Oregon State Hospital
Encyclopedia
Oregon State Hospital in Salem
, Oregon
, United States
, is the primary state-run psychiatric hospital
in the state of Oregon since Dammasch State Hospital
closed in 1995. The facility is best known as the filming location for the Academy Award-winning film
based on Ken Kesey
's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
. The hospital (along with the state legislature
) has been criticized as providing substandard mental health care.
, and Pendleton
) is typically close to 750 patients. The Oregon Department of Corrections
also treats persons with mental illness and a 2004 report found that 1623 prisoners in the state prison facilities had serious and persistent mental illness.
In March 2005, the state closed the adolescent treatment ward of the Oregon State Hospital, which now provides services only to people over the age of 18. Deputy Hospital Superintendent Nena Strickland was named Interim Superintendent of Oregon State Hospital effective April 2, 2010. She succeeded Roy J. Orr, who resigned at the request of Richard Harris, Deputy Director of Addictions and Mental Health, following the release of a state report which concluded that the hospital failed to provide adequate care and treatment for a patient, Moises Perez, age 42, who died there in October 2009. Orr had been Superintendent since February 2008. Harris' current responsibility includes state hospitals in Salem, Portland and Pendleton; in addition to the staff who work with county governments to deliver statewide mental-health and addiction services. The previous state hospital administrator was Marvin Fickle from 2004–2008. Stan Mazur-Hart was administrator from 1991–2004.
Built in 1883 as the Oregon State Insane Asylum, much of the original structure remains in use. Some wings of the original building, however, have been off-limits due to physical deterioration.
The original Oregon State Hospital for the Insane was established by J.C. Hawthorne in what was then East Portland, Oregon
, (now the Hawthorne District
). It was built in 1862, and the street on which it was built was renamed Asylum Street. Local residents protested about the name, however, and it was renamed Hawthorne in honor of the hospital's founder in 1888.
The street in Salem on which the current hospital is located, Center Street, was also originally named Asylum Avenue.
violations.
Another controversy at the hospital involves the fate of over 5000 cans of human cremated
remains that are warehoused at the site. The remains were the subject of a Pulitzer Prize
-winning series by The Oregonian
newspaper.
A report from the United States Department of Justice
criticized the quality of care provided to patients by the hospital.
A $458 million plan approved by the Oregon Legislative Assembly
in 2007 calls for the construction of a replacement hospital in Salem with as many as 620 beds, as well as a 360-bed facility in Junction City
. Most of the dilapidated, 125-year-old main building will be torn down and replaced starting in the fall of 2008. Construction of the Salem facility is set to begin in 2009, and be completed by 2011; the Junction City facility would be completed by 2013. Salem mayor Janet Taylor has called for the number of beds to be reduced to 320 or fewer, and another hospital facility to be built in or near Portland.
During a 2008 excavation, artifacts dating to an 1850s-era frontier homestead were uncovered on the grounds of the Oregon State Hospital campus. Recovered items included earthen dishes, glass windows, a canning jar and a lamp chimney. Further excavation will be required to determine if the artifacts are connected to the 1852 homestead of Morgan L. "Lute" Savage.
Pre-production for a documentary film about the Oregon State Hospital was announced in January 2009.
and the Oregon State Capitol
, these rumors are false. The tunnels only connect different buildings of the State Hospital together. The narrow gauge railroad did extend to the penitentiary but not within a tunnel; remnants of this line still exist as of November 2008. The State Capitol and associated buildings still have a tunnel system to this day (parts of which are publicly accessible) but they have never been connected to the State Hospital.
While the narrow gauge railroad is no longer used, the tunnels are used daily to deliver food, laundry, and other items, and occasionally patients between different buildings. The rails are evident in many places but the flange
ways are filled in, leaving only the head of the rail
exposed.
Today the preferred method of transport within the tunnels are electric carts and occasionally bicycles. When the railroad was used, cars made of bamboo were pushed to their destinations. Few spur
s or sidings were found on the railroad, so cars were simply stopped on the track where it was necessary to load or unload them, and then pushed away. A number of the bamboo railroad cars still exist but have been converted to non-rail cars by removing the railroad wheels and adding casters; several of these cars are earmarked to be used in the future State Hospital museum and are currently in storage in a hospital facilities warehouse.
In addition to the narrow gauge railroad, a standard gauge
railroad spur from the Southern Pacific's Geer Branch extended north from the penitentiary to the State Hospital. A portion of the grade of this spur remains along with two short portions of the standard gauge rails embedded in asphalt within and outside of a wood products manufacturing area on the hospital grounds. This spur has been unused for many years and the Geer Branch itself was abandoned in the mid-1990s.
on February 28, 2008.
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, is the primary state-run psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
in the state of Oregon since Dammasch State Hospital
Dammasch State Hospital
Dammasch State Hospital was a mental hospital, asylum, and educational center located in Wilsonville, Oregon, United States. It opened in 1961 and closed in 1995. After its closure, the former site was embroiled in local controversy as it was a proposed location for a women's prison, which angered...
closed in 1995. The facility is best known as the filming location for the Academy Award-winning film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
based on Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon asylum, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional process and the human mind, as well as a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles. Written in 1959, the novel was adapted into a...
. The hospital (along with the state legislature
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
) has been criticized as providing substandard mental health care.
Population and administration
About two-thirds of the hospital's patients were found guilty of crimes, but found to be insane. Others were determined to be a danger to themselves or to others. The current census of the state hospitals in Oregon (in Salem, PortlandPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, and Pendleton
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Pendleton was named in 1868 by the county commissioners for George H. Pendleton, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in the 1864 presidential campaign. The population was 16,612 at the 2010 census...
) is typically close to 750 patients. The Oregon Department of Corrections
Oregon Department of Corrections
The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 14 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987...
also treats persons with mental illness and a 2004 report found that 1623 prisoners in the state prison facilities had serious and persistent mental illness.
In March 2005, the state closed the adolescent treatment ward of the Oregon State Hospital, which now provides services only to people over the age of 18. Deputy Hospital Superintendent Nena Strickland was named Interim Superintendent of Oregon State Hospital effective April 2, 2010. She succeeded Roy J. Orr, who resigned at the request of Richard Harris, Deputy Director of Addictions and Mental Health, following the release of a state report which concluded that the hospital failed to provide adequate care and treatment for a patient, Moises Perez, age 42, who died there in October 2009. Orr had been Superintendent since February 2008. Harris' current responsibility includes state hospitals in Salem, Portland and Pendleton; in addition to the staff who work with county governments to deliver statewide mental-health and addiction services. The previous state hospital administrator was Marvin Fickle from 2004–2008. Stan Mazur-Hart was administrator from 1991–2004.
Nineteenth century
The original Oregon State Hospital for the Insane was established by J.C. Hawthorne in what was then East Portland, Oregon
East Portland, Oregon
East Portland was a city in the U.S. state of Oregon that was consolidated into Portland in 1891. It was founded on a land claim by James B. Stephens in 1846, who bought a land claim from John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company...
, (now the Hawthorne District
Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon
The Hawthorne District in Portland, Oregon is an area of Southeast Portland on SE Hawthorne Blvd., particularly between 30th and 42nd Avenues. The area has numerous retail stores, including clothing shops, restaurants, bars, brewpubs and microbreweries. Hawthorne district is known for its young,...
). It was built in 1862, and the street on which it was built was renamed Asylum Street. Local residents protested about the name, however, and it was renamed Hawthorne in honor of the hospital's founder in 1888.
The street in Salem on which the current hospital is located, Center Street, was also originally named Asylum Avenue.
Twenty-first century
In 2005, an architectural assessment of the facility determined that the site was unsafe. On August 8, 2006, the hospital was fined USD $10,200 for asbestosAsbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
violations.
Another controversy at the hospital involves the fate of over 5000 cans of human cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
remains that are warehoused at the site. The remains were the subject of a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning series by The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
newspaper.
A report from the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
criticized the quality of care provided to patients by the hospital.
A $458 million plan approved by the Oregon Legislative Assembly
Oregon Legislative Assembly
The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...
in 2007 calls for the construction of a replacement hospital in Salem with as many as 620 beds, as well as a 360-bed facility in Junction City
Junction City, Oregon
Junction City is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The population was 5,392 at the 2010 census.- History :In the 1870s, Junction City was named by railroad magnate Ben Holladay, who decided this would be where the rail line on the east side of the Willamette Valley would meet the rail...
. Most of the dilapidated, 125-year-old main building will be torn down and replaced starting in the fall of 2008. Construction of the Salem facility is set to begin in 2009, and be completed by 2011; the Junction City facility would be completed by 2013. Salem mayor Janet Taylor has called for the number of beds to be reduced to 320 or fewer, and another hospital facility to be built in or near Portland.
During a 2008 excavation, artifacts dating to an 1850s-era frontier homestead were uncovered on the grounds of the Oregon State Hospital campus. Recovered items included earthen dishes, glass windows, a canning jar and a lamp chimney. Further excavation will be required to determine if the artifacts are connected to the 1852 homestead of Morgan L. "Lute" Savage.
Pre-production for a documentary film about the Oregon State Hospital was announced in January 2009.
Facilities
The remains of a narrow gauge railroad can be seen on the grounds of the hospital, leading into different tunnels and buildings. The tunnels allowed the hospital to move patients between buildings without the public observing and are marked by purple-colored glass prisms embedded in the roads to provide lighting. While it is rumored that the tunnels connected the hospital to the Oregon State PenitentiaryOregon State Penitentiary
Oregon State Penitentiary , the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851. In 1866 it was moved to a site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging in height...
and the Oregon State Capitol
Oregon State Capitol
The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. The current building, constructed from 1936 to 1938, and expanded in 1977, is the third...
, these rumors are false. The tunnels only connect different buildings of the State Hospital together. The narrow gauge railroad did extend to the penitentiary but not within a tunnel; remnants of this line still exist as of November 2008. The State Capitol and associated buildings still have a tunnel system to this day (parts of which are publicly accessible) but they have never been connected to the State Hospital.
While the narrow gauge railroad is no longer used, the tunnels are used daily to deliver food, laundry, and other items, and occasionally patients between different buildings. The rails are evident in many places but the flange
Flange
A flange is an external or internal ridge, or rim , for strength, as the flange of an iron beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc., or on the lens mount of a camera; or for a flange of a rail car or tram wheel...
ways are filled in, leaving only the head of the rail
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
exposed.
Today the preferred method of transport within the tunnels are electric carts and occasionally bicycles. When the railroad was used, cars made of bamboo were pushed to their destinations. Few spur
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
s or sidings were found on the railroad, so cars were simply stopped on the track where it was necessary to load or unload them, and then pushed away. A number of the bamboo railroad cars still exist but have been converted to non-rail cars by removing the railroad wheels and adding casters; several of these cars are earmarked to be used in the future State Hospital museum and are currently in storage in a hospital facilities warehouse.
In addition to the narrow gauge railroad, a standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
railroad spur from the Southern Pacific's Geer Branch extended north from the penitentiary to the State Hospital. A portion of the grade of this spur remains along with two short portions of the standard gauge rails embedded in asphalt within and outside of a wood products manufacturing area on the hospital grounds. This spur has been unused for many years and the Geer Branch itself was abandoned in the mid-1990s.
Historic district
The Oregon State Hospital Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on February 28, 2008.
External links
- Rebuilding an Institution, the Statesman Journals Oregon State Hospital Coverage
- Mental Health Association of Portland page about OSH cremains.
- Oregon State Hospital - documentary film in production about the Oregon State Hospital.
Articles
Images
- Oregon State Hospital, in Building Oregon, from State Historic Preservation Office
- Historic images from Salem Public Library
- Photos of hospital interior: "Asylum" photo essay by David MaiselDavid Maisel-Life:Maisel attended Harvard University and earned an MBA. His first job was with Boston Consulting Group. Maisel was later employed at Walt Disney Co. and the Endeavor Talent Agency. IN 2004, Avi Arad introduced Maisel to Isaac Perlmutter who hired Maisel as Marvel Studios Chief Operating...
- Photos of cremains cans: "Library of Dust" photo essay by David Maisel
- Gallery of images from The Oregonian