Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

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{{FAformat
|Title= Medfield State Hospital
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|Title= Ypsilanti State Hospital
|Image= Medfield01.png
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|Image= ypsilantiMI002.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= Medfield State Hospital was founded by an act of the State Legislature in 1892. The property consisted of several hundred acres and twenty two buildings. Over the years the buildings and land were increased until it reached its maximum size of some fifty eight buildings and nine hundred plus acres.
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|Body= During the 1920s the necessity for an additional state hospital became apparent. The combined capacity of the existing state hospitals was 1,900 beds short of what was considered adequate. In 1929 Governor Green proposed that a fifth state hospital be developed. The first appropriation of $1.5 million for the fiscal year ending 1930 was passed. Ypsilanti was chosen because of it's population density and proximity to the University Center in Ann Arbor as well as it's availability of land. Purchase of the 1,209 acres was begun in 1929.
  
The Hospital has had as many as 2,200 patients on the property and a staff of in the range of 500-900 persons. It was in effect, a self contained community with a population at the time rivaling the size of the Town of Medfield. The facility supplied its own power, heat, water, sewage system, and raised its own livestock and produce. Medfield State Hospital claimed to be the first mental health hospital to be built on the “cottage plan” with individual buildings to allow for better light ventilation, easier classification, and to create a more homelike environment.
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On June 16, 1930 the breaking of ground was underway. The following year the Legislature formalized the name and function for the institution. The architectural firm of Albert Kahn designed the buildings and contracts were let out for construction work to 35 separate companies. Construction work was pushed at what was described as a "miracle pace".
  
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.  [[Medfield State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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The first patients were admitted one day short of the 1 year mark since the groundbreaking. At the time of the formal dedication, July 28, 1931, the physical plant consisted of the receiving hospital and administration building ("A" building), C-1 and C-2 blocks with combined facilities for approximately 900 patients; the unit containing 6 apartments ("J" building); dormitory and apartments for employees (K-1); powerhouse, warehouse & the superintendents quarters. All main buildings to which patients would have need of access were connected by underground tunnels.  [[Ypsilanti State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 05:11, 27 November 2022

Featured Article Of The Week

Ypsilanti State Hospital


ypsilantiMI002.jpg

During the 1920s the necessity for an additional state hospital became apparent. The combined capacity of the existing state hospitals was 1,900 beds short of what was considered adequate. In 1929 Governor Green proposed that a fifth state hospital be developed. The first appropriation of $1.5 million for the fiscal year ending 1930 was passed. Ypsilanti was chosen because of it's population density and proximity to the University Center in Ann Arbor as well as it's availability of land. Purchase of the 1,209 acres was begun in 1929.

On June 16, 1930 the breaking of ground was underway. The following year the Legislature formalized the name and function for the institution. The architectural firm of Albert Kahn designed the buildings and contracts were let out for construction work to 35 separate companies. Construction work was pushed at what was described as a "miracle pace".

The first patients were admitted one day short of the 1 year mark since the groundbreaking. At the time of the formal dedication, July 28, 1931, the physical plant consisted of the receiving hospital and administration building ("A" building), C-1 and C-2 blocks with combined facilities for approximately 900 patients; the unit containing 6 apartments ("J" building); dormitory and apartments for employees (K-1); powerhouse, warehouse & the superintendents quarters. All main buildings to which patients would have need of access were connected by underground tunnels. Click here for more...