Difference between revisions of "Augusta State Hospital"

From Asylum Projects
Jump to: navigation, search
m
Line 9: Line 9:
 
| construction_ended =
 
| construction_ended =
 
| opened =
 
| opened =
| closed =
+
| closed = 2004
 
| demolished =
 
| demolished =
| current_status = [[Active Institution|Active]]
+
| current_status = [[Preserved Institution|Preserved]]
 
| building_style = [[Kirkbride Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]]
 
| building_style = [[Kirkbride Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]]
 
| architect(s) =
 
| architect(s) =
| location =
+
| location = Augusta, ME
 
| architecture_style =
 
| architecture_style =
 
| peak_patient_population = 1,600
 
| peak_patient_population = 1,600
Line 24: Line 24:
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
'''From the hospital's official state web page:'''
+
Mrs. Catherine Winslow, the first woman employed at the Maine Insane Hospital, was appointed matron when the asylum opened in 1840. The asylum was the product of a collaborative effort between the state and two private citizens, Reuel Williams of Augusta (married to Sarah Cony) and Benjamin Brown of Vassalborough. While early mental health institutions may fall far short of present-day standards for treatment for mental illness, the establishment of such places in the early nineteenth century was based, in part, on reforming care for the mentally ill. Prior to mental health hospitals, the mentally ill were the responsibility of their families, and if their families could not cope, they were either put in poor houses, put out on the streets, or locked away in jail. Mental health reformer Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), a native of Hampden, Maine, worked closely with the second superintendent of the Augusta asylum, Issac Ray (appointed in 1841). The building was state-of-the-art when constructed. All parts had ventilation, lighting, heating, and water. Men and women had separate wings. Over its 162 years of service, the hospital has carried a number of names and today it is called the Augusta Mental Health Institute. Many buildings on the campus now serve as state offices. A new hospital was opened in 2004 to replace the facility.
  
The history of the Augusta Mental Health Institute is divided into six distinct eras.
+
===Timeline===
 +
1830: Ten years after Maine becomes a state, Gov. Jonathan Hunton calls for care of "numerous cases of lunacy"; survey by Dr. Tobias Purinton of Danville finds 562 mentally ill people in Maine, or about one in every 300 residents.
  
*The first era is the Early History 1840 to 1946. In 1834 the Maine Legislature passed a resolve to establish the Maine Insane Hospital and appropriated $20,000 for this purpose. Matching funds were donated by private indivduals. As a result, this the doors to the hospital, built of Hallowell granite, opened in October of 1840.  
+
1834: Legislature appropriates $20,000 to establish state's first insane hospital; Reuel Williams of Augusta, a future U.S. senator, and Benjamin Brown Jr. of Vassalboro each donate $10,000 to the effort; both have mentally ill family members.
  
*The hospital was built across the river from the Capitol building. The reason for this was so that the Governor and the Legislature would never forget the hospital. The second era, in 1946 to 1962, is called the Sleeper Era. The reason for this is that is 1946 Dr. Sleeper became the eighth superintendent. During Dr. Sleeper's tenure the following changes were implemented:
+
1835: State buys 35-acre site for hospital on Kennebec River in Augusta, directly across from the State House; it's modeled after State Lunatic Hospital in Worcester, Mass., and built of Hallowell granite; famed Mainer Dorothea Dix, an early mental health advocate, consults on the project.
  
#Nursing services were reorganized under unitary control.
+
1840: Maine Insane Hospital opens in Augusta to serve 120 patients; they come from across Maine, brought by family members and overseers of poorhouses, where some were kept in chains or cages; symptoms include mania, melancholy, masturbation and "faked voices."
#Psychology department was increased from one psychologist to three by additions of two interns.
 
#First full time pharmacist was hired.
 
#A dentist was added to the staff.
 
#Number of occupational aides was increased from one to eight.
 
#A library, consisting of one room, with 2800 books and one librarian. Also in this era, 1948-49 the hospital experienced extensive over-crowding, by 24.8%. In 1950 over-crowding became the number one problem of the hospital. Sixteen hundred patients were crowded into spaces intended for 1,270. The situation continued to worsen, and by 1950 the over-crowding had increased to 44.1% over the intended number,.so that in 1961 the first intensive effort to move patients into the community was undertaken. Dr. Sleeper retired in 1961 and so ended the Sleeper era.
 
  
*The third era, with the retiring of Dr. Sleeper, began the Patterson years. Dr. Patterson (1962-1971) insisted that the patients who left be discharged rather than go out on leave. This move raised the admissions. However, during the Patterson era the population began to drop because of use of new medications.  
+
1850: Fire guts half of hospital, killing 27 patients and one staff member; new wings, buildings and parcels of land are added through the 1980s, growing the campus to more than 800 acres, including 600 acres of farmland that produced tons of food and employed hundreds of patients.
  
In 1971 the De-institutionalization Era began under the supervision of Roy Ettlinger. Over a five-year period the population dropped from 1500 to 350. Also in this time period patients rights emerged, and patients advocates were appointed.
+
1901: Eastern Maine Insane Hospital -- today's Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center -- opens in Bangor, immediately taking 145 patients from Maine Insane Hospital; in 1913, both are renamed, becoming Augusta State Hospital and Bangor State Hospital.
  
From 1976 to present, the Post De-institutionalization era gave way to a system of ongoing evaluation of the patient toward placement in the community. This coupled again with advances in medication has reduced the Augusta Mental Health Institute's population to a point where now only those individuals with the most severe mental illness are treated.
+
1930s: Hydro and radiant-heat therapies are introduced, followed by electroconvulsive and insulin-shock treatments in the 1940s, Thorazine therapy in the 1950s and lithium therapy in the 1960s.
  
With the sixth era, beginning in 2004, the State of Maine has built a 92-bed civil and forensic psychiatric treatment facility to replace the existing 161 year old state hospital, the Augusta Mental Health Institute (AMHI). The new facility is scheduled to open in April 2004.
+
1950s: Patient population peaks at 1,840 and stays 30 percent beyond capacity despite construction of several new buildings; staff introduces group therapy; hospital opens first community mental health center in Lewiston.
 +
 
 +
1960s: Hospital begins treating substance abuse and addiction; patients become eligible for Medicaid and Social Security benefits.
 +
 
 +
1970s: Consent decree eliminates unpaid patient labor at what is now Augusta Mental Health Institute; adolescent unit opens; growing emphasis on "deinstitutionalization" and community mental health services; average daily population drops from 1,500 to 350.
 +
 
 +
1988: Five patients at AMHI die during summer heat wave; mental health advocates bring class-action lawsuit against hospital and state.
 +
 
 +
1990: Consent decree orders state to address crowding and care problems at AMHI and improve community mental health programs by 1995; lack of funding and controversy lead to continued delays and repeated contempt orders through 2001.
 +
 
 +
2000: Legislature appropriates $33 million to build new hospital; four years later, 92-bed Riverview Psychiatric Center opens on hospital grounds and AMHI closes; court lifts active supervision of Riverview in 2011.
  
The new facility, Riverview Psychiatric Center, will offer a state-of-the-art treatment environment that supports healing, respect, and safety. Research and common sense clearly speak to the importance of the environment in recovery and healing, and this new facility takes advantage of all that design can offer.
 
  
 
== Images of Augusta State Hospital ==
 
== Images of Augusta State Hospital ==
Line 55: Line 60:
 
File:Augusta10.png
 
File:Augusta10.png
 
File:Augusta11.png
 
File:Augusta11.png
 +
File:Augistashpd1.jpg
 +
File:Augusta ME SH PC 5.jpg
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 +
 +
==Cemetery==
 +
Researchers found 11,647 names of patients who died on the premises. In the early days, hospital staff would simply note in a daily journal that a certain patient had "passed away in the night." Of the estimated 45,000 people who were admitted to AMHI from 1840 to 2004, nearly one-quarter died at the hospital, according to a Maine Cemetery Project report. Some of the 11,647 patients who died at AMHI were returned to their families and buried in hometown cemetery plots. However, the lack of records leaves open the possibility that some were buried in unmarked graves on the hospital campus or in paupers' graves across Maine.
  
 
[[Category:Maine]]
 
[[Category:Maine]]
 
[[Category:Kirkbride Buildings]]
 
[[Category:Kirkbride Buildings]]
[[Category:Active Institution]]
+
[[Category:Preserved Institution]]
 +
[[Category:Institution With A Cemetery]]

Revision as of 23:59, 29 January 2013

Augusta State Hospital
Augusta State Hospital
Construction Began 1840
Closed 2004
Current Status Preserved
Building Style Kirkbride Plan
Location Augusta, ME
Peak Patient Population 1,600
Alternate Names
  • Maine Insane Hospital
  • Augusta Mental Health Institute
  • Riverview Psychiatric Center



History

Mrs. Catherine Winslow, the first woman employed at the Maine Insane Hospital, was appointed matron when the asylum opened in 1840. The asylum was the product of a collaborative effort between the state and two private citizens, Reuel Williams of Augusta (married to Sarah Cony) and Benjamin Brown of Vassalborough. While early mental health institutions may fall far short of present-day standards for treatment for mental illness, the establishment of such places in the early nineteenth century was based, in part, on reforming care for the mentally ill. Prior to mental health hospitals, the mentally ill were the responsibility of their families, and if their families could not cope, they were either put in poor houses, put out on the streets, or locked away in jail. Mental health reformer Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), a native of Hampden, Maine, worked closely with the second superintendent of the Augusta asylum, Issac Ray (appointed in 1841). The building was state-of-the-art when constructed. All parts had ventilation, lighting, heating, and water. Men and women had separate wings. Over its 162 years of service, the hospital has carried a number of names and today it is called the Augusta Mental Health Institute. Many buildings on the campus now serve as state offices. A new hospital was opened in 2004 to replace the facility.

Timeline

1830: Ten years after Maine becomes a state, Gov. Jonathan Hunton calls for care of "numerous cases of lunacy"; survey by Dr. Tobias Purinton of Danville finds 562 mentally ill people in Maine, or about one in every 300 residents.

1834: Legislature appropriates $20,000 to establish state's first insane hospital; Reuel Williams of Augusta, a future U.S. senator, and Benjamin Brown Jr. of Vassalboro each donate $10,000 to the effort; both have mentally ill family members.

1835: State buys 35-acre site for hospital on Kennebec River in Augusta, directly across from the State House; it's modeled after State Lunatic Hospital in Worcester, Mass., and built of Hallowell granite; famed Mainer Dorothea Dix, an early mental health advocate, consults on the project.

1840: Maine Insane Hospital opens in Augusta to serve 120 patients; they come from across Maine, brought by family members and overseers of poorhouses, where some were kept in chains or cages; symptoms include mania, melancholy, masturbation and "faked voices."

1850: Fire guts half of hospital, killing 27 patients and one staff member; new wings, buildings and parcels of land are added through the 1980s, growing the campus to more than 800 acres, including 600 acres of farmland that produced tons of food and employed hundreds of patients.

1901: Eastern Maine Insane Hospital -- today's Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center -- opens in Bangor, immediately taking 145 patients from Maine Insane Hospital; in 1913, both are renamed, becoming Augusta State Hospital and Bangor State Hospital.

1930s: Hydro and radiant-heat therapies are introduced, followed by electroconvulsive and insulin-shock treatments in the 1940s, Thorazine therapy in the 1950s and lithium therapy in the 1960s.

1950s: Patient population peaks at 1,840 and stays 30 percent beyond capacity despite construction of several new buildings; staff introduces group therapy; hospital opens first community mental health center in Lewiston.

1960s: Hospital begins treating substance abuse and addiction; patients become eligible for Medicaid and Social Security benefits.

1970s: Consent decree eliminates unpaid patient labor at what is now Augusta Mental Health Institute; adolescent unit opens; growing emphasis on "deinstitutionalization" and community mental health services; average daily population drops from 1,500 to 350.

1988: Five patients at AMHI die during summer heat wave; mental health advocates bring class-action lawsuit against hospital and state.

1990: Consent decree orders state to address crowding and care problems at AMHI and improve community mental health programs by 1995; lack of funding and controversy lead to continued delays and repeated contempt orders through 2001.

2000: Legislature appropriates $33 million to build new hospital; four years later, 92-bed Riverview Psychiatric Center opens on hospital grounds and AMHI closes; court lifts active supervision of Riverview in 2011.


Images of Augusta State Hospital

Main Image Gallery: Augusta State Hospital


Cemetery

Researchers found 11,647 names of patients who died on the premises. In the early days, hospital staff would simply note in a daily journal that a certain patient had "passed away in the night." Of the estimated 45,000 people who were admitted to AMHI from 1840 to 2004, nearly one-quarter died at the hospital, according to a Maine Cemetery Project report. Some of the 11,647 patients who died at AMHI were returned to their families and buried in hometown cemetery plots. However, the lack of records leaves open the possibility that some were buried in unmarked graves on the hospital campus or in paupers' graves across Maine.