Matteawan State Hospital

Matteawan State Hospital was established by a commission created by a law of 1886 (Chapter 192) "to inquire into and determine the best method of meeting the demand for additional accommodations" and land for the inmates of the State Asylum for Insane Criminals at Auburn. The following year (Laws of 1887, Chapter 545), this act was amended, authorizing the commissioners to select a site on which to build a new asylum. On the recommendations of the commissioners, an appropriation was made for a new asylum for insane criminals to be constructed at Matteawan (Laws of 1888, Chapter 45). In 1893 (Chapter 81), the new asylum was officially established and named the Matteawan State Hospital. This act repealed the act establishing the State Asylum for Insane Criminals at Auburn. The new hospital was to confine and treat those committed to it by criminal courts and convicts who were declared insane while serving out their sentences. The superintendent of state prisons who had control over the hospital, was to appoint a medical superintendent to exercise direct supervision of the hospital; this superintendent would also act as treasurer. He was to submit monthly estimates of expenses for the upcoming month and to receive a copy of the conviction certificate of all convicts transferred to the hospital. In 1904 (Chapter 525), an amendment to the insanity law of 1896 made the Matteawan State Hospital a facility for the custody and care of those persons committed by criminal courts or transferred there by the State Commission in Lunancy; for convicts declared insane while serving sentences of one year or less for a misdemeanor; and for all female convicts declared insane while serving sentences of one year or less for a misdemeanor; and for all female convicts declared insane while serving a sentence. An amendment to the State Departments Law in 1926 (Chapter 584) assigned the hospital to the Department of Mental Hygiene. A seven-member board of visitors, including at least two women, was to be appointed by the governor. A superintendent was to be appointed by the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene with the approval of the board of visitors. The following year (Laws of 1927, Chapter 426), the hospital was placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Correction; but remained subject to inspection by Mental Hygiene. A law of 1932 (Chapter 574) stated that an inmate of any state hospital for the insane who was considered to be a threat to other inmates or employees, or who committed a homicide or felonious assault as an inmate, could be transferred to Matteawan State Hospital. An amendment to the Correctional Law in 1961 (Chapter 157) allowed for the commitment of youthful offenders, juvenile delinquents, or wayward minors declared insane while serving sentences. Article 16 of the Correction Law, containing the establishment and regulatory laws dealing specifically with Matteawan, was amended in 1970 (Chapter 476) and repealed in 1976 (Chapter 766), and the hospital was reassigned to the Department of Mental Hygiene. The 1966 act was amended by a law of 1967 (Chapter 477), when the facility was renamed the Beacon State Institution. This law authorized committing to Beacon mentally defective male offenders sentenced to a definite term of over ninety days, or to an indefinite or reformatory term, upon a certificate of mental defect by two examiners. Male mental defectives over age 16 who were not convicted of crimes could also be committed here (this stipulation was later repealed). Article 16-a of the Correction Law, dealing specifically with Beacon State Institution, was repealed in 1970 (Chapter 476), and the law was generalized to apply to any institution for the mentally retarded in the Department of Correction. The act authorized continuation of existing facilities. In the spring of 1973, Matteawan State Hospital, Beacon State Institution, and the Glenham Correctional Facility (created in 1970) were combined as the Correctional Center for Medical Services at Beacon. The Center, however, was short lived and in 1974 was renamed the Fishkill Correctional Facility. Matteawan was reestablished as a separate entity and operated as such until 1977, when its grounds were combined with those of the Fishkill Correctional Facility, and its function of admitting criminally insane patients was transferred to the Central New York Psychiatric Center under the newly-created Office of Mental Health. The facility provides care and treatment for male and female mentally ill, retarded, or emotionally disturbed persons, including convicts; persons indicted but not mentally competent to stand trial; and mentally ill persons who would endanger the safety of others if confined in another state hospital or school.