is still standing in the Shaker area and used by UH Dept of Geriatrics. Website iswww.fairhillcenter.org
From Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
The FAIRHILL MENTAL HEALTH CENTER (1959-Dec. 1983, originally Fairhill Psychiatric Hospital) was a state psychiatric facility in Cleveland dedicated to intensive, short-term care. It opened as one of 5 state psychiatric facilities in Cleveland in the former U.S. MARINE HOSPITAL on Fairhill Road. Although Fairhill originally had a capacity of 200 beds, by 1960 only 70 were in use because of staffing problems. With the enactment of the Community Mental Health Centers Act by Congress in 1963, the name changed to the Fairhill Mental Health Center. Its overall purpose was slightly revised, "to provide comprehensive psychiatric services to all residents of a given geographical area, regardless of socio-economic status," but its emphasis remained on short-term care. (Its service area consisted primarily of Cleveland's east side and eastern suburbs.) Fairhill attempted to minimize many of the negative aspects of state mental hospitals, with a cheerful and bright interior and innovative therapeutic programs which encouraged patient involvement. In 1966 Fairhill became one of 3 "open hospitals" (no locked doors) in the country.
From the mid-1960s, Fairhill suffered from budgetary restrictions and changing state directives. One result was overcrowding: in 1966 admissions were limited to only 50%, because of delays in transferring patients to long-term hospitals. In 1975 a budget crisis resulted in the transfer of 38 employees to institutions for the mentally retarded; two years later, the hospital's out-patient clinic closed. Despite a $3 million renovation in 1980, overcrowded conditions persisted; the hospital was criticized for early discharges. By 1983, not meeting federal standards, it was in danger of being decertified for Medicare and Medicaid. As the Cleveand Psychiatric Institute was in a similar situation, the Ohio Department of Mental Hygiene & Correction consolidated the two and closed the Fairhill Mental Health Center. In 1989, the property became the home of the Fairhill Center for Aging, a joint venture of the BENJAMIN ROSE INSTITUTE and UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OF CLEVELAND. In 1995, the site was named a Cleveland Historic Landmark, receiving more than 1,200 visitors a month as of 2002. Cleveland State Hospital
was on Turney Rd and is now the site of Zaremba's MillCreek neighborhood.
From the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:
The CLEVELAND STATE HOSPITAL (1852-1975) was a state-supported psychiatric facility for long-term care. Originally known as the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum, it was the second of 6 public asylums established in Ohio during the 1850s. It was later known as Newburgh State Hospital. The Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum was authorized by an act of the Ohio legislature. The main building, containing 100 beds, was completed in 1855 on land in NEWBURGH donated by the family of JAMES A. GARFIELD†, later U.S. president. Previously, many of those considered insane had been kept in jails or almshouses. The asylum was to provide a quiet place outside the city where healthy, moral living habits could be learned (although management of disturbed patients then also included seclusion, cuffs, straps, strait-jackets, and cribs). The hospital was run by a 5-member Board of Trustees appointed by the governor, with Dr. HORACE ACKLEY† the first chair and superintendent. In its first 100 years, the hospital had 21 different superintendents; the last, Dr. William Grover, served for 18 years.
An aerial view of the Cleveland State Hospital complex, ca. 1951. Cleveland Press Collection, CSU Archives.
In its early years, the hospital had a homelike atmosphere; patients and staff usually dined together. An "open" facility, most patients were free to make use of the grounds. After a fire in 1872, a more substantial structure was built, with capacity for 650 patients. But by 1874 there were reports of overcrowding, a persistent problem. By 1900 the hospital had cared for over 10,000 patients. At this time it began to treat mainly poorer patients, including an increasing number admitted by the courts, further adding to patient numbers (2,000 by 1920). Although Cleveland State Hospital kept pace with progress in medicine, conditions continued to decline in the 1920s and 1930s because of overcrowding and irregular state support. In 1946 investigations by the CLEVELAND PRESS and the newly formed Cleveland Mental Health Assn. revealed brutality and criminal neglect, and often squalid conditions.
Conditions improved with the development of social services, psychology, group work, occupational therapy, volunteer services, and out-patient clinics, but budget cutbacks in 1961 eliminated 29 activity programs. In 1962, for 2,700 patients there were 12 ward doctors and 10 registered nurses to supervise 250 attendants. During the 1960s, the patient population dropped from 3,000 to 1,800, closer to the intended capacity of 1,500. The state began phasing out the Cleveland State Hospital in 1972; in 1975 it became the Cleveland Development Center, a care facility for the mentally retarded. The old main building on Turney Rd. was demolished in 1977.This site has information about several other Ohio mental asylums:http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/index.html#oh