Editing Medfield State Hospital

During the Kennedy Administration, in the early 1960s, Congress passed a law requiring that all mental health patients in the United States be housed or hospitalized in the least restrictive environment possible. In the early seventies, as a result of this law, patients, guardians, and parents of patients filed a class action suit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to require the DMH to conform with the federal law. In 1974, a federal court consent decree was entered into by the DMH resulting in the relocation of most mental patients from isolated mental institutions to community based halfway houses and hospitals. A result of this decision has been to reduce the number of patients at Medfield to approximately 200. It has also set in motion DMH’s plan to eventually dispose all or part of the Medfield facility, along with seven other similar institutions across the State.

During the Kennedy Administration, in the early 1960s, Congress passed a law requiring that all mental health patients in the United States be housed or hospitalized in the least restrictive environment possible. In the early seventies, as a result of this law, patients, guardians, and parents of patients filed a class action suit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Department of Mental Health (DMH) to require the DMH to conform with the federal law. In 1974, a federal court consent decree was entered into by the DMH resulting in the relocation of most mental patients from isolated mental institutions to community based halfway houses and hospitals. A result of this decision has been to reduce the number of patients at Medfield to approximately 200. It has also set in motion DMH’s plan to eventually dispose all or part of the Medfield facility, along with seven other similar institutions across the State.

The Town of Medfield purchased the property from DCAMM in December 2014. Prior to the purchase by the town, a mediation committee worked with DCAMM to complete the remediation of the former State Hospital landfill area adjacent to the Charles River. A $5 Million Dollar cleanup restored the floodplain and capped impacted landfill material on site, converting the former power plant area into a public park. Since closing, the hospital also served as filming locations for motion pictures such as Shutter Island, The Box, and Knives Out.

The Town of Medfield purchased the property from DCAMM in December 2014. Prior to the purchase by the town, a mediation committee worked with DCAMM to complete the remediation of the former State Hospital landfill area adjacent to the Charles River. A $5 Million Dollar cleanup restored the floodplain and capped impacted landfill material on site, converting the former power plant area into a public park. Since closing, the hospital also served as filming locations for motion pictures such as Shutter Island, The Box, and Knives Out.