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2025-02-07T21:45:26Z

In popular culture

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{{Short description|Former hospital in California, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox hospital
| name = Camarillo State Hospital and Developmental Center
| org/group = State of California
| image_size = 225
| coordinates = {{Coord|34|9|45|N|119|2|26|W|display=it|type:landmark}}
| location = [[Camarillo]]
| region =
| state = California
| country = US
| healthcare = 
| funding = Public
| type = Specialist
| speciality = [[Psychiatric hospital]],<br> developmental disabilities
| opened = 1936
| closed = 1997
| demolished =
| former-names = Camarillo State Hospital,<br> CAM
| website = 
| other_links =
| module =
}}

'''Camarillo State Mental Hospital''', also known as '''Camarillo State Hospital''', was a public [[psychiatric hospital]] for patients with both [[developmental disabilities]] and [[mental illness]] in [[Camarillo]], [[California]]. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to 1997.

The former hospital campus has been redeveloped and opened in 2002 as the [[California State University Channel Islands]]. The university has retained the distinctive [[Mission Revival Style architecture]], and the bell tower in the South quad has been adopted as the symbol of the university.

==Pre-history==
When the [[United States]] took possession of [[California]] and other Mexican lands in 1848, it was bound by the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] to honor the legitimate land claims of Mexican citizens residing in those captured territories. The land upon which the former Camarillo State Hospital sat, once belonged to Isabel Yorba as part of an 1836 land grant, known as "[[Rancho Guadalasca]]."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://repository.library.csuci.edu/handle/10139/6077|title=Camarillo State Hospital Documents and Oral Histories|website=repository.library.csuci.edu|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref>

In 1929, the California legislature initially appropriated $1,000,000 for the purchase of land and buildings to be utilized for a state hospital. Three years later, 1500 acres of the 8600 acre Lewis Ranch, owned by agriculturists Joseph P. Lewis and [[Adolfo Camarillo]], located within the City of [[Camarillo, California|Camarillo]], [[Ventura County, California|County of Ventura]] was acquired for $415,000.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
Architectural plans for the new hospital were rushed to state architect, George McDougall, to begin the process to accommodate the initial 3000 patients for the first unit. The hospital was expected to cover 200 acres with supply wards, homes for the superintendent and officials, dormitories for employees and patients, commissaries, and storerooms. It was anticipated that the completed hospital would house 7000 patients and over 700 staff.<ref name=":0" />

The first artist rendition of the hospital appeared in ''The Camarillo News'' on November 25, 1932. Fifty male patients arrived in [[Camarillo, California|Camarillo]] in March 1933, and were initially housed in the farm home on the Lewis Ranch. That number grew to over 100, in June 1934. A call for construction bids came from the State in May 1933 and during that same month, Camarillo State Hospital or "CAM" as it was named affectionately by its employees, received its official name. Camarillo State Hospital officially joined six other state [[institution]]s, with 16,000 patients between them, under the direction of Dr. J.M. Toner.<ref name=":0" />

Units 1 and 5 of the initial section of the hospital were scheduled for the first construction. The WPA project began. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on August 15, 1933, with Josephine Lewis, Mr. and Mrs. [[Adolfo Camarillo]], Governor Rolph, and Dr. Toner in attendance. The new hospital project was a direct result of an agreement between the [[Public Works Administration]] and the State of California. The total amount of the construction cost was approximately $10,000,000 and at completion, was the largest mental hospital in the world.<ref name=":0" />

In April 1936, Thomas W. Haggerty, physician, surgeon, and psychiatrist was hired as the new Superintendent for the hospital. However, the hospital didn't officially open for people with mental disabilities until October of that year. The official opening brought Governor Frank Merriam, who made the dedicatory address; [[Adolfo Camarillo]]; Joseph McGrath; Ed Rains; Roy Pinkerton; and other local celebrities.<ref name=":0" />

The first official hospital patients were adult men, who were housed in the Bell Tower (South Complex). In 1937, 300 women patients were transferred to Camarillo from other state hospitals. In fact, there were so many patient transfers from other overcrowded state hospitals, that a North Complex was initiated in 1939. The South Complex and the North Complex were then divided into male and female wards.<ref name=":0" />

In 1947, Camarillo State Hospital opened a ward for the admission of children with [[Developmental disability|Developmental disabilities]]. When this ward expanded, a Children's Treatment Center was constructed and occupied in January, 1955. The facility grew with a new Receiving and Treatment Center and an Administration Building in 1949. Staff population at this time was around 1518. In 1957, the patient population reached its peak, exceeding 7,000, the largest population that the hospital would see in its 60 years of existence.<ref name=":0" />

Prior to 1959, adolescent males and females were housed with mentally disabled adults. In 1959, the adolescent females (including [[Autism spectrum|autistic]] patients) were separated from their adult counterparts. By 1968, the Adolescent Division was separated from the Children's Division and organized into four treatment units and a special school. In 1970, the units became co-educational.<ref name=":0" />

The hospital began its double duty in 1967, when its role as a mental hospital for illnesses such as [[schizophrenia]] or [[Bipolar disorder|manic depression]], was widened to include a center for clients with [[Developmental disability|developmental disabilities]], such as [[Organic brain syndrome|organic brain disease]], [[autism]], and other [[birth defect]]s that limit the ability to learn.<ref name=":0" />

In 1969, the [[Lanterman–Petris–Short Act|Lanterman Petris Short Act]] became effective, which eliminated the previous indefinite commitments of persons found by a court to be mentally disabled. The new law required an automatic judicial review of every decision to hospitalize a person involuntarily beyond a very limited time. The law also required annual reconsideration of involuntary treatment. State agencies encouraged outside placement of individuals under the [[Penal Code]], which in turn, led levels of care or services at state hospitals to decrease, while costs of care increased.<ref name=":0" />

In 1971, the Camarillo treatment staff was reorganized under a program management concept, which enabled the establishment of treatment programs for persons with similar needs. Each treatment program was headed by a program director/mental health professional. Later, in 1976, the reorganization of the hospital led to the establishment of an executive director, who appointed a Clinical Director, medical director, and Administration Services Director for the hospital. Discoveries regarding chemical barriers in the brain created a new generation of drugs, which enabled a [[Developmental disability|mentally disabled]] person to live a normal life. After forty years, the "mental hospital" role of Camarillo dwindled.<ref name=":0" />

In 1983, an innovative approach to treatment for the [[Developmental disability|mentally disabled]] was initiated at CAM. Activity centers allowed adult patients to be placed in a day treatment location, away from the living units. Patients were allowed to leave their living units at various times of the day and evening to attend therapy groups, activity groups, and educational programs. These programs were refined to include the latest [[Biopsychosocial model|biopsychosocial]] treatment approaches developed by [[University of California, Los Angeles|U.C.L.A.]] at the Camarillo State Hospital Research Center. The scheduling of patients into groups, based on their needs and strengths, allowed for the most individualized treatment available in the history of the facility.<ref name=":0" />

In 1985, a new vision and role for the hospital was imagined: "Enhancing Independence Through Innovation". Camarillo evolved from a locked, lifetime institution for the severely mentally ill into a facility which provided innovative and successful treatment modalities for drug and alcohol abusers, as well as programs that stabilized the mentally and developmentally disabled and successfully returned them to society. For many years, the hospital remained independent and autonomous from the outside world, with its own gardens, ice house, dairy, butcher, fire and police departments, hospital, beauty parlors, petting zoo, clothing store, swimming pool, and bowling alley. It even housed staff on its grounds. With its accreditation ratings consistently high in the 1980s and 1990s, the hospital seemed destined to last forever.<ref name=":0" />

== Closure ==
[[File:CSUCI Bell Tower Hall 1.jpg|thumb|The Bell Tower Building (2024) of [[California State University Channel Islands]], formerly Camarillo State Hospital]]
The end of the institution came due to economic challenges and a changing outlook on [[mental health]] treatment. In 1967, Governor [[Ronald Reagan]] signed the bi-partisan [[Lanterman–Petris–Short Act|Lanterman-Petris-Short Act]], which greatly affected state hospital populations, forcing many to close immediately.

Another contributing factor was in 1996, when Governor [[Pete Wilson]] empowered a special task force to research reasons for and against the closure of the Camarillo State Hospital and Developmental Center.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=1996-05-18|title=Wilson Won't Budge, Says State Hospital Must Close|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-18-me-5462-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223035651/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-05-18-me-5462-story.html |archive-date=2021-12-23 }}</ref> The task force cited that the facility, which housed as many as 7,266 patients in 1954, had only 871 clients in 1996. The hospitals per capita costs had risen to nearly $114,000, second highest in the state mental health system. These factors prompted the initial closing of one-quarter of the facility's 64 units and later, on June 30, 1996, the hospital officially and permanently closed.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Anderson|first=Jeffery|date=November 6, 2002|title=A Trip to Purgatory|url=https://www.laweekly.com/a-trip-to-purgatory/|url-status=live|website=LA Weekly|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409135551/https://www.laweekly.com/a-trip-to-purgatory/ |archive-date=2021-04-09 }}</ref>

=== California State University Channel Islands ===
{{main|California State University Channel Islands}}
Originally the state intended to turn Camarillo into a prison, but community opposition in part and interest from the [[California State University|California State Universities]] led to its conversion into a university, California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI). The school had its first classes in Fall 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cason|first=Colleen|title=Camarillo State Hospital workers recall their calling|url=https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/columnists/2017/06/16/camarillo-state-hospital-workers-recall-their-calling/390701001/|access-date=2021-12-23|website=Ventura County Star|language=en-US}}</ref> Some of the buildings of Camarillo have been preserved and revitalized, including many of the original 1930s [[Spanish missions in California|mission-style]] buildings.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Barnes|first=Kathryn|date=November 10, 2021|title=Mental hospital, Chumash legend, haunted cow: Short plays bring Camarillo's history to life|url=https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/ubi-csuci-history-black-portraits/camarillo-tales-echoes-hills|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-23|website=KCRW|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110235519/https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/ubi-csuci-history-black-portraits/camarillo-tales-echoes-hills |archive-date=2021-11-10 }}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Due to the hospital's proximity to the media center of Los Angeles, it has been referred to in movies, television, and music. Some famous persons with mental illnesses, [[tuberculosis]], or detoxing from drugs or alcohol stayed there to recover in Ventura County's mild climate. Jazz musician [[Charlie Parker]]'s "[[Relaxin' at Camarillo]]", written while he was detoxifying after a [[heroin]] addiction, is a tribute to the facility. Other patients included the actor/performer [[Oscar Levant]] and the jazz pianist [[Phineas Newborn Jr.]]

The song "Camarillo" by punk outfit [[Fear (band)|Fear]] also refers to the hospital. The band [[Ambrosia (band)|Ambrosia]] released a song called "Ready for Camarillo" on their 1978 ''Life Beyond L.A.'' album. It has been rumored that the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]]' 1977 "[[Hotel California]]" was a reference to Camarillo State Mental Hospital.<ref>Bishop, Greg. ''Weird California'' (2006): 228</ref>
* Exteriors for the 1948 film ''[[The Snake Pit]]'', starring [[Olivia de Havilland]], were filmed at Camarillo.
* The 1972 slasher movie ''[[Daddy's Deadly Darling|Pigs]]'', distributed by [[Troma]], had scenes shot here.
* In the 1975 film ''[[Farewell, My Lovely (1975 film)|Farewell, My Lovely]]'' (set in 1941), [[Philip Marlowe]] (played by [[Robert Mitchum]]) is given the information that Velma Valento "went nuts" and is in Camarillo.
* The punk band [[The Screamers]], led by front man and artist [[Tomata du Plenty]], gave a gig at Camarillo State Mental Hospital, inside the premises, for the benefit of the patients, on 23 March 1978.<ref>Taylor, Bob.
"Slash Magazine, volume 1, #10." (3-23-1978)</ref><ref>Zaballos, Nausica. "Vie et mort d'un hôpital psychiatrique: le Camarillo Mental Hospital, L'Harmattan, 2014, page 221"</ref>
* The punk band [[Angry Samoans]] played a gig at Camarillo State Mental Hospital for the benefit of patients on 12 May 1979. Some patients participated in the performance.
* The opening scene from the [[Wes Anderson]] film ''[[Bottle Rocket]]'' was filmed at the Camarillo State Mental Hospital.
* Jazz-rock band [[Steely Dan]] lyrically reference Charlie Parker's "Relaxin' at Camarillo" in the song "Parker's Band" on the album [[Pretzel Logic]].
* [['N Sync]]'s mental hospital-set video for "[[I Drive Myself Crazy]]" was filmed at Camarillo.
* After it closed, Camarillo was a popular destination for [[Ghost hunting|ghost hunters]] alleging that the hospital is haunted.
* During the [[dénouement]] of some television episodes of the ''[[Dragnet (series)|Dragnet series]]'', there were references to captured criminals being sentenced to Camarillo State Hospital.
* The pop/rock band Ambrosia recorded the song "Ready for Camarillo" in 1980, in which the singer laments his state of confusion and lack of identity.
* Scenes from ''[[The Ring (2002 film)|The Ring]]'' and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' were filmed at and around the hospital's grounds.
* Season 4 of the TV show ''[[The Biggest Loser (American TV series)|The Biggest Loser]]'' was filmed in 2007 when the site was CSU Channel Islands.
* [[Jonathan Kellerman]]'s 2012 thriller ''Victims'' modeled its Ventura State Hospital after Camarillo State Hospital.
* In the ''[[Magnum, P.I.]]'' season three episode, "...By Its Cover", Magnum's old friend from the Navy, "Hot" Rod Crysler, says he served eighteen months at Camarillo for a marijuana possession charge.
* In ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' season 4 episode 14, "'The Thespian Catalyst", Sheldon Cooper says to Penny the following: "Yes. I see a sign. It says 'Camarillo State Mental Hospital'" during their lesson of improvisation acting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://the-big-bang-theory.com/quotes/episode/414/The-Thespian-Catalyst/|title=The Big Bang Theory - The Thespian Catalyst Quotes|website=the-big-bang-theory.com}}</ref>
* In the 1971 film ''[[The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant]]'', serial killer Manuel Cass escapes from the hospital.
* Horror-Punk band ''[[Murderdolls]]'' filmed their video "Dead in Hollywood", and shot photos for the album ''[[Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls]]'' at Camarillo in 2002.<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CSpyd_urtEJ/ Murderdolls 2002 - Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls album graphic, @facewithoutfear</ref>
* [[Frank Zappa|Frank Zappa's]] song [[Camarillo Brillo]] details a romantic encounter with an eccentric woman whose hair resembles that of a patient who just underwent [[Electroconvulsive therapy|shock therapy]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://users.resist.ca/~kirstena/pagecamarillo.html Camarillo State Hospital Historical Site] Current photos and historical information about Camarillo State Mental Hospital
* [http://library.csuci.edu/collections/hospital/ Camarillo State Hospital Archive] Camarillo State Archives, run by California State University Channel Islands, the institution currently on site
{{Camarillo, California}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1936]]
[[Category:Psychiatric hospitals in California]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Camarillo, California]]
[[Category:Hospitals in Ventura County, California]]
[[Category:California State University, Channel Islands]]
[[Category:History of Ventura County, California]]
[[Category:1997 disestablishments in California]]

Camarillo State Mental Hospital - Revision history

imported>Qoiuoiuoiu: /* In popular culture */