Rally for Positive Permanent Change at Bridgewater State Hospital

In mid March, the Disability Law Center released a public report about Bridgewater State Hospital. Their summary statement, “Disability Law Center Finds Inadequate Access to Treatment, Mold Contamination, and Unlawful Restraint Practices at Bridgewater State Hospital Persist,” hints at some of the unsettling details included in the document. The announcement was covered in The Boston Globe as well with an editorial titled, “Mold and mistreatment: The problems at Bridgewater State Hospital call for major changes.”

Bridgewater State Hospital is a medium security facility that operates under the oversight of the MA Department of Corrections. Most of the men held at Bridgewater State Hospital have not been convicted of any crime but are civilly committed due to concerns about their mental health in relation to criminal justice involvement. Massachusetts is one of only a few states where people in this situation are not treated in a facility run by their state’s Department of Mental Health.

For many years NAMI and other mental health advocacy organizations across the Commonwealth championed legislation to transfer oversight of Bridgewater State Hospital to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. During 2015-2017 a coalition of those diligent advocates succeeded in moving the state to hire a firm to restructure the treatment and security protocols and shift the culture at Bridgewater toward prioritizing clinical support, though it remained under the oversight of the Department of Corrections. The Disability Law Center report is evidence that this commitment has fallen away.

WGBH offered an article in October 2023 that implies that legislators are making progress toward instituting the oversight change. A quote from this article includes this statement, “In its five-year capital investment plan, the Healey Administration said it will resume consideration of building a new forensic psychiatric hospital that would replace Bridgewater State Hospital and be administered by the Department of Mental Health.” That somewhat vague long-term plan leaves many people, those currently in the facility and those destined to be sent there in coming years, in an unacceptable environment.

Let’s use our voices, those living with mental health conditions and those who love and care for them, to insist our government act to make sure people with mental health conditions are treated with dignity, to change the culture at Bridgewater State Hospital once and for all, and transfer oversight to the DMH. For the current legislative session the appropriate bill is H.2985/S.1239, “An Act transferring Bridgewater State Hospital from the Department of Correction to the Department of Mental Health.” Reach out to your local legislator via email and request they support this bill and the individuals at the facility. It only takes a few seconds to find that contact info here:  malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator.