Dorothea Dix Hospital

The Dorothea Dix Hospital was the first North Carolina psychiatric hospital located on Dix Hill in Raleigh, North Carolina and named after mental health advocate Dorothea Dix from New England. It was founded in 1856 and closed in 2012.

This article is about the hospital in North Carolina. It is not to be confused with the Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center in Bangor, Maine.
Dorothea Dix Hospital
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Dorothea Dix Hospital in 1872
Geography
LocationRaleigh, North Carolina, United States
Coordinates35.7690405°N 78.6552815°W / 35.7690405; -78.6552815
Organization
TypeSpecialist
Services
SpecialityPsychiatric
History
Opened1856
Closed2012
Links
WebsiteOfficial website
ListsHospitals in North Carolina

History
Dorothea Dix

In 1848, Dorothea Dix visited North Carolina and called for reform in the care of mentally ill patients. In 1849, when the North Carolina State Medical Society was formed, the construction of an institution in the capital, Raleigh, for the care of mentally ill patients was authorized. The hospital opened in 1856 as Dix Hill in honor of her grandfather and was almost 100 years later named in honor of Dorothea Lynde Dix.[1][2]

The hospital grounds at one time included 2,354 acres (953 ha), which were used for the hospital's farms, orchards, livestock, maintenance buildings, employee housing, and park grounds. In 1984, the Hunt administration transferred 385 acres to North Carolina State University's "Centennial Campus," and in 1985, the Martin administration transferred an additional 450 acres. Other pieces of the property now include the State Farmer's Market.

As of 2000, a consultant said the hospital needed to close.[3] This move was made despite the fact that the hospital was operating well and that its closure meant that mental health patients would have no local, public facility to use for care. The hospital land was purchased by the state to house the hospital.

The Dorothea Dix Hospital was at one time slated to be closed by the state by 2008, and the fate of the remaining 306 acres (124 ha) was a matter of much discussion and debate in state and local circles. As of October 6, 2008, according to the News & Observer, state officials were calling the facility "Central Regional Hospital - Raleigh Campus." [4] But in 2009, the state announced that Dorothea Dix Hospital would not be closing and would not be a "satellite" of CRH.[5] It was announced in August 2010 that a lack of funding meant the facility would "shut its doors by the end of the year." [6][7]

A thorough history of the hospital was published in 2010 by the Office of Archives and History of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.[8]

In August 2012, Dorothea Dix Hospital moved its last patients to Central Regional Hospital in Butner, North Carolina, which critics said did not provide enough beds for even the most serious cases. To help alleviate the situation, in May 2012, UNC agreed to spend $40 million on mental health services.[3]

The hospital is the setting for "Dix Hill," David Sedaris' reminiscence of working there as a volunteer in his youth, published in his collection, Naked.

On May 5, 2015, the Council of State members voted unanimously to approve selling the 308 acres to the city.[9] The property is now slated to become a destination city park. Proceeds of the sale will go to "fund facilities and services for the mentally ill."[9] Located on the property is Spring Hill, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[10][11]

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References
  1. Nineteenth-Century North Carolina Archived September 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. McKown, Harry (2006). "Dorothea Dix Hospital". Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  3. Bonner, Lynn (2012-08-12). "As Dix closes, reforms sputter". News & Observer. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  4. News & Observer: DHHS nixes Dix scripts Archived October 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. News & Observer: Dix to stay open, sign of failed reform Archived 2009-08-30 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Dix to close most services by end of year - Local/State - NewsObserve…". archive.is. 9 September 2012. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012.
  7. Robertson, Gary D. (October 17, 2010). "Money problems pushing NC psych hospital's closure". The Sun News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  8. O'Rorke, Marjorie. Haven on the Hill: A History of North Carolina's Dorothea Dix Hospital. Raleigh: Office of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, 2010. 321 pp. ISBN 978-0-86526-332-1.
  9. WRAL (5 May 2015). "Dorothea Dix deal gets final signoff :". WRAL.com.
  10. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  11. Marjorie L. O'Rorke (March 1983). "Spring Hill" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
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