Hospital Estatal de Worcester

El Hospital Estatal de Worcester era un hospital psiquiátrico estatal de Massachusetts ubicado en Worcester, Massachusetts . El complejo se atribuye al estudio de arquitectura Weston & Rand . El hospital y las estructuras históricas circundantes asociadas están catalogados como Asilo de Worcester y edificios relacionados en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos . ^{[ 1 ]}

Antiguamente se le conocía como el Asilo para Dementes de Worcester y el Asilo de Bloomingdale . El hospital data de la década de 1830. El 12 de enero de 1833, se inauguró el Asilo para Dementes de Worcester . Fue el primero de su tipo en el estado. Durante su primer año, recibió a 164 pacientes.

El rápido hacinamiento pronto impulsó al superintendente Merrick Bemis a abogar por la construcción de un nuevo centro. Posteriormente, se diseñó un gran hospital según el Plan Kirkbride , ubicado en la calle Belmont. La construcción comenzó en 1870 y el recién construido Hospital Estatal de Worcester se terminó en 1876, con un costo que superó el millón de dólares.

Las salas recibieron nombres de lugares de Massachusetts, así como de numerosos fundadores de la Asociación Estadounidense de Psiquiatría , como Howe, Appleton, Woodward, Gage, Hooper, Folsom y Thayer. ^{[ 2 ]}

En 1901 se inauguró en la cercana localidad de Grafton, Massachusetts, un centro satélite que posteriormente se convertiría en el Hospital Estatal de Grafton, con el fin de brindar a los pacientes no violentos la oportunidad de participar en labores terapéuticas en un entorno rural.

Durante su funcionamiento, el hospital albergó a miles de pacientes. En 1949, la revista Life documentó el funcionamiento diario del centro . ^{[ 3 ]}

In 1958, the Bryan Building was added to relieve stress on the aging Kirkbride complex. Operations slowly transferred to Bryan until the original Kirkbride was abandoned in 1985.^[4]

In 1991, the Kirkbride suffered numerous fires which left the left wing destroyed and the right wing partially damaged. In 1992, the state declared the site "an effective total loss".^[5]

Although the facility was officially closed in 1991, operations still continued in the Bryan Building until 2012. In 2004 a proposal to build a new facility on this property was put into the works and called for all of the remaining newer and old building to be torn down.

Erecting the new hospital would take the place of both the current Westborough State Hospital, part of Taunton State Hospitalsince some of it is open and the Bryan Building of Worcester State Hospital.

In 2008, there were plans to film Shutter Island on the grounds of the hospital. Because of the pending demolition of the facility, filming was not approved and instead the filming took place at Medfield State Hospital.

In 2008, the remaining buildings on the property with the exception of the Administration Block (with its notable clock tower), the Hooper Turret, and the Hale Building, were torn down.^[3] In the spring of 2009 construction on the new hospital began. Designed by Ellenzweig Associates the new facility is 428,000 square feet and LEED Gold Certified.^[6]

The new hospital, dubbed Worcester Recovery Center & Hospital (WRCH), was completed in October 2012^[6] and has three recovery stages - House, Neighborhood, and Downtown, progressing as recovery increases.^[7] The facility has 260 adult beds, 30 adolescent inpatient beds and 30 adolescent intensive residential treatment beds.^[8] All patients in Bryan were transferred to the new complex within a month of the new facility's opening.

In 2015, the salvaged clock tower was transformed into a memorial, dedicated to the original Kirkbride building and the effect Worcester had on American Psychiatry.

In 2018, the former employee cottages were razed and plans to demolish the Bryan Building and Hale Buildings gained popularity in favor of a new biomedical campus.^[4]

• Andras Angyal, Psychiatrist in the research unit from 1937 to 1945.
• David Shakow,^[9] Psychologist in the research unit.
• Anton Boisen, Chaplain 1924 to 1930, who pioneered Clinical Pastoral Education at the hospital in 1925.
• Adolf Meyer, Psychiatrist and pathologist 1895 to 1902; pioneer of psychobiology and psychiatric case histories.

• Worcester State Hospital Farmhouse
• National Register of Historic Places listings in eastern Worcester, Massachusetts

• Massachusetts State Hospitals, hdl:2452/625416. (Various documents).
• Kirkbride Buildings
• Photoessay on the 1877 Kirkbride complex
• WorcesterMass
• http://www.opacity.us/site56_worcester_state_hospital.htm
• The Coalition to Stop Institutional Violence records, 1972-1989 (bulk 1976-1981) are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.
• http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Worcester_State_Hospital