1907-1936In response to overpopulated prisons and general hospitals, the city of Philadelphia sought a place of refuge for its mentally ill citizens. Beginning as a work farm for the mentally ill, Byberry was established under the theories of founding father Benjamin Rush, who believed that mental illness was, in-fact, a disease which requires treatment. The means of this treatment was isolation akin to the same treatment established by Benjamin Franklin for Eastern State Penitentiary. Soon, the facility grew to include several cottages, increasing their number of workers. Becoming a social problem, Philadelphia endowed Byberry as a state hospital in 1936. This allowed the legal processing and state-funded help of over eight-hundred cases from 1935-1936.
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1936-1986 |
Now known as "Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry," the facility was one of the first in the nation to use psychotropic drugs, such as thorazine, into the regiments of their patients. Perceived as cure, the average patient was given $25, a new suit and an outpatient physical before being released. This, in later years, by Philadelphia historians and psychiatric professionals, was considered a gross error on the part of the hospital, as it put exceptionally vulnerable people into situations for failure. After several commissions were established in the 1960's to see to the proper care of patients at Byberry, uncovering numerous accounts of abuse and neglect. One such instance was reported that a patient had his teeth pulled without being administered Novacaine.
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1986-1987 |
During the last years of Byberry, a state inspection evaluated the hospital, finding it unsuitable due to consistent abuse and neglect, antiquated facilities, and misappropriation of funds. Five of the hospitals top officials were promptly fired, which caused the succession to its closing. The haunting crimes against patients performed at Byberry were called "atrocious," and "irreversible." The patients were moved to Norristown State Hospital, local community centers and prisons with psychiatric wards. After its closing, the campus was overwrought with looters, who stripped such commodities as copper piping and wiring and dental equipment. In 2006, the entire complex was demolished for condos.
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