There are five Insane Hospitals in the State of Pennsylvania, under the
control of the state, located respectively at Harrisburg, Danville,
Dixmont, Norristown and Warren. The total expenditures of these five
hospitals for 1883 amounted to $711,666. In addition to these there are
“The Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane,” “Philadelphia Hospital for
the Insane,” “The Friends’ Asylum for the Insane,” located at Frankford,
near Philadelphia, and the “Training School for Feeble Minded Children;”
the four latter involving an annual expenditure of nearly $400,000.
The total number of insane confined in these institutions is 5,338, of
whom 4,361 are indigent patients supported at the expense of the state.
When the act of the legislature, already alluded to, shall have taken
full effect, the total number of insane patients in these hospitals
will reach at least 7,000. “The Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital” at
Harrisburg was founded in the year 1848, and since that time the total
amount appropriated by the state is $1,110,929. The district entitled
to the benefit of this hospital is composed of sixteen counties, with a
population of nearly one million; and the capacity of the hospital is
only sufficient for twenty-seven per cent. of the insane persons resident
in the district. “The Western Pennsylvania Hospital,” at Dixmont, was
founded in 1855. The total amount appropriated by the state since that
time is $1,022,128. In addition to what it has received from the state,
this hospital owns 373 acres of land, which were paid for entirely by
private contributions. The district in which this hospital is located
is composed of thirteen counties, with a population of 900,000; and the
hospital has accommodations for only twenty-two per cent. of the insane
residents within the district. “The State Hospital for the Insane” at
Danville was founded in 1868, and has received in appropriations from
the state, $1,408,900. The district in which it is located is composed
of twenty-one counties, with a population of 800,000; and the present
capacity of the hospital for seven hundred patients, is sufficient
for fifty-four per cent. of the insane residents within the district.
“The State Hospital for the Insane” at Warren was founded in 1873. The
total amount appropriated by the state since that time is $1,125,000.
The district in which it is located is composed of ten counties, with
a population of about 400,000 inhabitants. Its present capacity is six
hundred, which is eighty-seven per cent. of the insane residents of
the district. “The State Hospital for the Insane” at Norristown was
founded in 1876. The amount appropriated by the state since that time is
$9,616,846. The district within which it is located is composed of seven
counties, with a population of 1,300,000. Its present capacity is eight
hundred and four; that is for only thirty four per cent. of the insane
residents of the district. “The Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane” is
located in West Philadelphia, the hospital grounds covering 113 acres,
upon which are erected two buildings, one the department for males, and
the other the department for females. This is the institution which has
become known throughout the country by the name of its long-time chief
physician and superintendent—Dr. Thomas S. Kirkbride. Although it has
frequently received aid from the state, it is not a state institution.
From the opening of this hospital up to 1882, the number of patients
admitted was 8,673. Of these, 7,052 were residents of Pennsylvania, the
remainder coming from all parts of the United States, Central and South
America, and some few from Europe. The total annual expenditures for
both departments during 1882 was $182,000. “The Friends’ Asylum,” at
Frankford, has long been known in the eastern part of the state as a
well conducted and generously managed institution.
It has at present about one hundred patients, all of whom are supported
by their friends. “The Philadelphia Hospital” contains 617 patients,
of whom 332 are female. Under what is known as “The Hoyt Lunacy Act”
of 1883, the supervision of hospitals for the insane, both public and
private, will be much stricter than it has ever been heretofore. That act
was intended to remedy many of the evils which are constantly occurring
in the treatment of these sorely afflicted people. A special committee
of the Board of Public Charities is charged with its execution, which
committee is composed at present of Philip C. Garrett, Henry M. Hoyt,
Thomas G. Morton, E. Coppee Mitchell and W. W. H. Davis, whose names
are a guarantee that the insane of Pennsylvania will be treated with
scrupulous care, and that no sane man or woman need any longer dread
that one form of incarceration which is worse to the healthy minded than
either the prison or the grave—incarceration among maniacs. Akin to these
institutions for the insane is the Training School for Feeble Minded
Children, located at Media. This institution was founded in 1853, and
has received from the state since that time the sum of $723,498. It also
receives contributions from neighboring states, in return for which the
children of contributing states are admitted to its benefits. The number
of pupils now in the school is 428, of which about 200 are from the State
of Pennsylvania. The total annual expenditure of this school amounts to
$109,829.