Chester Mental Health Center is the state's maximum
security forensic hospital, located in Chester, Illinois. 
Originally co-located with the Menard prison on the
Mississippi River. The present hospital opened on April 19,
1976. Chester Mental Health Center has 280 beds for
forensic patients referred from courts and for behavioral
management patients transferred from other Illinois
hospitals. Services offered include pharmacotherapy, individual and group
psychotherapy, and behavioral therapy

Chester also provides a rich variety of activity, therapy, and education
programs. Educational programs include a one-month subinternship in
forensic psychiatry for M.D., J.D., students and an intensive clinical
experience in the psychopathology of criminal behavior for medical
students.