Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute

Last updated

The Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute was a psychiatric institution located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, USA. Originally known as the Iowa Lunatic Asylum, it opened in 1861. [1] It is located on the same campus as The Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility. There was also a labyrinth of tunnels which connected every building. It was the first asylum in Iowa and was built under the Kirkbride Plan.

Contents

History

It was constructed between 1855 and 1865 at a cost of $400,000. [1] The first patient was admitted in February 1861. It is a Kirkbride building, and was the first asylum in Iowa. The Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute is the oldest of the Iowa Department of Human Services facilities that serve persons affected by mental illness.

In 1936, a fire destroyed most of the administration section, leaving only a kitchen area at the back. [1] In 1946, the facility reached its peak occupancy of 1,581 patients. Since 1945, new therapies and medications have helped to lower the facility's population, and the individual's average length of stay has been reduced from years to a matter of weeks.

This allowed the facility to release many of its patients and eventually reassign the patients to Cherokee Mental Health Institute (Cherokee, Iowa) and Independence State Hospital (Independence, Iowa), which are still in use today, and to Clarinda Treatment Complex (Clarinda, Iowa), which also closed in 2015. It has been known by many names, including the Mount Pleasant Insane Asylum, the Mount Pleasant Hospital for the Insane and the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute.

Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad announced in January 2015 that he would close Mount Pleasant and Clarinda MHIs that year. [2] There were plans to develop a "crisis line", which will treat chronic mental health disorders like schizophrenia. Both MHIs closed in June 2015. [3] [4] [5]

The architect of the building, Thomas Story Kirkbride, had an inclusive plan for such structures, including the requirement that staff live on or near the premises and that "guests" be assigned meaningful work. More than thirty such structures still remain.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarinda, Iowa</span> City in Iowa, United States

Clarinda is a city in and the county seat of Page County, Iowa. It is located in Nodaway Township. The population was 5,369 at the time of the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iowa Department of Corrections</span> Law enforcement agency

The Iowa Department of Corrections is a state agency operating prisons in Iowa. It has its headquarters in Des Moines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkbride Plan</span> Mental asylum design created by Thomas Kirkbride

The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by American psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings, were constructed during the mid-to-late-19th century in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryce Hospital</span> Hospital in Alabama, United States

Bryce Hospital opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. It is Alabama's oldest and largest inpatient psychiatric facility. First known as the Alabama State Hospital for the Insane and later as the Alabama Insane Hospital, the building is considered an architectural model. The hospital houses 268 beds for acute care, treatment and rehabilitation of full-time (committed) patients. The Mary Starke Harper Geriatric Psychiatry Hospital, a separate facility on the same campus, provides an additional 100 beds for inpatient geriatric care. The main facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athens Lunatic Asylum</span> United States historic place

The Athens Lunatic Asylum, now a mixed-use development known as The Ridges, was a Kirkbride Plan mental hospital operated in Athens, Ohio, from 1874 until 1993. During its operation, the hospital provided services to a variety of patients including Civil War veterans, children, and those declared mentally unwell. After a period of disuse the property was redeveloped by the state of Ohio. Today, The Ridges are a part of Ohio University and house the Kennedy Museum of Art as well as an auditorium and many offices, classrooms, and storage facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richardson Olmsted Complex</span> Building in Buffalo, New York

The Richardson Olmsted Campus in Buffalo, New York, United States, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The site was designed by the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson in concert with the famed landscape team of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the late 1800s, incorporating a system of treatment for people with mental illness developed by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride known as the Kirkbride Plan. Over the years, as mental health treatment changed and resources were diverted, the buildings and grounds began a slow deterioration. By 1974, the last patients were removed from the historic wards. On June 24th, 1986, the former Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane was added to the National Historic Landmark registry. In 2006, the Richardson Center Corporation was formed to restore the buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital</span> Hospital in Morris Plains, New Jersey

Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital referred to both the former psychiatric hospital and the historic building that it occupied in Morris Plains, New Jersey. Built in 1876, the facility was built to alleviate overcrowding at the state's only other "lunatic asylum" located in Trenton, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherokee Mental Health Institute</span> Hospital in Iowa, United States

The Cherokee Mental Health Institute is a state-run psychiatric facility in Cherokee, Iowa. It opened in 1902 and is under the authority of the Iowa Department of Human Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital</span> United States historic place

The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, also known as Kirkbride's Hospital or the Pennsylvania Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases, was a psychiatric hospital located at 48th and Haverford Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It operated from its founding in 1841 until 1997. The remaining building, now called the Kirkbride Center is now part of the Blackwell Human Services Campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum</span> United States historic place

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was a psychiatric hospital located in Weston, West Virginia and known by other names such as West Virginia Hospital for the Insane and Weston State Hospital. The asylum was open to patients from October 1864 until May 1994. The new hospital in Weston has been named for William R. Sharpe, Jr. who was a member of the West Virginia Senate. After closure, the hospital once again became known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum after reopening as a tourist location in March 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mendota Mental Health Institute</span> Hospital in Wisconsin, United States

Mendota Mental Health Institute (MMHI) is a public psychiatric hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, operated by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission. Portions of the facility are included in the Wisconsin Memorial Hospital Historic District, District #88002183. The Mendota State Hospital Mound Group and Farwell's Point Mound Group are also located at the facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane</span> Hospital in New York, United States

Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, established in 1892 as the Matteawan State Hospital by an 1892 law, functioned as a hospital for insane criminals. It was located in the town of Fishkill just outside the city of Beacon, New York; today its buildings form part of Fishkill Correctional Facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elgin Mental Health Center</span> Psychiatric hospital in northern Illinois, United States

The Elgin Mental Health Center is a mental health facility operated by the State of Illinois in Elgin, Illinois. Throughout its history, Elgin's mission has changed. At times, it treated mental illness, tuberculosis, and provided federally funded care for veterans. The hospital's site, which included a patient-staffed farm reached a maximum of 1,139 acres (461 ha) after World War II. Its maximum population was reached in the mid 1950s with 7,700 patients. Between 1993 and 2008, most of the older buildings in the complex were demolished due to being in poor condition as the result of being abandoned for decades. The site is/was popular among teens and in the paranormal world due to its claims of hauntings in the older buildings and the hospital's cemetery.

The Jacksonville Developmental Center was an institution for developmentally delayed clients, located in Jacksonville, Illinois. It was open from 1851 to November 2012. As of December 2012, the 134-acre (54 ha) grounds was still owned by the State of Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcester State Hospital</span> Hospital in Massachusetts, United States

Worcester State Hospital was a Massachusetts state mental hospital located in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is credited to the architectural firm of Weston & Rand. The hospital and surrounding associated historic structures are listed as Worcester Asylum and related buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnebago Mental Health Institute</span> Hospital in Wisconsin, United States

Winnebago Mental Health Institute (WMHI), formerly the Winnebago State Hospital, is a psychiatric hospital near Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States located in the unincorporated community of Winnebago, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independence State Hospital</span> Hospital in Iowa, United States

The Independence State Hospital was built in 1873 as the second asylum in the state of Iowa. It is located in Independence, Iowa. The original plan for patients was to relieve crowding from the hospital at Mount Pleasant and to hold alcoholics, geriatrics, drug addicts, mentally ill, and the criminally insane. It was built under the Kirkbride Plan. The hospital's many names include: The Independence Lunatic Asylum, The Independence State Asylum, The Independence Asylum for the Insane, The Iowa State Hospital for the Insane, and The Independence Mental Health Institute. There is also a labyrinth of tunnels which connect every building. Like most asylums of its time, it has had a gruesome and dark history. Remnants of this are the graveyard, hydrotherapy tubs, and lobotomy equipment.

The Clarinda Treatment Complex was built in 1884 as the Clarinda State Hospital in Clarinda, Iowa in southwest Iowa. It was the third asylum in the state of Iowa. The hospital's many name variations include: The Clarinda Lunatic Asylum, The Clarinda State Asylum, The Clarinda Asylum for the Insane, and The Clarinda Mental Health Institute. It was built under the Kirkbride Plan. The original plan for patients was to hold alcoholics, geriatrics, drug addicts, mentally ill, and the criminally insane. In 2009, it was made public that, to save money, the state may close one of the four hospitals in Iowa. On June 30, 2015, the hospital facility was shut down and all patient services terminated. The Clarinda Academy, owned by Sequel Youth Services, is the sole occupant of the former hospital grounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center</span> United States historic place

The Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center is a psychiatric hospital operated by the state of Maine. It is located at 656 State Street in Bangor, and was previously known as the Eastern Maine Insane Asylum and the Bangor Mental Health Institute. It was established in 1895, and the main building on its campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kirkbride Buildings: Mount Pleasant State Hospital
  2. Tony Leys, "Branstad plan to shut mental hospitals called illegal", The Des Moines Register, 24 January 2015
  3. Peterson, Mike (January 24, 2022). "Ernst tours former Clarinda MHI building". KMAland.com.
  4. "Museum for MHI opening on grounds of Correctional Facility in Mt. Pleasant". www.southeastiowaunion.com.
  5. "Mental health institutes effectively closed, future unclear". The Des Moines Register. Associated Press.