Difference between revisions of "Mt Pleasant State Hospital"
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| building_style = [[Kirkbirde Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]] (Demolished) | | building_style = [[Kirkbirde Planned Institutions|Kirkbride Plan]] (Demolished) | ||
| architect(s) = Jonathan Preston | | architect(s) = Jonathan Preston | ||
| − | | location = | + | | location = Mount Pleasant, Iowa |
| architecture_style = | | architecture_style = | ||
| peak_patient_population = 1,581 in 1946 | | peak_patient_population = 1,581 in 1946 | ||
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*Iowa State Hospital for the Insane | *Iowa State Hospital for the Insane | ||
*Mount Pleasant Lunatic Asylum | *Mount Pleasant Lunatic Asylum | ||
| + | *Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility (Current) | ||
}} | }} | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | + | The first patient was admitted on February 26, 1861. In the early years of its operation, the facility was a custodial facility for patients who were hospitalized for long periods of time, some for the greater part of their lives. Mt. Pleasant went through the years updating the building as needed. 1870 saw the purchase of thirty-seven and a half acres of serviceable farmland. Four years later, the engine house caught fire destroying the boiler of the hospital. The General Assembly immediately appropriated funds for construction of a new boiler house. During this period, worry over tuberculosis dominated many municipalities including the city of Mt. Pleasant and the asylum. The board of trustees constructed and implemented a new tuberculosis cottage. In the same year, 1878, it expanded the kitchen and improved the transportation of water throughout the facility. | |
| − | + | By 1884, both hospitals were in the middle of huge development projects. Mt. Pleasant erected additional east (men's) and west (women's) wings; completed in 1885 and 1887, respectively. Although each hospital provided care for hundreds of additional patients, roughly 200 per expansion, it still fell short of solving the population problem. The government removed dangerous and criminally insane and moved them to the newly built the department for the criminally insane in Anamosa. | |
| − | The | + | On August 10, 1936. A fire consumed parts of the main building, chapel, recreation building, and employee dormitory. Mt. Pleasant evacuated all 1,300 plus patients. Hundreds from the town came out to aid the insane; they formed a human chain to contain the meandering patients. One woman wandered off and was never heard from again. Iowa immediately appropriated $215,000 for repairs, with up to $502,000 available over the next two years for construction. Mt. Pleasant turned the catastrophe into an opportunity to redesign the damaged space into a more modern medical facility. The Board of Control drew up plans for a larger, combination chapel and amusement hall with a centralized kitchen. The new spaces could relieve overcrowding by 1,000. |
| + | |||
| + | Between 1940 and 1944, the denizens of Mt. Pleasant went from roughly 12% to almost 19% of all mental institutions populations. The average numbers of inhabitants stayed several hundred over the suggested level. The majority of new admittance cases remained the elderly. Experts thought the rapid proliferation of the aged as a wartime trend. But rising populations spanned the next twenty-five years. By 1946, over half the population of Mt. Pleasant consisted of civilians over sixty; most were incurable cases of senility limited to their beds. The old required more hands on treatment and produced nothing; they cost Iowa large sums of money and gave zero back | ||
| + | to the state. In 1946, the facility reached its peak occupancy of 1,581. Since 1945 however, new therapies and medications have helped decrease the facility's population, and the individual's average length of stay has been reduced from years to a matter of weeks. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In 1966, Iowa gained a federal grant of $25,000 yearly, for professional training programs. The American Psychiatric Association recommended a ratio of eight to one, wards to staff. Through the previous measures, the facility hired more personnel and achieved a ratio of twenty to one, down from 246-1. Mt. Pleasant kept up-to-date treatments, they hired a full time pathologists, cosmetologist, psychologist, chaplain, and numerous social service workers. In the few short years between 1950 and 1960, Mt. Pleasant built new employee housing to open up the main building for administrative tasks and make more patient room available. Several cottages appeared on the farm lands to relieve the filled halls. The institution also replaced part of the original structure with a state-of-the-art 249 bed wing. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In July, 2015 the hospital closed, along with [[Clarinda State Hospital]].<ref>http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/01/iowa-mental-health-institutes-closed-branstad/29571527/</ref> | ||
'''From the "BOARD OF CONTROL OF STATE INSTITUTIONS, From Iowa Official Register 1909-1910" pages 262-269''' | '''From the "BOARD OF CONTROL OF STATE INSTITUTIONS, From Iowa Official Register 1909-1910" pages 262-269''' | ||
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The amount allowed for the support of this hospital is $12 per month for each patient. All expenses of the hospital, except for special purposes, are paid from the sum so named, and the amount is charged to the counties from which patients are sent. | The amount allowed for the support of this hospital is $12 per month for each patient. All expenses of the hospital, except for special purposes, are paid from the sum so named, and the amount is charged to the counties from which patients are sent. | ||
| − | |||
== Images of Mt Pleasant State Hospital == | == Images of Mt Pleasant State Hospital == | ||
Latest revision as of 00:32, 12 February 2026
| Mt Pleasant State Hospital | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Construction Began | 1855 |
| Construction Ended | 1865 |
| Opened | 1861 |
| Closed | 2015 |
| Current Status | Closed |
| Building Style | Kirkbride Plan (Demolished) |
| Architect(s) | Jonathan Preston |
| Location | Mount Pleasant, Iowa |
| Peak Patient Population | 1,581 in 1946 |
| Alternate Names |
|
History
The first patient was admitted on February 26, 1861. In the early years of its operation, the facility was a custodial facility for patients who were hospitalized for long periods of time, some for the greater part of their lives. Mt. Pleasant went through the years updating the building as needed. 1870 saw the purchase of thirty-seven and a half acres of serviceable farmland. Four years later, the engine house caught fire destroying the boiler of the hospital. The General Assembly immediately appropriated funds for construction of a new boiler house. During this period, worry over tuberculosis dominated many municipalities including the city of Mt. Pleasant and the asylum. The board of trustees constructed and implemented a new tuberculosis cottage. In the same year, 1878, it expanded the kitchen and improved the transportation of water throughout the facility.
By 1884, both hospitals were in the middle of huge development projects. Mt. Pleasant erected additional east (men's) and west (women's) wings; completed in 1885 and 1887, respectively. Although each hospital provided care for hundreds of additional patients, roughly 200 per expansion, it still fell short of solving the population problem. The government removed dangerous and criminally insane and moved them to the newly built the department for the criminally insane in Anamosa.
On August 10, 1936. A fire consumed parts of the main building, chapel, recreation building, and employee dormitory. Mt. Pleasant evacuated all 1,300 plus patients. Hundreds from the town came out to aid the insane; they formed a human chain to contain the meandering patients. One woman wandered off and was never heard from again. Iowa immediately appropriated $215,000 for repairs, with up to $502,000 available over the next two years for construction. Mt. Pleasant turned the catastrophe into an opportunity to redesign the damaged space into a more modern medical facility. The Board of Control drew up plans for a larger, combination chapel and amusement hall with a centralized kitchen. The new spaces could relieve overcrowding by 1,000.
Between 1940 and 1944, the denizens of Mt. Pleasant went from roughly 12% to almost 19% of all mental institutions populations. The average numbers of inhabitants stayed several hundred over the suggested level. The majority of new admittance cases remained the elderly. Experts thought the rapid proliferation of the aged as a wartime trend. But rising populations spanned the next twenty-five years. By 1946, over half the population of Mt. Pleasant consisted of civilians over sixty; most were incurable cases of senility limited to their beds. The old required more hands on treatment and produced nothing; they cost Iowa large sums of money and gave zero back to the state. In 1946, the facility reached its peak occupancy of 1,581. Since 1945 however, new therapies and medications have helped decrease the facility's population, and the individual's average length of stay has been reduced from years to a matter of weeks.
In 1966, Iowa gained a federal grant of $25,000 yearly, for professional training programs. The American Psychiatric Association recommended a ratio of eight to one, wards to staff. Through the previous measures, the facility hired more personnel and achieved a ratio of twenty to one, down from 246-1. Mt. Pleasant kept up-to-date treatments, they hired a full time pathologists, cosmetologist, psychologist, chaplain, and numerous social service workers. In the few short years between 1950 and 1960, Mt. Pleasant built new employee housing to open up the main building for administrative tasks and make more patient room available. Several cottages appeared on the farm lands to relieve the filled halls. The institution also replaced part of the original structure with a state-of-the-art 249 bed wing.
In July, 2015 the hospital closed, along with Clarinda State Hospital.[1]
From the "BOARD OF CONTROL OF STATE INSTITUTIONS, From Iowa Official Register 1909-1910" pages 262-269
- Superintendent-CHARLES F. APPLEGATE, M.D.
- First Assistant Physician-FRANK T. STEVENS, M.D.
- Second Assistant Physician-EDWARD L. EMRICH, M.D.
- Third Assistant Physician-JOHN F. SCHAEFER, M.D.
- Woman Physician-ANNE BURNET, M.D.
- Pathologist-FRED G. ELLIS
- Steward-RALPH HULINGS
- Matron-JANET DONALDSON
The amount allowed for the support of this hospital is $12 per month for each patient. All expenses of the hospital, except for special purposes, are paid from the sum so named, and the amount is charged to the counties from which patients are sent.
Images of Mt Pleasant State Hospital
Main Image Gallery: Mt Pleasant State Hospital
Cemetery
There is a cemetery on the property, however it is now off-limits as part of the prison that currently operates the facility.
