Pacific State Hospital and Lanterman Developmental Center

A Day in the Life

In 1979 the Pacific State Hospital changed its name to the Frank D. Lanterman State Hospital and Developmental Center. Through out its history the center served as a hospital, workplace, and home for hundreds of patients and employees. From interviews with employees and family members of patients we can piece together what life may have been like at the Lanterman Developmental Center.

In 1945, Dr. Anna M. Shotwell, from the Pacific State Hospital, located in what was at that time Spadra, California, wrote a letter to the "Superintendent" of the "State Hospital for Mental Defectives" located in Faribault, Minnesota. In the letter, Dr. Shotwell inquires information about patient dances. She explains that the Pacific State Hospital housed about "1600 epileptic and/or feebleminded" patients, and that she is interested in gathering information particularly concerning "(1)0 Number of dances per week or month; (2) length of dance for one evening; (3) type of music provided; (4) type of patients attending; [and] (5) the way in which patients select partners."

This letter does more than provide a list of question once asked by Dr. Shotwell, it sheds light on the daily life of both patients and staff. The fact that Dr. Shotwell inquired about information regarding a hosting a dance at the Pacific State Hospital shows that staff at the hospital were not merely just doctors and nurses treating patients physical needs, but were also concerned care takers, hoping to provide a glimpse of normalcy for their 1600 patients. Considering in 1945 there was still very little information about mental disabilities and proper treatment, Dr. Shotwell's inquiry is perhaps surprising, as it is commonly believed that in this time period hospitals, like Pacific State, were generally a location to simply house patients with disabilities, and there was little focus on social welfare or development. However, Dr. Shotwell's letter also brings to light the ignorance of the time period, in terms of a lack of understanding about mental disabilities, this is particularly true in her use of the term "feebleminded". In the past this term had been used as an all encompassing term to describe individuals with mental disabilities, as there was not an individual diagnosis for these patients. For example, a patient with down syndrome may be classified as "feebleminded" just as a patient with autism.

Lorraine Osborn moved to Pomona, California in 1956. While in Pomona, she raised a family of four children, all of which attended schools within Pomona. In 1962 she was hired to work at Pacific State Hospital, which as she describes it was, "a hospital for the mentally retarded.". Osborn explains that in the beginning of her career at Pacific State Hospital it was run very much like a typical hospital, it included "wards, ward charges, patients, and nursing staff." She goes on to explain that the nursing staff "were required to wear all white uniforms" and that the female nurses were required to wear "white nurses hats." Osborn goes on to explain that eventually the hospital was renamed "Lanterman Development Center,", and that the "wards became units, and there were unit managers. Patients became residents, and the nursing staff went to street cloths." She describes the Lanterman Development Center as being a "self sufficient town" complete with r" its own fire department, security, maintenance department, laundry, and complete food service department" as well as resident and staff housing, a recreation center, a pool, and a camping area called "Rustic Camp". Osborn recalls that she was eventually promoted, and retired in 1985 for a total of 23 years of service to the Pacific State Hospital, and the Lanterman Development Center.

Patirck DeBell was a resident at the Lanterman Development Center for 30 years. In an interview of DeBell's sister, the LA Times reports that "His favorite moments on the campus were in the nine-acre Rustic Camp, she said, where he could play with birds in the aviary or pet the horses in the small zoo. Patrick also loved running under the sprinklers, dangling from telephone poles and buying coffee at the canteen with money he earned through his campus job folding laundry." While there is not very much information about the residents and their daily life, this interview shows that the residents at Lanterman Developmental Center were not merely patients receiving treatment, but residents and neighbors to one another, they had jobs, friends, and even hobbies.

Los Angeles Times reported on the possible discharge of Bobby Grivich, a resident at the Lanterman Developmental Center in 2008. In the report, it is explained that at age 20, Bobby Grivich was placed in the care of the Lanterman Center, by his mother. She had raised and cared for Bobby up until this time. Tim Grivich, Bobby's brother explains that Bobby, now at 60 years old, " still smears feces on the wall, hits people when he is around large or noisy groups, shouts "’no’" when his schedule is disrupted. He also has a sweet side, smiling when someone takes the time to play peekaboo with him." The article describes how the Lanterman Developmental Center was a safe place where Bobby received the care he needed, with trained professionals. It goes on to describe Bobby's daily life... "He sleeps in a dorm-like room with two other men, spends much of his day in group activities and eats well-rounded meals that have been approved by nutritionists. Grivich believes his brother is content and well cared for; his simple needs always met." "Caregivers roam about the day room, playing guitar and singing long-ago songs like the Beatles "’Yellow Submarine.’" Bobby has not lived in the outside world since the song was a radio favorite. Some of the attendants know Bobby so well they understand the gentle gestures, such as a hand on the shoulder, that work best to move him peacefully from one place to the next. And when he strays from the group, as he likes to do, the wide open space and slow moving cars allow him to walk unharmed." "At lunch, one of his usual attendants quietly separates him from the rest of the group so that he can sit at a table alone with soft foods. No risk of fighting over food that way."