Comments

Most of the people I've worked with really enjoyed bingo and would ask to play it, not because they had nothing else to do, but because it was fun, especially when they won a little prize. Staff usually enjoyed it too, because a shift is a lot easier when the people you're working with are enjoying themselves.

shame on u guys for not at least considering this story to be true. it sounds pretty authentic to me and just maybe u guys are afraid to actually believe this stuff was happening? read some reports about this place...maybe you'll change your mind

i quite possibly would have considered after coming up on this... it looks very ominous

not much medical in the "medical bldg" *sigh*

I doubt very much that these are confidential patient files. Doctors, therapists, psychologists, social workers and other human services professionals have always had patient confidentiality as a central tenet of their professional code of ethics. So even though HIPPA is only a few years old, earlier procedures would still have guaranteed confidentiality. In my state we found that our state regulations, which predated HIPPA, were already stricter than HIPPA. I am sure many other states were in the same situation. The stricter standard always prevails. States are usually very careful about storing the records of the old facilities and don't just leave them laying around an abandoned site. When confidential records are found, it is likely that they were the "personal" files of a particular staff person, not the patient's "official" record (yes, the same confidentiality standards apply to "personal" files, and the copies or notes in "personal" files should either have been shredded and burned, or incorporated into the "official" file). Facilities are required to keep all kinds of records, not just patient files. The documents in this room could very well be fire drill reports, petty cash accounting, menus, maintenance work orders, staff meeting minutes, contingency plans for power outages or severe weather, the facility policy manual, MSDS sheets for all the chemicals used in cleaning and maintenance, accounts payable and receivable, count sheets for controlled substances, furniture inventories and disposal reports, and on and on and on...

histoplasmosis anyone?

very Resident Evil-ish.... here comes the Licker!!! :p

Took my breath away, awe inspiring shot, a bit of tranquility to calm a formerly chaotic environment

the same photographer girl that did the Gennie bathroom also painted this room. you can see it soon after completion here:
http://kristynvinikour...tal/slides/gold.html

A really powerful picture...both the performers and the audience are gone...memories live on. And light remains.

I, too, wish that there would at least be some architectural salvage from these buildings if the buildings themselves cannot be adapted to another purpose. One of the most fascinating hotels I stayed in with my parents when I was a kid had been completely built of remnants of buildings slated for demolition--floors from old mills, doors from banks and schools, bathtubs from old hotels, things like that. The bridal suite was created from the steeple of a demolished church and stood off by itself on the grounds.

The pool table makes me think that violent patients were *not* living in this building around the time of its closure. Cue sticks and pool balls are not something you would want on a ward with patients who were prone to violence (although I suppose the sticks and balls could have been kept locked in a cabinet so that staff could regulate access).

BEAUTIFUL! Love the colors in the trees surrounding the building.

Most people probably felt much more imprisoned by their mental illness and its symptoms than by the hospital. It's also important to remember that many so-called normal people in the community are not very accepting of others who have mental illnesses or developmental disabilities. For at least some of the patients, the hospital was a safe haven from teasing, pointing, laughing, avoidance, and sometimes outright violence (think of the videos of homeless people being beaten by others just for kicks) they experienced outside the hospital. I've worked with people who forged genuine, deep friendships while in the hospital, friendships that have been maintained for many years after both were released. Others became very close to a specific staff person and had more "family" experiences with hospital staff than they ever did with their birth family.

LOVE IT!!!!!