House Resolution 46 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 46 BY HEATON , HANSON , KEARNS , COHOON , KLEIN , and SANDS A Resolution to recognize the Mount Pleasant Mental 1 Health Institute on the sesquicentennial anniversary 2 of its founding. 3 WHEREAS, in 1855, the newly formed state of Iowa was 4 struggling to provide the amenities, facilities, and 5 services that a state owes its citizens; and 6 WHEREAS, in that year, Iowa began construction of a 7 facility to house the mentally ill; and 8 WHEREAS, built at a cost of $400,000, the facility, 9 then called the Iowa Lunatic Asylum, admitted its first 10 patient on February 26, 1861; and 11 WHEREAS, although that original name seems harsh to 12 modern ears, the asylum embodied the latest thinking in 13 humane patient care and treatment, and was one of the 14 first institutions built on the “Kirkbride Plan”; and 15 WHEREAS, decades passed, treatments improved, and 16 the old asylum was renamed the Mount Pleasant State 17 Hospital and similar facilities were built throughout 18 the state; and 19 WHEREAS, today the old asylum is long closed, and 20 the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute provides 21 Twenty-first Century inpatient care for psychiatric and 22 substance abuse problems; and 23 WHEREAS, at the Institute, the Center for 24 Psychiatric Care is accredited by the Centers for 25 Medicare and Medicaid Services, while the Iowa 26 Residential Treatment Center is licensed by the Iowa 27 Department of Public Health; NOW THEREFORE, 28 -1- LSB 2771HH (3) 84 jr/rj 1/ 2