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

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{{FAformat
|Title= Lawrence Frick State Hospital
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|Title= W.T. Edwards Sanitarium
|Image= LFSH_Postcard_1.jpg
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|Image= Pr11480.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
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|Body= From the State Web Page: The State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Cresson, which is located on Old Route 22, approximately one mile east of the town of Cresson in Cambria County, has a rich history of service to the health and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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|Body= Though information is vague, Florida archives note W. T. Edwards as an important figure in state healthcare, donating significant amounts of money to various medical facilities. When a new series of state-of-the-art tuberculosis hospitals opened in roughly 1952, they were named in honor of W. T. Edwards. The hospitals were located all over the state of Florida, including Tampa, Lantana, Marianna, Tallahassee, Miami and several other cities in south Florida.
  
Beginning with the donation of the land by steel tycoon and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and prescribed by the Act of Assembly in June 1910, the Cresson Tuberculosis Sanatorium was opened in 1916. The location was considered as ideal due to the abundance of fresh air and the treatments used to combat the disease. The present administration building was built in the European style with gargoyles on the tower and the crests of Scottish clans cut into the sandstone as a reminder of Mr. Carnegie’s heritage.
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All of the hospital buildings were constructed in the same basic way. The main buildings were all very long and thin, consisting of 5 floors with a few smaller wings branching off from the main building. At the time, it was thought that fresh air was the best treatment for TB, so the buildings were riddled with multi-pane windows which could be opened by cranks. The back side of each building was a wall of windows, while the front windows were more evenly spaced apart, especially in sections that did not house patients.
  
With the introduction of new drugs and treatments for tuberculosis, the need for sanatoriums declined. In December of 1956 the facility was incorporated into the Lawrence F. Flick State Hospital being run by the Department of Public Welfare to treat the mentally retarded. The facility remained in operation until December 1982.
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When the vaccine for TB was discovered, there was no longer a need for tuberculosis hospitals and the W. T. Edwards Hospitals were all closed by the start of the 1960s. The facilities fell under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Health and it wouldn't take long for the hospitals to reopen as Sunlands across the state.
  
In 1983 the facility was converted into a state correctional institution under the Bureau of Corrections. Under Executive Order 1983-1, Governor Dick Thornburgh directed that the Bureau of Correction convert the facility to a state correctional institution. Total allocation for design and renovation was $20.6 million. First Lady Ginny Thornburgh, as an advocate of the mentally retarded, requested that the cemetery used by the facility since its inception be maintained as a memorial by the institution. Today the maintenance department and the inmates of SCI Cresson carry on this work.  [[Lawrence Frick State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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In 1967 the hospital reopened under the Sunland system and admitted it's first ten residents. However, very early on in it's second existence, the center was plagued by a lack of funds and staff leading to rumors of neglect and abuse. The center was soon closed in 1983 where it lay abandoned until it was demolished in 2006.  [[W.T. Edwards Sanitarium|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 04:39, 30 October 2016

Featured Article Of The Week

W.T. Edwards Sanitarium


Pr11480.jpg

Though information is vague, Florida archives note W. T. Edwards as an important figure in state healthcare, donating significant amounts of money to various medical facilities. When a new series of state-of-the-art tuberculosis hospitals opened in roughly 1952, they were named in honor of W. T. Edwards. The hospitals were located all over the state of Florida, including Tampa, Lantana, Marianna, Tallahassee, Miami and several other cities in south Florida.

All of the hospital buildings were constructed in the same basic way. The main buildings were all very long and thin, consisting of 5 floors with a few smaller wings branching off from the main building. At the time, it was thought that fresh air was the best treatment for TB, so the buildings were riddled with multi-pane windows which could be opened by cranks. The back side of each building was a wall of windows, while the front windows were more evenly spaced apart, especially in sections that did not house patients.

When the vaccine for TB was discovered, there was no longer a need for tuberculosis hospitals and the W. T. Edwards Hospitals were all closed by the start of the 1960s. The facilities fell under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Health and it wouldn't take long for the hospitals to reopen as Sunlands across the state.

In 1967 the hospital reopened under the Sunland system and admitted it's first ten residents. However, very early on in it's second existence, the center was plagued by a lack of funds and staff leading to rumors of neglect and abuse. The center was soon closed in 1983 where it lay abandoned until it was demolished in 2006. Click here for more...