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Bridgewater State Hospital AI simulator
(@Bridgewater State Hospital_simulator)
Hub AI
Bridgewater State Hospital AI simulator
(@Bridgewater State Hospital_simulator)
Bridgewater State Hospital
Bridgewater State Hospital, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is a state facility housing the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system. It was established in 1855 as an almshouse. It was then used as a workhouse for inmates with short sentences who worked the surrounding farmland. It was later rebuilt in the 1880s and again in 1974. As of January 6, 2020 there were 217 inmates in general population beds. The facility was the subject of the 1967 documentary Titicut Follies. Bridgewater State Hospital falls under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction but its day-to-day operations are managed by Wellpath, a contracted vendor. Bridgewater State Hospital has recently been embroiled in controversy from human rights advocates and legal experts who argue that while the facility is regarded as a hospital, it denies their "patients" rights accorded to those who are in other psychiatric hospitals, and therefore calling on State legislators to expeditiously facilitate the transfer of the hospital from the Department of Corrections to Department of Mental Health [Bill S.1386].
By the 1970s, the campus of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater (MCIB) housed four separate facilities - the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons, a center for alcoholics, and a minimum-security prison.
In 1968, hearings were conducted after a study showed that 30 inmates were committed to the state hospital illegally. Most of the prisoners stayed at Bridgewater because they did not have the legal skills or money available to help their claims. A number of the prisoners' terms had long expired. An example of this was a patient named Charles who was sentenced to Bridgewater in 1910 for breaking and entering. The maximum time for this felony was two years, and he still remained in the prison after 1967. Furthermore, in later news, the number of inmates at Bridgewater was found to have grown to 500. Some[who?] felt that society was not doing its job in distinguishing men who needed regular prison rehabilitation and psychiatric help. Changes were needed in what constitutes a person to be sent to a mental hospital. Also among the changes that needed to be implemented were the confidentially between the inmates and the doctors, as well as having a standard by which a person is considered criminally insane.
In 1967, a legislative committee investigated allegations of "cruel, inhuman, and barbarous treatment". Witnesses were able to describe problems with the water and sewage systems, and insufficient medical, kitchen, and recreational facilities. As a result, in 1972, John Boone, the Massachusetts Commissioner of Corrections, closed the segregation unit at Bridgewater State Hospital because it required maintenance. Bridgewater's facilities were not suitable for the standard means of health and living. Also, 90-year-old cell blocks did not have any toilets. Boone closed the Departmental Segregation Unit at Bridgewater to hold hearings for the 16 inmates who had been transferred out of Norfolk.
Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler, was an inmate at Bridgewater in 1967. He briefly escaped and was transferred to the maximum-security prison at Walpole.
At one time at Bridgewater State Hospital, a number of the inmates were there long after their sentences were complete. In 1968, over 250 cases of forgotten men at Bridgewater were reviewed. Some inmates were at Bridgewater over 25 years. Some inmates were transferred to Bridgewater from other jails and prison facilities and kept at Bridgewater for much longer than their sentences required.
In September 2016, Governor Charlie Baker announced the hospital will be moving away from a historical prison model and toward a more clinical approach to the treatment of the mentally ill. According to the plan, every inmate will receive an individualized plan of treatment within 10 days of admission to the facility. Inmates who are on psychiatric medications would be seen by a psychiatrist on a timely basis and the facility would move to electronic health records.
Pursuant to the Supreme Judicial Court’s April 3, 2020 Opinion and Order in the Committee for Public Counsel Services v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court, SJC-12926 matter, as amended on April 10, April 28 and June 23, 2020 (the “Order”), the Special Master posts weekly reports which are located on the SJC website here for COVID testing and cases for each of the correctional facilities administered by the Department of Correction and each of the county Sheriffs’ offices. The SJC Special master link above has the most up to date information reported by the correctional agencies and is posted for the public to view.
Bridgewater State Hospital
Bridgewater State Hospital, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is a state facility housing the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system. It was established in 1855 as an almshouse. It was then used as a workhouse for inmates with short sentences who worked the surrounding farmland. It was later rebuilt in the 1880s and again in 1974. As of January 6, 2020 there were 217 inmates in general population beds. The facility was the subject of the 1967 documentary Titicut Follies. Bridgewater State Hospital falls under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction but its day-to-day operations are managed by Wellpath, a contracted vendor. Bridgewater State Hospital has recently been embroiled in controversy from human rights advocates and legal experts who argue that while the facility is regarded as a hospital, it denies their "patients" rights accorded to those who are in other psychiatric hospitals, and therefore calling on State legislators to expeditiously facilitate the transfer of the hospital from the Department of Corrections to Department of Mental Health [Bill S.1386].
By the 1970s, the campus of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater (MCIB) housed four separate facilities - the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons, a center for alcoholics, and a minimum-security prison.
In 1968, hearings were conducted after a study showed that 30 inmates were committed to the state hospital illegally. Most of the prisoners stayed at Bridgewater because they did not have the legal skills or money available to help their claims. A number of the prisoners' terms had long expired. An example of this was a patient named Charles who was sentenced to Bridgewater in 1910 for breaking and entering. The maximum time for this felony was two years, and he still remained in the prison after 1967. Furthermore, in later news, the number of inmates at Bridgewater was found to have grown to 500. Some[who?] felt that society was not doing its job in distinguishing men who needed regular prison rehabilitation and psychiatric help. Changes were needed in what constitutes a person to be sent to a mental hospital. Also among the changes that needed to be implemented were the confidentially between the inmates and the doctors, as well as having a standard by which a person is considered criminally insane.
In 1967, a legislative committee investigated allegations of "cruel, inhuman, and barbarous treatment". Witnesses were able to describe problems with the water and sewage systems, and insufficient medical, kitchen, and recreational facilities. As a result, in 1972, John Boone, the Massachusetts Commissioner of Corrections, closed the segregation unit at Bridgewater State Hospital because it required maintenance. Bridgewater's facilities were not suitable for the standard means of health and living. Also, 90-year-old cell blocks did not have any toilets. Boone closed the Departmental Segregation Unit at Bridgewater to hold hearings for the 16 inmates who had been transferred out of Norfolk.
Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler, was an inmate at Bridgewater in 1967. He briefly escaped and was transferred to the maximum-security prison at Walpole.
At one time at Bridgewater State Hospital, a number of the inmates were there long after their sentences were complete. In 1968, over 250 cases of forgotten men at Bridgewater were reviewed. Some inmates were at Bridgewater over 25 years. Some inmates were transferred to Bridgewater from other jails and prison facilities and kept at Bridgewater for much longer than their sentences required.
In September 2016, Governor Charlie Baker announced the hospital will be moving away from a historical prison model and toward a more clinical approach to the treatment of the mentally ill. According to the plan, every inmate will receive an individualized plan of treatment within 10 days of admission to the facility. Inmates who are on psychiatric medications would be seen by a psychiatrist on a timely basis and the facility would move to electronic health records.
Pursuant to the Supreme Judicial Court’s April 3, 2020 Opinion and Order in the Committee for Public Counsel Services v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court, SJC-12926 matter, as amended on April 10, April 28 and June 23, 2020 (the “Order”), the Special Master posts weekly reports which are located on the SJC website here for COVID testing and cases for each of the correctional facilities administered by the Department of Correction and each of the county Sheriffs’ offices. The SJC Special master link above has the most up to date information reported by the correctional agencies and is posted for the public to view.