Camarillo State Mental Hospital
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Camarillo State Mental Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located 3 miles south of Camarillo, California from 1936 to 1997 that housed both developmentally disabled and mentally ill patients. During its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, the hospital was at the forefront of treating conditions that in the past were thought of as untreatable. An example of this was the drugs and therapy procedures doctors at that institution developed for schizophrenia. Many of these programs initiated at Camarillo helped patients formerly relegated to a lifetime of warehousing in an institution or lobotomies be able to leave the hospital and move to less restrictive group homes or become (at least nearly) independent. The hospital continued to be a leader in the research of drugs and therapies in subsequent years. They also had one of the first units of any hospital to deal with autism.
Camarillo was no stranger to the abuses that regularly occur in mental hospitals. These included excessive use of restraints and poor supervision of patients. They long received controversy first over warehousing mentally ill people and then of releasing them to the community. Changing ethics over the years meant releasing more of these patients and putting them in community-based group homes rather than in large, costly, and remote hospitals. As a result, the number of patients at Camarillo dropped from 7000 in the 1960s to 900 in 1996. Due to its low patient number and the rising costs per patient, then California governor Pete Wilson announced in January of that year plans to close down the hospital in July 1997. Various members of the community, family members of patients, and employees of Camarillo made several last ditch efforts to keep the hospital open, arguing in part that the patients are already used to Camarillo and question where they would go. Some tried to get mentally ill criminals placed in Camarillo in an effort to save it, a proposal that had come up several times before, but again community members were concerned of the risk of criminals escaping into the community. Pete Wilson ended up standing his ground and the hospital closed down in late June 1997, with the patients and research facilities moved to other locations.
Originally it was intended to turn Camarillo into a prison, but community opposition in part and interest from the Cal State universities led to its conversion into a university- Cal State University Channel Islands (CSUCI). CSUCI had its first classes in fall 2002, four years ahead of the original schedule. Most of the buildings of Camarillo have been preserved and revitalized, including all the original 1930s mission-style buildings. The university is Ventura County's first public university and is quickly becoming a destination university. It has 2300 students in 2006, but is expected to grow to 15000 by 2025.
[edit] Trivia
A popular rumor, especially among residents of Ventura County, is that the Eagles' song "Hotel California" was written about the Camarillo State Hospital, but this is most likely not true. Don Henley said in a 1995 interview that it was written about "the zeitgeist of the time", meaning about their lifestyle as celebrity musicians in L.A. in the 70s. Those who believe the rumor about it being about the hospital point to lyrics such as "You can check out anytime you want but you can never leave", While these lyrics could in theory refer to a mental hospital, they could also refer to being trapped in a certain lifestyle. However, Camarillo State Hospital has a "mission bell" which is referenced in the song, and the cover of the album is similar to that of CSH (it really is the Beverly Hills Hotel). Also, there are other lyrics to point out that the song may have been referencing the hospital such as: "the voices down the corridor", "we are programed to receive"...the decision is yours to determine if this famous Eagles song truly is referencing CSH now CSUCI.
The Frank Zappa song "Camarillo Brillo" was also allegedly inspired by Camarillo State Hospital.
Legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker spent some time detoxing from heroin at the hospital. He wrote the composition "Relaxin' in Camarillo" in tribute to the hospital.
'N Sync's mental hospital-set video for "I Drive Myself Crazy" was filmed at Camarillo after the hospital closed down.
After it closed down, Camarillo was a popular destination for ghost hunters alleging that the hospital is haunted. A popular destination on the grounds for Ventura County youth was an allegedly haunted dairy used by the hospital known to the locals as "Scary Dairy".
