# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**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, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/21 "2014-04-07T20:33:34Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > 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. That link I posted, showing current job openings at all the California State Hospital, includes a bunch of openings in Stockton. Is there still something going on there? Is there a _new_ facility being built in Stockton now? ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/22 "2014-04-09T00:01:00Z")
I live about 200 yards from a CA state hospital in Napa. (Insert jokes here) I actually have bricks from the original creepy castle building in my back yard. I am so glad that the wine industry is the king here now. When I was a kid, the only thing anyone knew about Napa was that was where they sent the crazy people. Now it’s wino jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/23 "2014-04-09T03:28:08Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Also orphanages, don’t do an orphanage horror story. Not unless you’re setting your story at least four decades back anyway. Orphanages have been pretty much all shut down and replaced by foster care. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/24 "2014-04-09T04:38:29Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 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. I was just going to post that. For those of us of a certain age, Pendleton is only really known for two things: Roundup and the State loony bin. ---
**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 9, 2014, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/25 "2014-04-09T13:01:40Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > I was just going to post that. For those of us of a certain age, Pendleton is only really known for two things: Roundup and the State loony bin. And the woolen mills! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/26 "2014-04-09T14:24:39Z")
Are you talking about ordinary state-owned hospitals, or _mental_ hospitals? The term “state hospital” general denotes the latter here in the South. There’s still no requirement that they be in the state capital though. ---
**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 9, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/27 "2014-04-09T21:16:44Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > That link I posted, showing current job openings at all the California State Hospital, includes a bunch of openings in Stockton. Is there still something going on there? Is there a _new_ facility being built in Stockton now? I was going to say it was under construction, but then googled to be sure. It looks like it [might have opened last summer](http://www.modbee.com/2013/06/25/2779752/2500-lock-up-jobs-at-stockon-prison.html). It’s outside of city limits. [Yup. It’s open.](http://www.dsh.ca.gov/Stockton/default.asp) There was a noticable amount of “Oh, Woe!” when the location was announced, years ago, so I thought its opening would have been enough of a production that I’d have heard of it. But either they sneaked it past me or it was quiet enough that I forgot about it. Looks like they kept some of the [buildings intact](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockton_State_Hospital)when they turned the old one into CSU Stanislaus. The old State Hospital is also the reason we have [Smith Canal](http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011112/A_NEWS/311129977). ---
**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 9, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/28 "2014-04-09T21:31:47Z")
Hey, **Anise**. If you want to write a sequel, here’s a State Hospital that was turned into a University (annex). It’s got a small cemetary for prior patients on the grounds. It’s a block from the city’s main cemetary and about a mile from the rural cemetary where all the cool old monuments are. In between the main cemetary and the rural cemetary is St. Joseph’s Hospital. So characters can be extensively damaged and still pull through because the ER is so close. Hypothetically. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518/29 "2014-04-09T21:50:56Z")
Oh, a mental hospital. I was thinking the hospital perched on a cliff at Oregon Health Sciences University would make a pretty spectacular story setting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-state-hospital-be-located-anywhere-other-than-the-state-capitol/685518.md?page=1)