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Atascadero State Hospital (ASH) is located on the central coast of California, in San Luis Obispo County, half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is an all-male, maximum-security facility, that has patients from all over the state. Located near Atascadero, California, it is the largest employer in that town.

History

ASH opened in 1954, as a state-run, self-contained public sector forensic psychiatric facility. It is enclosed within a security perimeter, and licensed by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Patients are referred to the hospital by the Superior Court, Board of Prison Terms, or the Department of Corrections.

In 1998, ASH won the Ernest A. Codman Award in the Hospital Category.^[1]

Inmate murder

On March 30, 2008, one of the few homicides in the hospital's history occurred when 44-year-old inmate Earl McKee strangled a fellow inmate, 37-year-old Lawrence Rael to death with a knotted towel. McKee was originally institutionalized as a "Mentally Disordered Offender". Last year, after making abusive threats to other inmates, he was reclassified as a "Sexually Violent Predator". The murder came in the wake of federal court-mandated changes that reduced the usage of medication and restraints on patients as well as a large turnover in staffing resulting in less experienced personnel working at the hospital.^[2] Salaries were raised, and many more staff were hired.

The facility had previously lost a staff worker who was murdered by a patient.

Commitment categories

Psychology
History of psychology Branches of psychology
Basic science
Abnormal · Behavioral neuroscience Cognitive · Developmental Experimental · Evolutionary Mathematical · Neuropsychology Personality · Positive Psychophysics · Social
Applied science
Clinical · Educational Forensic · Health Industrial and organizational Occupational health School · Sport
Lists
Outline · Publications Topics · Therapies
Portal

• Incompetent to Stand Trial
• Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity
• Department of Corrections patients transferred for evaluation
• Mentally Disordered Offenders
• Sexually Violent Predators^[3]

Current status

Atascadero State Hospital is currently under renovation and is in the process of shipping the remaining few dozen sexually violent predators to Coalinga State Hospital (CSH), which was built specifically to house and treat SVPs. More than 600 SVPs have already been transferred to CSH, and the state wants all SVPs at CSH by mid-2008.

Employees, staff and officers

ASH employs a staff of over 1800, with on-site training programs for a variety of schools, including nurse practitioner programs, clinical psychology internship programs, and psychiatric technician training.

The Executive Director of ASH is Jon DeMorales. Dr. Ron Tarner was briefly associated with ASH but left shortly into 2007.

Popular culture

In the film Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Sarah Connor is institutionalised at "Pescadero State Hospital" - a mental institute heavily based on Atascadero State Hospital.

References

Annette Benning's character mentions that her lover/partner in crime has been sent to Atascadero in "The Grifters".

External links

• The Joint Commission
• The News Vine

35°27′50″N 120°38′08″W / 35.46389°N 120.63556°W / 35.46389; -120.63556