Editing Cleveland State Hospital
From Asylum Projects
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
In its early years, the hospital had a homelike atmosphere; patients and staff usually dined together. An "open" facility, most patients were free to make use of the grounds. After a fire in 1872, a more substantial structure was built, with capacity for 650 patients. But by 1874 there were reports of overcrowding, a persistent problem. By 1900 the hospital had cared for over 10,000 patients. At this time it began to treat mainly poorer patients, including an increasing number admitted by the courts, further adding to patient numbers (2,000 by 1920). Although Cleveland State Hospital kept pace with progress in medicine, conditions continued to decline in the 1920s and 1930s because of overcrowding and irregular state support. In 1946 investigations by the Cleveland Press and the newly formed Cleveland Mental Health Assn. revealed brutality and criminal neglect, and often squalid conditions. | In its early years, the hospital had a homelike atmosphere; patients and staff usually dined together. An "open" facility, most patients were free to make use of the grounds. After a fire in 1872, a more substantial structure was built, with capacity for 650 patients. But by 1874 there were reports of overcrowding, a persistent problem. By 1900 the hospital had cared for over 10,000 patients. At this time it began to treat mainly poorer patients, including an increasing number admitted by the courts, further adding to patient numbers (2,000 by 1920). Although Cleveland State Hospital kept pace with progress in medicine, conditions continued to decline in the 1920s and 1930s because of overcrowding and irregular state support. In 1946 investigations by the Cleveland Press and the newly formed Cleveland Mental Health Assn. revealed brutality and criminal neglect, and often squalid conditions. | ||
| β | Conditions improved with the development of social services, psychology, group work, occupational therapy, volunteer services, and out-patient clinics, but budget cutbacks in 1961 eliminated 29 activity programs. In 1962, for 2,700 patients there were 12 ward doctors and 10 registered nurses to supervise 250 attendants. During the 1960s, the patient population dropped from 3,000 to 1,800, closer to the intended capacity of 1,500. The state began phasing out the Cleveland State Hospital in 1972; in 1975 it became the Cleveland Development Center, a care facility | + | Conditions improved with the development of social services, psychology, group work, occupational therapy, volunteer services, and out-patient clinics, but budget cutbacks in 1961 eliminated 29 activity programs. In 1962, for 2,700 patients there were 12 ward doctors and 10 registered nurses to supervise 250 attendants. During the 1960s, the patient population dropped from 3,000 to 1,800, closer to the intended capacity of 1,500. The state began phasing out the Cleveland State Hospital in 1972; in 1975 it became the Cleveland Development Center, a care facility for the mentally retarded. The old main building on Turney Rd. was demolished in 1977.<ref>''From the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History''</ref> |
== Images of Cleveland State Hospital == | == Images of Cleveland State Hospital == | ||
