Dr. Furst had been pioneering alternative hospital treatment within the structure of his private psychiatric practice. As a result of Dr. Furst’s World War II service he took this experience and transformed it into civilian life. In the early 1960’s he began to treat geriatric patients in what is now known as adult medical day care.

Throughout the 1960’s, Dr. Furst continued to establish a variety of community based therapeutic groups offering alternative services to institutionalization. The combina-tion of his many decades of psychiatric practice, his compassion for patients and his strong desire to effect change, lead him to partner with his son in the early 1970’s to establish Community Psychiatric Institute. It is through his hard work, dedication, and his love for his patients that his legacy remains today in one of the finest community based psychiatric treatment facilities anywhere.