4,537 Comments for Pennhurst State School

i dont think that building is dead. it was never alive to begin with.

This looks like a uniform from a fast food place.

nature calls!

i agree with tina j, i would hate to spend the rest of my life looked at as a handicap
~Cortni~

wait, clown masks? how is do u see the clown masks if it's a picture, was it in a mirror or something? i'll just stop talking
~Cortni~

that's one of those simple objects that still seem really creepy things... yeah, that's weird
~Cortni~

hey i love this picture cuz u can c a full face look to ur left side ways ull c 2 black eyes one faded nose and one ear an absalutely skull

hey guys havent been on 4 a while..... anyway, instead of turkey vultures, they could have benn just TURKEYS themselves... they are everywhere around here!

I used to walk these tunnels on a regular basis, to pass the time whilst my Mom was at work in the Whitman Bldg. I was 9 YO and thought they were cool. They did not smell, They were very clean and I believe they were primarily used to keep residents off the streets. Pennhurst may have been old but it was very tidy in the 1970's.

Wow, thats amazing. I love old books and i think its sad that all that knowledge is rotting at our feet.

That chair was for staff, the clients sat in metal chairs or benches against the wall.

Yes, this was a bathroom. I did a student internship there, sad but horrible place.

Been there done that for 10 years at an institution in Waltham Mass It was called at that time the Walter E. Fernald State School, It's now called the Fernald center, But a name doesn't change what once was, It's still an institution

I worked at Pennhurst, and trust me the patient ratio was far worse. The state had its protocol that stated how many aides to patients, but we were far understaffed. I started working there in the 70's as an Aide and the starting pay was only just above $4 an hour!! It was extremely hard to have the staff, but we made the best we could.

The policy's have changed and now you need to have Dr's to do everything, there really is no more protocol's. Have you ever tried to get a Dr to come in at 4am to write an order, or even to answer a page to get a verbal order? I was laid off from Pennhurst, and reassigned to Norristown State Hospital. The staff ratio is still extremely bad 2/36 normally. You are not allowed to restrain patients even if hurting themself, you are not able to do many things that are for HELP. It is a horrible set up, and it is hard to get this information out. The patients do know who is good and who is not, and their attitude reflex that. I know that I have done the best job ever and my patients love me in every manor, I wish the state would allow us to work with them more and provide that safe feeling we all deserve.

BY THE WAY, THE STARTING SALARY FOR AN AIDE IS $11.50 PER HOUR.

squzz, I could not agree more. I use to wrok there and I had many patients that loved me. I was injuried in a fight with a patient and several other patients came to my aid. I know there were some horrible things that happened their and some very uncaring people. However, most of the staff loved the patients and we worked with them all the time. They were able to do the gardens, have dinner in social groups and just enjoyed their life. If you go into Spring City (the closest town where most patients relocated) you will find many patients that where "able to acheive activites of daily lifes" that are eating off of the streets and in very poor conditions.