Lexington’s Eastern State Hospital has been caring for those with acute mental illnesses for close to 200 years. Lexington Rotarians last week heard how services have changed over two centuries.
Eastern State Hospital Associate Administrator Susan Griffith told Rotary Club attendees the Fayette Hospital came first in 1817, but care for the mentally ill was not pretty. Griffith said Eastern State opened in 1824. Almost a hundred years later in 1920, it would be overcapacity with 2000 patients. Now it serves just over a hundred patients with the average stay about 12 to 14 days.
Griffith said a period of COVID has meant only a slight increase in patient numbers. “Our census has gone up about eight patients more a day than usual. But we haven’t seen a significant increase. I think people are still getting those services in the community,” said Griffith
Up until 2013, Eastern State Hospital was situated near downtown off Newtown Pike. But for the last eight years, care has been rendered at the facility in the Coldstream development. Blue Grass Community and Technical College sits on the former site.
