Fulton State Hospital

About

Mental Health Facility

Story

Fulton State Hospital consists of four treatment units including maximum-security (Biggs Forensic Center, 201 beds), intermediate security (Guhleman Forensic Center, 91 beds), developmentally disabled (Hearnes Forensic Center, 24 beds) and the Sexual Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment Service program (SORTS, 25 beds)

Individual Population

Service recipients come to Fulton State Hospital on both a voluntary and involuntary basis, sometimes being committed by the courts for evaluation or treatment. Fulton State Hospital also serves as a statewide treatment facility for persons found not guilty or unable to stand trial by reason of mental disease or defect..

Fulton State Hospital treats an individual population that is both clinically and demographically quite diverse. Our current individual population is 60% Caucasian and 38% African-American, with the remaining 2 % comprised of individuals from Latino and Asian-American and other backgrounds. Most individuals are male (85%).

Due to our location and our catchment area, we have many individuals who come from small communities in rural parts of the state. However, we also have many individuals from urban centers because we provide the state's only maximum and intermediate security psychiatric units.

Clinically, our individuals have a very wide range of diagnoses, covering virtually all the major categories of the DSM-IV. The most common primary diagnoses include Schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, mood disorders, and Antisocial and Borderline personality disorders. Also treated are individuals committed for sexual offenses and have corresponding diagnoses of paraphilias. Additionally, many individuals have primary or secondary diagnoses of substance abuse, borderline intellectual functioning, and anxiety disorders, while a smaller number suffer from dementias (including those due to Alzheimer's disease, vascular conditions, HIV, or traumatic brain injuries), Huntington's disease, other organic disorders, and dissociative conditions. The average length of stay for individuals on the inpatient wards is 2.7 years.

Treatment Overview

As would be expected with such a diverse individual population, a correspondingly wide variety of services are offered at Fulton State Hospital including: forensic evaluations and admissions, competency restoration treatment, acute inpatient treatment for Department of Corrections inmates, substance abuse treatment, and long-term treatment and rehabilitation for individuals with severe and persistent mental disorders and personality disorders. Our long-term treatment and rehabilitation programs emphasize the application of state-of-the art technologies in the form of structured ward-wide programs. Psychologists have been important leaders in the development of these treatment initiatives and currently fill active and critical roles in the implementation and oversight of these programs.

Mission

"Fulton State Hospital is a community of caring, skilled people, partnering with individuals challenged by mental illness to inspire healing and recovery."

"Partnership and Recovery."