Southern California's Patton State Hospital to open psychiatric museum

A Southern California psychiatric hospital in operation since 1893 plans to open a museum that will showcase the changing nature of treatment over more than a century.

The Sun newspaper reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/1youJLF ) that the Patton State Hospital Museum will feature more than 140 artifacts, including original machines used in electroconvulsive — or shock — treatments.

Also on display will be a 1913 hydrotherapy tub, nursing uniforms from the 1950s and 1960s, and a fire hose wagon from the early 1900s.

The museum initially will be open on a limited basis.

Originally known as Southern California State Hospital for the Insane and Inebriates, Patton currently treats about 1,500 patients, all of whom are committed through court orders.

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Information from: The Sun, http://www.sbsun.com