Difference between revisions of "Portal:Editor News"

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|1= July 2, 2012 [http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20120703/COLUMN0110/307030017/State-hospital-campus-has-conundrum State hospital campus has conundrum]
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|2= With construction of the new [[Oregon State Hospital]] completed, state officials have turned their attention to the remainder of the campus. Officials are in the preliminary stages of determining what will become of the 47-acre Oregon State Hospital North Campus along Center Street NE. “You rarely get a shot like this. It could make a really big difference in the area, or it could be a big disaster,” said Darrin Brightman, a planner with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. State officials haven’t yet made the fundamental decisions about the North Campus’ future, said Brightman, who is part of the team looking at options. The process of creating a plan could take six months, he said.
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|1= June 27, 2012 [http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=396186 Wernersville State Hospital museum covers 119 years]
 
|1= June 27, 2012 [http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=396186 Wernersville State Hospital museum covers 119 years]

Revision as of 22:58, 3 July 2012

Asylum News   (news you can edit!)

July 2, 2012 State hospital campus has conundrum

With construction of the new Oregon State Hospital completed, state officials have turned their attention to the remainder of the campus. Officials are in the preliminary stages of determining what will become of the 47-acre Oregon State Hospital North Campus along Center Street NE. “You rarely get a shot like this. It could make a really big difference in the area, or it could be a big disaster,” said Darrin Brightman, a planner with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services. State officials haven’t yet made the fundamental decisions about the North Campus’ future, said Brightman, who is part of the team looking at options. The process of creating a plan could take six months, he said.

June 27, 2012 Wernersville State Hospital museum covers 119 years

The archives at Wernersville State Hospital start in a medical room, with a decades-old dental chair and an oxygen tank. Then, visitors go further back in time to a superintendent's bedroom with sparse furnishings and another room filled with the farm equipment for patients' "work therapy." The tour ends in a room filled with photos, old medical implements like lobotomy instruments and patient ledgers from the late 1800s. Hospital librarian Leslie Pirl-Roth has spent about two years creating the archival museum. Her timing is just right; last fall, remnants of Tropical Storm Lee flooded parts of the hospital grounds, including the underground tunnels where the artifacts were stored.

June 25, 2012 Filming begins in Ionia on state hospital documentary

Once upon a time, the Ionia State Hospital was one of the most successful institutions of its kind in Michigan.Or the most notorious. Like so many things, it depends on whom you ask. Joshua Pardon, a film maker with Vantage Point Visual in Ann Arbor, is now doing the asking. With his crew of three, Pardon is in Ionia interviewing people who have had some relationship with the Ionia State Hospital – former employees, patients, teachers, social workers and family members – for a documentary he is making about Michigan state hospitals. Fifteen people filled interview slots.

June 22, 2012 Artist group fashions apologies to patients buried at Eastern State Hospital

At ceremonies held in Lexington on Friday to remember an estimated 4,400 patients at Eastern State Hospital Lexington who were buried on the mental hospital's grounds years ago, 4,400 small cards fashioned into a necklace represented 4,400 apologies for what some people say was a disregard for the bodies. "It's recognizing an injustice that was done to those who were buried in the cemetery, and that is specifically the fact that many people there have been reburied at least three times, ashes are mixed and it is essentially a mass grave," said Bruce Burris, co-owner of Latitude Artist Community, which led the events.

June 21, 2012 Judge allows closure of mental hospital to proceed

A judge on Thursday denied a motion that could have delayed Gov. Pat Quinn's planned closure of a mental hospital in Tinley Park. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Nancy Jo Arnold agreed with state officials on key elements of the case. That means Illinois can close Tinley Park Mental Health Center on July 1 as planned. The plaintiffs had argued that state law requires $19.8 million in savings from the facility closure to go toward other mental health services in the community.

June 8, 2012 A.G. Holley TB patients must go by July 2

In an unexpectedly quick move, A.G. Holley Hospital’s last 36 tuberculosis patients will be transferred out of the Lantana facility by July 2, the Florida Department of Health announced Friday. Less than a week ago, state health officials, who have repeatedly tried to persuade other hospitals to take the patients, said they were still in negotiations with providers. Plans for closing the facility, released late last month, remained short on specifics. And federal permission enabling Medicaid to pay for TB patients’ extended hospital stays was up in the air.

May 28, 2012 Volunteers honor forgotten veterans

Jane Weber has seen the notations “worry over the war,” “gassed during the war” on patient records from the former Toledo State Hospital. She knows some returning soldiers likely suffered from what is known today as post-traumatic stress disorder, but she also knows many veterans who were admitted to the psychiatric hospital in the late 1800s and early 1900s were undoubtedly brought there for physical ailments or age-related conditions like dementia.

May 25, 2012 Senate gives Taunton State Hospital a reprieve

State senators voted on Thursday to give a reprieve to a psychiatric hospital that Gov. Deval Patrick had planned to close as they made progress toward voting on the Senate’s nearly $32.3 billion budget proposal. After passing 55 of the 250 budget amendments they discussed Wednesday, the state Senate resumed debate on the remaining proposals Thursday. It’s unclear when the chamber will vote on the bill. Sen. Marc Pacheco said no one ever gets exactly what they want in the budget. The Taunton Democrat pointed to the amendment that would keep Taunton State Hospital open by maintaining 72 beds. The proposal passed, despite efforts by Gov. Deval Patrick and the state’s House of Representatives to close the over 150-year-old facility.

May 21, 2012 Fergus Falls officials selling off portion of Regional Treatment Center

Fergus Falls city officials are selling off part of the Regional Treatment Center as it continues to look for options to avoid the wrecking ball. The city has made a deal with a group for a section of the former state hospital that currently has six houses on it. They plan to refurbish them and rent them out.

May 15, 2012 Residents say state plan for hospital site falls short

Near a sleepy bend in the Charles River, below the moldering wards of the shuttered Medfield State Hospital, there are broad fields that are anything but bucolic. Buried beneath the tall grass and shrubs across more than 200 acres rests the detritus from another era: ash filled with arsenic, lead, and cadmium from a former coal-fired power plant on the property, along with demolition debris filled with asbestos and decomposing medical supplies such as syringes, bandages, catheters, and intravenous solution bags

May 8, 2012 Former Harrisburg State Hospital grounds on list of state properties that could be for sale

Department of General Services Secretary Sheri Phillips told the Senate State Government Committee that the state could generate up to $9.3 million through the sale of five unused properties, including a piece of the former Harrisburg State Hospital and the Scotland School for Veterans Children.

May 8, 2012 Pennsylvania seeks to sell Allentown State Hospital

Pennsylvania is seeking to sell Allentown State Hospital in Allentown and the Weaversville Secure Treatment Facility in East Allen Township, both of which are closed and vacant. They are among five unused properties the state hopes to sell as part of a plan to generate $9.3 million and save $3.6 million in annual maintenance costs.

April 27, 2012 Demolition continues at former state hospital site

Demolition at the former site of the Brainerd State Hospital is continuing this spring, bringing an end to a facility that once employed many workers and in 1967 cared for an average daily population of 1,294 residents. Opening in 1958, the state hospital saw its patient numbers steadily decline from the early 1970s until the early 1990s, when smaller, community-based treatment facilities became more prevalent. The state campus was a landmark at the junction of Highways 25 and 18.

April 26, 2012 Fate of Taunton State Hospital remains uncertain

The House has supported the Patrick administration's plan to close Taunton State Hospital but approved an amendment requiring some privately run mental health beds in Southeastern Massachusetts. "We're not done with this issue yet. This is just a first step," said Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford. "We have secured at least an initial number of 30 beds to remain in the region, and that's important." But Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, said he is disappointed in the House and the fact that the amendment passed late Tuesday by a voice vote. The Patrick-Murray administration stunned SouthCoast in January by announcing it would close the state mental hospital in Taunton on Dec. 31. The plan calls for moving most of the hospital's beds to a new facility in Worcester and the rest of them to Tewksbury Hospital. The roughly 400 employees at Taunton State Hospital will have job opportunities at the new center in Worcester, according to the administration.

April 25, 2012 Developer has big plans for old State Hospital in Bartonville

The old building is still filled with asbestos, but Richard Weiss is already booking overnight stays in the genuinely creepy building that was once called the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane. "I'm thrilled," Weiss said Wednesday. "The city seems happy, too, but it was still 50/50 and the mayor had to break the tie. But everything's good news now that we have the approval." The Village Board agreed to use tax increment financing money to remove asbestos inside the 50,000-square-foot Bowen Building, one of the last remaining buildings on the grounds of the old State Hospital that closed in 1973.

April 22, 2012 Stall in plans for memorial for Oregon cremains

The cremains of thousands of Oregon State Hospital patients — some abandoned, others forgotten — still linger within corroded copper canisters; their location a closely guarded secret. A historic building constructed in 1896 is expected to house the remains, transforming the space into a public memorial and final resting place for the unclaimed souls. But the dead will have to wait. Plans to create the memorial, initially scheduled for completion this year, have come to a halt after the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission recently decided the project didn’t meet all the national standards for restoring historic buildings.

April 19, 2012 Henryton Hospital Fires Put Firefighters at Risk

The fire at Henryton State Hospital this weekend that required the assistance of four counties, 48,000 gallons of water and a couple thousand feet of hose has become a familiar occurrence for local firefighters. The location has always been a nuisance for the Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department, said Bill Rehkopf, volunteer firefighter and public information officer. Rehkopf has worked at the department for about 10 years. According to reports and Rehkopf's anecdotal experiences, fires have been breaking out at the abandoned hospital for at least that long. The last few years have seen a noted increase in frequency.

April 5, 2012 Last patients to leave Dorothea Dix in August

Dorothea Dix Hospital will close its doors to its last patients in August, the Council of State voted Tuesday, ending an era of treating the mentally ill that began in 1856. State officials agreed to transfer the last 30 beds, including 22 patients, that are part of the forensic minimum security unit to Central Regional Hospital in Butner. It was expected to be the final step in what has been a decades-long process of closing the psychiatric hospital located just south of downtown Raleigh.

March 19, 2012 Norwich council happily votes not to block sale of hospital site

In a widely expected move, the Norwich City Council on Monday voted not to match a $300,000 offer for the purchase of its portion of the former Norwich State Hospital property on Laurel Hill Road. The 6-0 vote clears the way for a private developer to acquire the state-owned 49.6 acres, returning the land to city tax rolls once the transaction is complete. “I can really sum this up by saying, ‘hooray,’ ” Council President Pro Tempore Peter Desaulniers said. “Now, perhaps we can get some money back for this property. I think it’s a good deal.”

March 15, 2012 Closure of A.G. Hospital raises questions about what will happen to TB patients

More than 60 years after the A.G. Holley State Hospital opened in Palm Beach County, lawmakers decided last week to shutter Florida's last tuberculosis hospital. But questions remain about how the state will handle the relatively few --- but complex and contagious --- TB patients who would otherwise get treatment from A.G. Holley in the future. The state Department of Health will have to submit a plan by May 31 for closing the hospital and taking care of patients, with the plan fully in effect by Jan. 1. But the questions center on issues such as which other hospitals would treat the patients and how much Medicaid money would be available.

March 2, 2012 Patients moving into new Oregon State Hospital

A third and final wave of patients will move into new quarters at the rehabilitated Oregon State Hospital in March, capping years of effort to replace the decrepit institution that was once the site of the filming of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." The $280 million, 620-bed complex replaces run-down buildings on the Salem campus that more recently drew attention from investigators at the U.S. Justice Department. Dozens of structures were demolished, The Statesman Journal reported, including portions of the hospital's J Building, where the movie starring Jack Nicholson was filmed.

March 1, 2012 GC takes lead in Central State reuse plan, collaborates with city

The city of Milledgeville, Baldwin County and Georgia College are in the process of redeveloping Central State Hospital into a center for rural health care delivery and education. The Central State Hospital (CSH) reuse is anchored by a GC initiative called the Center of Excellence for Rural Health Care Delivery. The CSH campus will not only serve as a rural health care and education center, but it will also be an extension of GC’s health education programs.

February 24, 2012 Pink slips for dozens of Vt State Hospital workers

Becky Moore came to the Vermont Statehouse Friday hoping to persuade senators on the mental health bill. Instead she found herself defending her job."I was completely taken off guard and I'm concerned for my fellow workers," she said. Moore is a psychiatric supervisor at the Vermont State Hospital which was evacuated in August after Tropical Storm Irene.

February 17, 2012 Deal Struck for Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower

Preservation Worcester is claiming victory in its long fight to save the Worcester State Hospital Clock Tower, GoLocalWorcester has learned. “We’ve been working with the state for the past 6 or 7 years, and we’ve had a few setbacks. It’s a fantastic victory from the standpoint that last summer the entire structure was going to be demolished,” Preservation Worcester Executive Director, Deborah Packard, told GoLocalWorcester. The Clock Tower will be photographed and measured specifically from top to bottom, and replicated as a monument. The 114-foot Clock Tower was originally part of the Worcester Lunatic Hospital, which was the nation’s 1st hospital to care for the criminally insane. The structure dates back to 1875.