User:Dustmurray7/Torrance State Hospital

Hospital Location

Torrance is nestled in the foothills of the beautiful Chestnut Ridge and located 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, just off Route 22 in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. It is one of presently six in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvanuia

Hospital History

Torrance opened its doors on November 25, 1919, with the transfer of five (5) patients from Danville Hospital. Steadily over the years, the original patient census of five (5) grew to a patient count of nearly 3,300 in the 1950's and 1960's, reflecting the attitudes of society toward mental illness. With the passage of legislation in 1966^[1], which established the community-based mental health system, the stage was set for what became known as the "de-institutionalization movement". Throughout the 1970's to the present, Torrance State Hospital has continued its evolution, ever decreasing its census by affording patients the opportunity to resume community living. The Long Term Care Unit , a licensed Skilled Nursing Facility, was closed in 1996 and the Mental Retardation Unit, which had long been located at Torrance State Hospital, was closed in June 1998.

Unused Buildings

As the need for psychiatric and long-term care beds on the grounds of the state hospital has decreased and availability of community supports has increased, some areas of the physical plant have been converted to other uses

• The South West Secure Treatment Unit, a facility operated by the Department of Public Welfare's Office of Children, Family and Youth for adjudicated juveniles is located on the grounds
  
• First Link, a consumer-operated Drop-In Center
  
• Department of Public Welfare Health Insurance Unit.
  
• Charter Behavioral Health Systems, opened a Psycho-sexual Rehabilitation and Education Program for Adolescent Males, ages 12-20, in an unused building on grounds. The Program is now operated by White Deer Run and is named Cove Prep
  .