# Can a state hospital be located anywhere other than the state capitol? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518 "2014-04-07T01:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anise/32/21721_2.png) [@Anise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anise)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/1 "2014-04-07T01:29:39Z")
Here’s a little background. Oregon State Hospital is the perfect setting for my creepy paranormal murder mystery. The problem is that the book is set in Portland, but the hospital is actually located in Salem, that being the state capitol. So basically, here’s the question. Is it possible for a state hospital to be located in a city that is NOT the capitol? Has it ever happened? And if it isn’t a reality, is there any way to make it plausible as a fictional scenario? Could it have “believableness”? All advice appreciated. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/2 "2014-04-07T01:35:07Z")
a state hospital is owned by the state. there may be more than one for different purposes or to serve different areas. doesn’t need to be in capitol. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/3 "2014-04-07T01:35:30Z")
Is it a mental hospital? My mom worked at a state mental hospital when I was a young kid, and it was way out in the boonies of Upper Peninsula Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/4 "2014-04-07T01:39:52Z")
A **capitol** is a building. A **capital** is more like a city. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/5 "2014-04-07T01:44:13Z")
Seems to happen all the time–[Buffalo State Hospital in Buffalo, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_State_Hospital); [Massilon State Hospital in Massilon, Ohio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massillon,_Ohio#Massillon_State_Hospital); [Stockton State Hospital in Stockton, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_State_Hospital); [Traverse City State Hospital in Traverse City, Michigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traverse_City_State_Hospital) (perhaps where **levdrakon** ’s mom used to work). Lots of potentially spooky old-fashioned buildings, too. (Note that some of these institutions may have been re-named or re-purposed.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/6 "2014-04-07T01:45:42Z")
There’s an abandoned boy’s reformatory school somewhere in Modoc County California that is close to Oregon and would be a perfect setting for something spooky. ---
**Author:** ![Anise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anise/32/21721_2.png) [@Anise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anise)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/7 "2014-04-07T01:55:52Z")
So it could work, yay! 🙂 And yes, it is a psych facility… half of it is abandoned. There’s a cemetery outside of the largest abandoned building… at the edge of the woods… bordering on the huge mausoleum. Twelve floors, and three of them are under the river. And late at night… during the darkest hours before dawn… footsteps echo down the halls. Tap… tap… tap… You get the idea. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/8 "2014-04-07T02:19:30Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > a state hospital is owned by the state. there may be more than one for different purposes or to serve different areas. doesn’t need to be in capitol. Usually “the” state hospital is the institution you get remanded to when you make a successful insanity plea. It’s not necessarily a single facility, though, and sometimes they farm cases out to other institutions. But, yeah, as to the OP it definitely doesn’t need to be in the capital, although it’s usually relatively close to the (or a) state prison since there may be inmates/patients that go back and forth or staff at the hospital might make “house calls” to inmates in the prison. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/9 "2014-04-07T02:49:06Z")
> [@Anise](#): > > Here’s a little background. Oregon State Hospital is the perfect setting for my creepy paranormal murder mystery. What does it mean to be a “state hospital” ? Its only a name, to make the name seem formal… “this is definitely run by the state” The organization of each state is up to each state, so the name may have a more definitive meaning in some states. There are many hospitals with the name “State Hospital” outside capital cities. Eg [Henryton State Hospital - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henryton_State_Hospital) Eastern State Hospital (Virginia) Montana State Hospital. Many hospitals may qualify for the name “State Hospital” but not have that name. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/10 "2014-04-07T03:02:41Z")
Absolutely. [http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhhospitals/](http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhhospitals/) ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/11 "2014-04-07T03:52:10Z")
Yup. Traditionally, in the US, public hospitals and simlar facility were established and run by local governments. A “state hospital” was so called because it was established and run by the state government, and the usual reason for this was because it was part of the state-run justice system - it was a hospital to which people could be committed involuntarily by the courts. Hence “state hospital” normally suggests a public psychiatric hospital in the US. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/12 "2014-04-07T03:55:05Z")
> [@Anise](#): > > Here’s a little background. Oregon State Hospital is the perfect setting for my creepy paranormal murder mystery. The problem is that the book is set in Portland, but the hospital is actually located in Salem, that being the state capitol. So are you going to call it _Two Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/13 "2014-04-07T07:03:28Z")
There can certainly be state hospitals all over the state. Here’s a [job postings page](http://dsh.ca.gov/Jobs/JobwithDSH.asp#step4) on the California State Hospitals web site, listing facilities in a bunch of different cities that have openings. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/14 "2014-04-07T16:19:36Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Seems to happen all the time–[Buffalo State Hospital in Buffalo, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_State_Hospital); [Massilon State Hospital in Massilon, Ohio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massillon,_Ohio#Massillon_State_Hospital); [Stockton State Hospital in Stockton, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_State_Hospital); [Traverse City State Hospital in Traverse City, Michigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traverse_City_State_Hospital) (perhaps where **levdrakon** ’s mom used to work). Lots of potentially spooky old-fashioned buildings, too. (Note that some of these institutions may have been re-named or re-purposed.) Mom worked at the Newberry State Hospital, now closed. It’d make a great setting for a scary story. Spooked the heck out of me when mom would take me with her when she needed to stop by for some reason on her day off. > **[Error](https://abandonedplaces.livejournal.com/1548664.html)** > > Your life is the best story! Just start your blog today! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/15 "2014-04-07T16:29:08Z")
In Oregon itself, there used to be the [Eastern Oregon State Hospital](http://oshmuseum.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/eastern-oregon-state-hospital/) in Pendleton. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/16 "2014-04-07T16:32:39Z")
Though in theory a state hospital is one owned and run by the state, in practice, the there was nearly always applied to mental hospitals. There was no need for the state to run regular medical hospitals, since any large community established one, but few communities wanted to deal with the mentally ill (at the time the system was set up). Personally, I think setting murder mystery or horror story in a mental hospital is far too cliched. Find a location that hasn’t been used a thousand times before – especially one that’s incongruous – and you’ll have a far better story. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/17 "2014-04-07T16:39:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > … > > Personally, I think setting murder mystery or horror story in a mental hospital is far too cliched. Find a location that hasn’t been used a thousand times before – especially one that’s incongruous – and you’ll have a far better story. Good point. Another major cliched institutional setting is boarding schools, especially girls’ boarding schools. Don’t do it unless you’re really good or are writing fanfic-y stuff. Also orphanages, don’t do an orphanage horror story. If you want an institutional setting, try something a little less cliched. I don’t know, maybe Army barracks? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/18 "2014-04-07T16:44:29Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > …But, yeah, as to the OP it definitely doesn’t need to be in the capital, although it’s usually relatively close to the (or a) state prison since there may be inmates/patients that go back and forth or staff at the hospital might make “house calls” to inmates in the prison. There’s a so-called “Training Center” nearby that is run by the state. It isn’t quite a hospital, it’s a sort of boarding school slash treatment center for people with major developmental disabilities. There’s a state university about ten minutes away, and there is a synergy between the two institutions. There is (or was) a mentorship/buddies program where college students would work with the training center patients, and the university would hire people who had attended the training center for staff positions, e.g. in custodial service or things like that. All of this is over a hundred miles from the state capital. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/19 "2014-04-07T17:10:12Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Seems to happen all the time–[Buffalo State Hospital in Buffalo, New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_State_Hospital); [Massilon State Hospital in Massilon, Ohio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massillon,_Ohio#Massillon_State_Hospital); [Stockton State Hospital in Stockton, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_State_Hospital); [Traverse City State Hospital in Traverse City, Michigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traverse_City_State_Hospital) (perhaps where **levdrakon** ’s mom used to work). Lots of potentially spooky old-fashioned buildings, too. (Note that some of these institutions may have been re-named or re-purposed.) The old Stockton State Hospital has been closed down, but we’re in the process of getting a new one. So [California has eight](http://www.dsh.ca.gov/Hospitals/), with a ninth being built. Only one is in Sacramento. Unfortunately for spookiness, the old one was dismantled long ago and a satellite campus for CSU Stanislaus has been built there. Or is that unfortunate for spookiness? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/20 "2014-04-07T19:27:25Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Personally, I think setting murder mystery or horror story in a mental hospital is far too cliched. Find a location that hasn’t been used a thousand times before – especially one that’s incongruous – and you’ll have a far better story. > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > If you want an institutional setting, try something a little less cliched. I don’t know, maybe Army barracks? How about an [Asylum for Insane Indians](http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/)? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518.md?page=2)