CCT # 06, CMHI Traditional Cache
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Cherokee County Tour is series of caches to showcase historical
and/or unique POI inCherokee County Iowa. The caches are in no
particular order. As I remember or discover a POI that I feel would
make a good cache site I will add it to the series. I hope you
enjoy the tour.
Cherokee Mental Health Institute
The Cherokee Mental Health Institute (CMHI) is a state-run
psychiatric facility located in Cherokee, Iowa. It has operated
from the late 1800s until the present day. It is operated under the
authority of The Iowa Department of Human Services.
Early years
As early as 1890, a movement was begun to build a fourth mental
hospital in the state and northwest Iowa was the logical location
for it. In 1894, Cherokee residents started an active campaign to
get the legislature to select their city for the new hospital. Many
other northwest Iowa towns also vied for the hospital, including
Sheldon, LeMars, Fort Dodge, Storm Lake and "Pocahontas Center". It
took 14 ballots in the legislature to give Cherokee the hospital.
The legislature appropriated $12,000 to purchase a site, but it was
6 1/2 years after the first excavation before the administration
building, sitting on bare prairie land, was ready for occupancy.
There was a struggle each session of the legislature to get
appropriations to continue with the building.
The hospital was opened for patients on August 15, 1902. The first
Superintendent, Dr. M. Nelson Voldeng, worked all the summer to
equip and ready it for 700 patients. From August 15 to August 26,
eight patients were admitted. On August 26, 1902, 306 patients were
transferred from Independence and two days later 252 from Clarinda.
These patients were brought by special trains and met with teams
and hayracks at the end of the Illinois Central Railroad spur and
transported to the hospital.
The dormitory for employees, built in the 1940s was named Wirth
Hall in 1962 for the late J.E. Wirth, business manager here for
many years.
Later developments
Over the years a significant change has occurred in the
patient/staff ratio and employee salaries/benefits. In 1910, 81
persons were employed in the nursing service department, caring for
881 patients. These employees worked 12 to 14 hours per day, with
one-half day off per week, for a base salary of $24.00 to $30.00
per month, plus room and board. Most of the living quarters were
located on the wards where the patients also resided.
Beginning with about 600 patients, the hospital population
increased year by year until the peak was reached in December 1945
with a total patient census/population of 1729. The institute was
"bulging at the seams" with beds in every hall and every building
overtaxed. Then began the gradual campaign to send patients who had
reached maximum hospital benefits back to their own counties.
Initially, psychiatric social workers found placements for the
mentally retarded and the indigent in the community and at the
"county farms". With the discovery of psychotropic drugs in the
1950s, the push for community based services and the establishment
of Mental Health Centers in the 1960s, the hospital census
continued its decline. Today, the average daily census is
approximately 44 patients as the emphasis for community based
services increases and lengths of stay shorten due to medical
advances and psychosocial rehabilitation.Cherokee Mental Health
Institute (CMHI) is one of 11-programs at the "Cherokee Regional
Resource Center," a 208-acre campus under the direction of the Iowa
Department of Human Services. Out of Iowa's 99 counties, CMHI
serves the public mental health needs of 41 counties for adults and
56 for adolescents. CMHI receives 530 inpatient admissions per
year, has an average daily inpatient census of 44 patients, and an
average length of stay of 25 days.Today, the Mental Health
Institute continues to operate and has a cachement area of 41
counties in northwest Iowa for adults and 55 counties for children
and adolescents.
In 2002 CMHI celebrated the centennial anniversary of it’s opening.
Two of the highlights of the celebration were the opening of the
renovated cemetery located at CMHI, although accessible only via
private property. The second was the placing of a time capsule in
front of the main building just north of the flagpole. The cache in
placed in this area.
The cache is a bison tube. BYOWU
Thanks to Tony Morris, CMHI Business Manager, for allowing the
placement of this cache.
Any pictures you take may not include pictures
of people that you are not with. State Law!
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
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