Shutting down Taunton State Hospital

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health is shutting down Taunton State Hospital, hoping to save $2.2 million a year. The unit's population already has been reduced to just four men, this according to Lester Blumberg, chief of staff at the mental health department

The unit was created in response to a court order 13 years ago after five severely retarded men died at Bridgewater State Hospital where attorneys found patients isolated for as much as 23 hours a day, sometimes naked, psychotic, and despairing.

See also this Boston Channel 5 report.