The Harrisburg State Hospital, which treated Pennsylvanians with mental illnesses for over a century and a half, is undergoing a significant transformation. The state Department of General Services has proposed a plan to develop a laboratory complex on the former hospital grounds, with a joint facility for multiple state departments and a state police forensics laboratory. The proposal has been recommended for approval by the Susquehanna Township Planning Commission, and it will need to be passed by the township commissioners.
The hospital was established in 1851 after social reformer Dorthea Dix campaigned for a state mental institution in Pennsylvania. It was the state’s first public asylum and adopted the Kirkbride layout, designed by architect John Haviland. Over the years, the hospital evolved its treatment methods, moving towards the cottage plan designed by Harrisburg native Henry Orth and architect Addison Hutton.
Patient labor was a significant part of the hospital’s operation until the 1970s, and it finally closed in 2006 due to the shift towards community-based mental health care. Efforts to sell the property for development have been unsuccessful, but now a plan for a lab complex aims to repurpose the historic site.
While the closure of state hospitals like Harrisburg remains controversial, the issues that led to their establishment in the first place continue to be relevant today. Critics argue that inadequate community mental health services contribute to homelessness and incarceration, while supporters believe that there was overinstitutionalization. The proposed development of the former Harrisburg State Hospital site reflects a new chapter in its storied history.
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