A long-running push to move Bridgewater State Hospital out from under the purview of the state’s Department of Correction has new momentum on Beacon Hill, after a recent vote in the state Senate.
Bridgewater State Hospital is a medium-security facility that houses both men who are civilly committed for mental health treatment but not criminally sentenced, and pre-trial detainees who are sent there for evaluations.
Advocates for years have been calling for Massachusetts to transfer the hospital to the oversight of the Department of Mental Health, arguing that a correctional setting is not the right environment for people in need of treatment.
Groups including the Disability Law Center and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Massachusetts, along with people with relatives at Bridgewater, gathered at the State House Tuesday to urge lawmakers to officially make the move.
“We know individuals at Bridgewater have histories of complex trauma, mental health conditions, substance use disorders, experiences of abuse, neglect, violence, homelessness or repeated psychiatric crises,” said Jacqueline Hubbard of NAMI Massachusetts. “Effective treatment recognizes the impact of that trauma and focuses on healing and recovery, dignity, and individualized care. Families want to know that their loved ones are being treated as patients first and foremost.”
The coalition behind the advocacy day is backing a pair of bills that would transfer oversight of Bridgewater State Hospital from the DOC to the Department of Mental Health.
The groups also drew attention to a policy rider the Massachusetts Senate added to its version of the state budget, which would task the two state departments with developing a plan for transferring the hospital.
The Senate’s budget language, which senators backed unanimously, calls for the plan to be submitted by June 30, 2027, and for it to include a timeline for carrying out the transition by the end of 2028. Sen. Cindy Creem, who proposed the measure, said during debate that Massachusetts is the only state in the country that has its corrections agency running a forensic psychiatric hospital.
Whether the Bridgewater transfer measure makes it into the final budget depends on closed-door talks between the House and Senate, which are currently underway.
If it does, that would represent “the quickest, most efficient way of getting us on a path to changing who runs Bridgewater State Hospital,” Disability Law Center executive director Barbara L’Italien said Tuesday.
A Department of Correction spokesperson said the DOC will review any legislation that reaches Gov. Maura Healey’s desk.
Disability Law Center legal director Tatum Pritchard told GBH News that moving Bridgewater State Hospital to the Department of Mental Health would bring about “a much more therapeutic environment” for patients.
“It’s a much more positive approach rather than the punitive approach,” she said. “And patients would feel that immediately with the shift.”