Name/Title
Central State HospitalScope and Content
Historical information on Central State Hospital for 1976 Bicentennial Celebration in Waupun, WI
Division,of Mental Hygiene
Department of Health & Social Services
FACTS ABOUT... CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL
General Information
Central State Hospital is a maximum security accredited hospital facility for adult male patients. The hospital was created as a separate and distinct institution. The first patients (approximately 40) were admitted January 12, 1914 and they are received in two general ways, i.e. court commitment or by transfer from other institutions. The hospital is designed to serve a multitude of different types of mentally ill patients and since January 1970 it has been assigned the Sex Crimes Law Program which provides for mandatory study for certain groups
of sex offenders and as part of this program, providing a treatment program for the offenders who are appropriate subjects for treatment. No other institution in Wisconsin is as well oriented and has the physical setup to handle these various groups of patients. The maximum bed capacity is 323.
Organization
The institution is under the supervision of a superintendent who is a psychiatrist. He has three principal assistants; one in charge of custody and security, another with responsibility for patient treatment, and the other is responsible for business administration.
Grounds and Buildings
The institution grounds encompass a total of 72 acres of garden truck land being farmed by the patients of the institution. Unique to the physical plant is a concrete wall approximately 480 x 600 feet in the rear of the institution to enclose the recreation grounds. The wall is 15 feet high and is so constructed to be only 4 feet above the ground level to eliminate the psychic effect of a prison wall, and was attained by a drained moat on the inside of the wall.
The hospital building includes the following services: an all-faiths chapel, food service, a vocational 'rehabilitation center, academic school, patient and staff libraries, activity therapy, psychiatric and psychological services, social services, medical service, custody and security, and management services.
The patients reside in eight buildings, all connected by a long wide corridor and each building contains two wards. All wards except one have only one man rooms. Two wards are regarded as medium security wards and four wards as minimum security wards where patients residing there have earned these special privileges.
Programs
The basic objectives of the institution are to provide-the best possible service to courts, to society and to the patients. Treatment and placement endeavors have reduced the patient population and maintained the number of residents well below the bed capacity in the face of increasing admissions.
Custody and Security - In addition to providing the essential custody and security for patients this workforce contributes substantially to the patient treatment program by helping the patients to follow their treatment programs, reassuring them, encouraging them to assume various responsibilities and to mix with other patients. One of the most significant tasks performed is to provide constant observation and encouragement to the patients, for they spend more time with the patients than other staff members, and by reporting observations of patient behavior they
are helpful to members of the treatment staff.
Psychiatric and Psychological Service - Provides diagnostic services on patient illnesses and initiates and directs a treatment program according to patient needs. The psychological service assists the treatment staff in understanding the patients' personality, problems, aptitudes and interests; and provides a measure of how well the patients are responding to the treatment.
Medical Service - A dispensary provides for medical needs. A full time general practitioner, dentist, graduate and practical nurses, laboratory technician, and part time pharmacist and medical specialist are employed. Surgery, E.E.G., X-ray, laboratory, dental and other related services are provided.
Social Service - The professional social workers are concerned with the treatment and welfare of the patients as it relates to their social problems. This concern covers the period from admission through release and the time of discharge.
Therapy - Group, individual, recreational and speech therapy is available to all patients as their needs can be met.
Religion - Religious services for all faiths are conducted in an attractive newly constructed chapel. Attendance is voluntary at services every Sunday and on religious occasions. Chaplains are available for individual counseling services.
Academic School - This activity has three basic functions: to educate patients of elementary grade level who need and can profit from the instruction, to educate patients of high school and college level who desire to continue their education, and to serve as a therapeutic tool to motivate patients by improving their understanding of themselves and the world around them.
Vocational Rehabilitaions - This activity is part of the total hospital treatment program and offers evaluation testing service and pre-vocational training for those patients who have made progress and are on their way to recovery. Patients are evaluated in terms of work skills and work adjustment in an occupational setting.
Volunteer Services - Central State Hospital is one of few maximum security institutions in the country with a spirited volunteer service program and a recent inovation, unique to this service in a maximum security institution, is escorting geriatric patients on short visits outside the institution grounds uplifting their spirits as they engage in such activity as fishing
in a local creek and enjoying nature and exposure to normal community living.
Food Service and Farm - The food service is an essential part of the total treatment program. It is concerned with a considerable variety of diets. The farm and food service operations provide additional therapeutic activity and vocational training as well as producing much of the food consumed at the institution.
George A. Welch
Personnel Manager
Central State Hospital
Box 431
Waupun, WI 53963
Phone: 324-5577, Ext.- 208Acquisition
Accession
2016.0075Source or Donor
Waupun Area Chamber of CommerceAcquisition Method
Donation
