Metropolitan State Hospital is an American

public hospital A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...

specializing in psychiatric care for those with mental health concerns, located at 11400 Norwalk Blvd in the city of Norwalk in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. As of August 2016 it had 780 patients.

Services

The hospital is operated by the California Department of State Hospitals. Currently it admits four different types of categories for patient intake. The four categories being; incompetent to stand trial (PC 1370), offender with a mental health disorder (PCS 2962/2972), not guilty by reason of insanity (PC 1026), and conservatorship Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act. The hospital is unique among state facilities serving the mental health patients in that it admits a large proportion of acutely ill psychiatric patients resulting in a rapid turnover rate and a shorter length of stay. From the 1980s to 1990's, the facility had an Intensive Treatment and Research Unit, which was a male inpatient facility for chronically ill persons with mental disabilities, and was co-sponsored by Metropolitan State Hospital and the

University of California, Irvine School of Medicine The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine (UC Irvine School of Medicine or UCI School of Medicine) is an LCME accredited medical school, co-located in Orange County's cities of Irvine, California, Irvine on the University of Californ ...

. The program was a major component of research conducted by the two institutions with the treatment focus directed toward the chronically refractory and treatment-resistant patient. Specific patient programming utilizes individual and group therapy, occupational and rehabilitation therapies and the management of social and financial problems by developing linkages back to the community. Basic treatment services include psychiatry, psychology, social services, rehabilitation therapies, medical, nursing, pharmacy, dietary, etc.

History

In June 1913, based on a study by a group of Los Angeles County Psychiatrists who had projected a need for a Los Angeles area hospital, Governor Hiram Johnson signed Senate Bill No. 739 on June 7, 1913 appropriating authority and funds to create a second state hospital in Southern California for the reception and treatment of California's increasing population of persons with psychiatric disabilities. Three potential sites for the new facility were considered:

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

, Signal Hill, and Norwalk. The decision to place the hospital in Norwalk was prompted primarily because of its location, with easy access to good roads and railroad service. At its largest, the hospital had a total of 392.30 acres. The hospital was self-sufficient in its early days. A

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

, garden,

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s, and

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

s produced income and food products that could be used by the staff and patients. The farm also kept food costs at a minimum, at a time when milk prices alone had increased from 17 cents per gallon in 1916 to 32 cents in 1918 due to the ongoing war. As the area around the hospital became developed after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the city of Norwalk grew around it, many changes have taken place. The biggest change in patient care has come from the development of

psychotropic A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Th ...

medications, increased therapies and new community standards. The hospital has since consolidated its grounds and facilities of

tudor style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

d dormitories into its present . In 1975, the hospital was the subject of a black-and-white documentary from film makers Richard Cohen and

Kevin Rafferty Kevin Gelshenen Rafferty II (May 25, 1947 – July 2, 2020) was an American documentary film cinematographer, director, and producer, best known for his 1982 documentary ''The Atomic Cafe''. Background Rafferty was born in Boston on May 25, 194 ...

titled ''Hurry Tomorrow'', which alleged coercive drugging of patients with the sedatives

Chlorpromazine Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar dis ...

and

Prolixin Fluphenazine, sold under the brand name Prolixin among others, is a high-potency typical antipsychotic medication. It is used in the treatment of chronic psychoses such as schizophrenia, and appears to be about equal in effectiveness to low-pote ...

. In December, 1976 The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite ran a story about patient deaths at Metropolitan and Camarillo State Hospitals, and the story featured scenes from Hurry Tomorrow.

Accreditation

Metropolitan State Hospital is accredited by the

Joint Commission The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world. A majori ...

(formerly the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) and certified by the Healthcare Finance Administration. Accreditation is a voluntary process. Medical and psychiatric facilities across the country must request to be surveyed with results evaluated against nationally recognized standards of care.

References

External links

*
This hospital in the CA Healthcare Atlas
A project by OSHPD {{Authority control Hospitals in Los Angeles County, California Psychiatric hospitals in California Norwalk, California