State Mental Hospitals: What Happens When They Close

The 1970s constitute the decade of decisions about state mental hospi­ tals! These large, monolithic, and seemingly impervious institutions are being phased out in some states and their basic purpose for exis­ tence is being seriously questioned in almost all others. Since 1970, hospitals have closed in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Washington, and Wisconsin. Simi­ lar closings have occurred in several provinces of Canada, in Great Britain, and in some European countries. The purpose of the book is to examine the multiple issues growing out of the hospital closings: Why are the state hospitals being closed? What is the impact of closings on patients, hospital staff, and the communities where the hospitals are located? What has been the impact on the communities receiving these patients? What are the trends for the future, in terms of numbers of closings and types of hospitals which will remain? Is there a role for the state hospital in the care of the mentally ill or is it an obsolete institution? The impetus for the closings is diverse. The discovery and wide­ spread use of the tranquilizing drugs in the early 1950s allowed more patients to be returned to the community-under medication.