t, just to let you know, that isn't an orb. It's more than likely a round piece of metal screwed in to the wall to cover up a hole where a faucet of something of the plumbing sort was taken out.
I don't know about back in the day, but currently state hospitals no longer have morgues on the grounds. All people who die are taken off grounds. The tunnels were ALWAYS only used for transporting patients to and from buildings during bad weather (i.e. rain, snow, etc.). In fact, in hospitals that are still running, the tunnels are still used for that exact purpose. As for the beating of people and such, well, you may want to stop watching so many scary movies and actually do some research of your own instead of depending on Hollywood to supply you with all of your facts. ^.^
The funny thing is that they still use this exact same model (cranks and all) in some psychiatric hospitals. Of course, they are obviously in better condition!
There are actually several people I know that worked here before it was closed in '85. The hospital was in fact closed down because of all the abuse that went on there. I have heard some pretty gruesome stories from the former workers so I know for a fact that they are true. Pennhurst was mainly a residential facility for people with Mental Retardation, but there were also people there with psychiatric illnesses. As for the families not being able to see where their children lived, 1.) the parents didn't pay for their kids to be there, it was all court ordered and paid for by the government and insurance companies, and 2.) it was mostly for the safety of the visitors that they weren't allowed to go to where theiir children lived. Even today, if you go to a state hospital that is funcitoning you aren't allowed to go see where the people live, you have to stay on a completely separate part of the ward. This is, however, maily for the privacy of the other patients. I know all this because I used to work at a state hospital in PA.