State starts planning to replace Central State, as pressures mount on aging Virginia mental hospital
CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL - Dr. Hughes Melton took heed of a poster in the admissions ward of the maximum-security forensic unit at the heart of this sprawling state hospital outside of Petersburg for Virginians with mental illness.
"A Smooth Sea Never Makes a Skilled Sailor," the poster cautions.
Melton saw plenty of rough waters to navigate in his first visit to Central State since Gov. Ralph Northam appointed him as state commissioner of behavioral health and developmental services.
The hospital, first established in 1870 as the Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane at a former Confederate hospital in Richmond's East End, is the only maximum-security facility in Virginia for people with mental illness committed to the state's care because of crimes they were accused of committing.
Last year, the state estimated a cost of $169.1 million to construct a single building to replace eight outdated buildings on the campus, not including Hiram W. Davis Medical Center, which sits between Central State and what was the Southside Virginia Training Center for people with intellectual or development disabilities.
Read more: http://www.richmond.com/news/plus/state-starts-planning-to-replace-central-state-as-pressures-mount/article_fc1b8708-d85b-5b40-979f-6796dc7d6eaa.html
