Alton State Hospital

Alton State Hospital
Opened	1916
Current Status	Active
Building Style	Cottage Plan
Location	East Alton, IL
Peak Patient Population	1,775 in 1947
Alternate Names	Alton Mental Health Center

History

In 1909 the General Assembly made provisions for the state to assume all responsibility for the care and treatment of the public insane. To meet the resulting need for more state-operated facilities the General Assembly appropriated funds in 1911 to the Board of Administration for the establishment of another state hospital for the insane. Although construction was not completed at the Alton site until July 1917, forty patients were transferred from Anna State Hospital in December 1916 and housed in temporary quarters until the formal opening of Alton State Hospital.

The Civil Administrative Code of 1917 abolished the Board of Administration and transferred control of Alton State Hospital to the newly created Department of Public Welfare. In 1921 Alton had 757 patients and 117 employees. Three years later Hydrotherapy was introduced and 5 new cottages and 2 new dining halls were completed. A training school for nurses was opened in 1921. In the 1930s a ward was opened for WW1 veterans another for civilian men, one for women and a TB building. Hydrotherapy was becoming a more common treatment at Alton with over 65,000 hours of treatment given in one year.

In the 1940s Electroconvulsive therapy was added and the patient population was 1,775 with a capacity of 1,084. By 1954 the use of new anti-psychotic medications was introduced. Discharge of patients increased by 20% and 39 patients received lobotomies that year. In the '60s Hydrotherapy was no longer used and an adolescent unit was opened. An alcohol treatment unit was opened in 1966 based on the one at Peoria. Alton Mental Health center is now primarily a forensic services provider. The Department of Mental Health assumed control of the hospital in 1961 and changed its name to Alton Mental Health Center in 1975