Allentown State Hospital

Allentown State Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located at 1600 Hanover Avenue in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It served Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, and occasionally eastern Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania. The hospital, which was one of seven psychiatric hospitals in Pennsylvania, was demolished on December 28, 2020.

Allentown State Hospital
Pennsylvania State Hospitals
The main building of Allentown State Hospital in October 2007
Geography
Location1600 Hanover Ave., Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates40.615°N 75.430°W / 40.615; -75.430
Organization
Care systemPublic
TypeMental Health
Services
Beds210[1]
History
OpenedOct. 3, 1912
ClosedDec. 17, 2010
Links
WebsiteAllentown State Hospital
ListsHospitals in Pennsylvania

History

Planning for the development of Allentown State Hospital began in 1901, and it opened eleven years later, on October 3, 1912. The hospital cost $1,931,270 to build. The hospital's patient population peaked in 1950 with 2,012 patients. In November 1998, Allentown State Hospital was the first psychiatric hospital in the United States to be completely seclusion-free. Due to community mental health efforts, the hospital's occupancy later fell to as low as 175 patients.

Due to the sharp decline in the need for psychiatric hospitals, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare closed the hospital. Some residents were transferred to Wernersville State Hospital in Berks County. Others were placed in residential care settings in the community. The hospital closed on December 17, 2010.

The Pennsylvania Department of General Services placed bids to demolish all the buildings on the property, including the historic main building, by the end of 2019. The property was purchased for the purpose of demolition by TCA Properties in Doylestown.

Parts of the 2019 movie Glass were filmed at Allentown State Hospital and other Allentown locations.[2]

See also

References
  1. ALLENTOWN STATE HOSPITAL (ALLENTOWN, PA) Detailed Hospital Profile
  2. "Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson spotted in Allentown while in town for filming of 'Glass', The Morning Call, November 1, 2017, retrieved February 22, 2019
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