Spring Grove Hospital Center

Spring Grove Hospital Center
Geography
Location	55 Wade Ave, Government hospital
Type	Psychiatric hospital
Affiliated university	University of Maryland
Services
Beds	425
History
Opened	1797
Links
Website	https://health.maryland.gov/springgrove/Pages/home.aspx
Lists	Hospitals in Maryland

Spring Grove Hospital Center, formerly known as Spring Grove State Hospital, is a

Founded in 1797 as a general medical and psychiatric retreat, Spring Grove Mental Hospital is the second oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the United States. Today, the hospital operates 425 beds ^[1] and has approximately 800 admissions and discharges a year. Service lines include adult and adolescent acute psychiatric admissions, long term inpatient care, medical-psychiatric hospitalization, forensic evaluation services, inpatient psychiatric research, and assisted living services. The facility is owned and operated by the University of Maryland, Baltimore since May 2022 and is the location of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center which is renowned for its research into the causes of schizophrenia.

History

18th Century

Founded in 1797, Spring Grove is the nation's second-oldest psychiatric hospital, though until recently operated as a medical and surgical hospital as well.

The cost of purchasing 136 acres (55 ha) of land for the hospital was $14,000, of which $12,340 was raised through private contributions. The purchase was completed in 1853, but construction of the new buildings was delayed by the Civil War, and the hospital was not finally completed until 1872,[5] when it was described by one contemporary as "one of the largest and best appointed Insane Asylums in the United States".^[6]

Steuart's brother, Major General George H. Steuart, had two sons who had mental illness,^[7] and it is possible that this was one of the causes of Steuart's particular interest in Spring Grove Hospital and the treatment of mental illness.

Steuart's building (known at various times as "The Main Building", "The Center Building" or "The Administration Building,") remained the main hospital facility for almost 100 years.

20th Century

Steuart's buildings were demolished in 1963, replaced by more modern construction.^[5]

Starting in the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s, Spring Grove Hospital Center was the site of an extended research effort to understand potential therapeutic uses for lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Among the aspects studied as part of the Spring Grove Experiment were the potential for psychedelics to aid in recovering from alcoholism and heroin addiction, managing schizophrenia and neurosis, and supporting persons with terminal cancer.^[8]

Future

In 2014, Baltimore County plans on subdividing the hospital campus in order to create an 8.8 acre regional park for the Catonsville community.^[9] Additional plans include expansion of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus south of Wilkens Avenue to the Spring Grove campus, where the university still has the rights to a portion of the property.^[10]

In May 2022, Governor Larry Hogan's administration proposed transferring the hospital campus to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for $1.^[11] The Maryland Board of Public Works voted 2–1 to approve the sale of the campus, with Hogan and Treasurer Dereck E. Davis supporting the lease agreement and Comptroller Peter Franchot dissenting, on May 15, 2022.^[12][13]

See also

• Spring Grove Experiment

References

• Helsel, David S., and Trevor J. Blank. Spring Grove State Hospital (Images of America: Maryland) Arcadia Publishing, 2008
  ISBN 978-0-7385-5326-9
• Nelker, Gladys P., The Clan Steuart, Genealogical publishing, 1970.