Morgue

One death per day? wow, how many patients did they have during this time?

Why did the morgue in Pilgrim hold 12 bodies and the Pennhurst morgue only hold 3 bodies?

It looks like 16 to me...

But it was a good point. And after Motts explained it, it all made sense. I was also wondering why he had said 12 drawers when there looked to be 16.

i have been to pilgrim state many times.....i love stuff like this...i have been in this room and it is no joke...i have to admit pilgrim state is VERY scary..and feels like someone is always watching u

Does anyone know what the security siutation is like there? Can you just get out of your car and walk around or are there constant patrols? Also i hear the morgue is in building 7 is this true?

The security is a joke, the problem is the state police all over the area [entry details edited out]

i got past the asylum security but LongIslands finest went out of their way to drag me and my girl outta the building. spent a whole night at the precint just to get a $200 ticket and a court date. fcuk da police!!

I remember bringing Pt.s here & having to put them into the "fridge". Saw my very first Autopsy just by chance walking past, the door was open. There was a room across from this room that held all kinds of jars with "Parts" in them. Fetues' from there earlier yr abortions. Things they took out of patients stomachs.Tape worms.etc. Wonder what ever happened to them?

Ive been here and inside the whole place at 3:00 in the morning., so i can tell u this place will have u shitin yourself, but its interesting.

You ppl have nothin to worry about with security, as long as the blondes not in charge.

I worked in bldg 23 1969-1971, male acute surgery sometimes there were 2 bodies in some of those drawers. I remember the room across the hall with the body parts. Lots of brains! I also saw my first autopsy by accident going down to the lab which was at the end of the hall. He was slicin' and dicin' like Emeril. I hated having to go down there. We all had a set of keys on a huge round ring, skeleton keys for the doors and a regular key for the elevator

As you can see on the slabs it's open front and rear. On this side they would insert the cadaver from the lab where they did autopsy's etc. Then the funeral home would pick up the corpse on the other side, sort of a production procedure. The staff would recieve a tip for putting the body in the hearse. Then that persone flew away to the home for a face lift and a cosmetic makeover.

Death is cruel!!!!!

But none the less this is so interesting!!

There must be some wild storie's about thing's that went on in here, I would imagine back in the day frigoration would break down often!

I doubt they ever filled all them up as well..that much ''anticipation'' of death is very odd..you will never see anything like this again..EVER!!

When you consider that in the United States one person dies every 12 seconds. I have a feeling that shots like these won't go away.

Without arguing. I would have to disagree. I do think however to see a Morgue shot, with as much equipement in them as what has been captured here will be more and more rare.

''Lyric''

I meant you will not see this huge a capacity, I dont think they build them like this anymore, it is an old school type of design!

Beside's there is not to many building's with ''15,000'' people living in them anymore either, all under one care!

Old idea's were so much different than today..yet still had so much thought put into them!

Mortician's must have been very busy in this place, I am sure they made a lot of money and were highley respected for the time period as well!

In that case, for a building like this you are likely correct.
We've learned a bit in regards to housing/staff ratios.

I've said it before and I will say it again. Medicine is a practice.
Unfortunately, it takes a few screw ups to learn.

My mother died in this place in Oct. '83. To me, her death will always be a mystery... sudden , unexpected, and tragic. She spent 27 years as a patient ,in and out of here. Electric shock treatments, physical abuse, etc. I was just a little kid when it all began for her in the '50's. I visited her frequently during her times here. The sadness and horror of Pilgrim State are difficult to express . Thank god the nightmare is over but the reality still exits. What remains is the skeleton of a real torture chamber crawling with the souls of the lost and forgotten victims of mental and emotional illness .

Dear ??????, I am sorry to hear that you mother went through all of that.

Very sorry to hear about that, ???. People like you who mention the people who lived in those walls remind us all how real it all was. We have to keep those memories alive even after these places are gone. Thank you for sharing, take care.

Janet, remember the lifers who used to carry that ring of keys on a bent state hospital spoon looped over their belt. Of course we don't want to forget the starched white uniforms with the classy black bow tie.

for??????, I am sorry that your family had to experience, such a loss and a terrible experience, none of us would every know, or want to know what you went through, but remember not all places like this are bad, and have the abuse and neglect that your mother had to endure here, your in my thoughts Renee

my dad died there in 72 can anyone tell me where i can get his records??? also it was strange for me as a teen going there to visit him. people would ask me to light their cigarette,(was a rolled toilet tissue) horrible at that time !!!!

I believe you can get records if you are a family member in building 82...Commack rd entrance... first building. People show up there all the time to exume luved ones and give them proper burials in a real cemetary...
P.S. In 1943 more than two thousand deaths occured here by the hands of dr's who did frontal labotimies with out the knowledge of how it was actually done.
Damn hacks and kwacks

He didn't mean it Lynnie, put the knife down. Here, lemme get your soapbox set up, so you can set him straight. :) Has anyone stabilized her head so she can't hurt herself while she's teaching us the truth? :D
Dedjezter: I hope Lynne will come in and explain to you what it's really like in one of these places, but until she does, let's just say you're wrong about pretty much everything you just said.

???#2 - you can request a copy of the death certificate from Quality Management 631 761-2912. They will tell you what you need to do to get a copy of the certificate.

motts is the king

I worked in the morgue from 1979 to 1989. My co-worker/friend Freddie and I did many autopsies. I'd like you to know that we, as well as the pathologist treated evey patient with the utmost
respect during the autopsies.

I went to nursing school on the grounds at Pilgrim. I also worked there for a little while,including the operating room. All patients were treated like at any other hospital. Treatment of psych patients has come a long way. I never saw anything inhumane going on there. Lobotomies were an experimental procedure, but not some human experiments like the Nazis.

Thanks for the info on how to get records and death certificates. I had a family member who spent most of his life at Pilgrim State..he died in the 1970's there and I'd like to honor him.

my question is is this the pilgrim state psy. center in brenwood and if it is when was this thing built

yes it is the one in brentwood, or I should say "was", right? Was every building destroyed last year?

Thats pretty creepy... i think if i was in there... I would have like a freak paranoia attack... Thinking that like...something i dont know exactly what was watching me or something like that....

I found out the other day that my Grandmother may have been murdered here. She was diagnosed with Cardiorespiratory arrest, Arteriosclerotic heart disease, and a Dysthymic disorder. She never had these problems before. There was never an autopsy done on her body which says a lot since that is illegal. She was most likely killed by lack of oxygen. Perhaps suffocation. Also the time of deat is wrong. Apparently, the ospital called my Grandfather at 9:43 P.M. and told him she was dead. On the death certificate, the time of death is 11:05. Hmmmm. It makes me so angry, sad, and freaked out. Imagine how scary it must've been for other patients. There were a bunch of unexplained death's for a long period of time. Scary stuff.

Note...my Grandmother is the mother to my mother. The one who put down the name ??????.

*In most states autopsies are only done when the person dies under "unexpected conditions" and/or when the family requests it. If a diagnosis of arteriosclerotic heart disease had been made, even if it hadn't been made before the person entered the hospital, in most cases this would then be considered an "expected" death. Arteriosclerotic heart disease is highly associated with cardiac arrest. Therefore it would be up to the coroner and/or the family to request an autopsy. Don't know if this was the case with your grandmother.
*As an FYI, EVERYONE dies from lack of oxygen. -> "Biological death: This is when permanent cellular damage occurs to the brain due to a lack of oxygen. By definition, this process is irreversible and final."
*Regarding the diagnosis of "dysthymic disorder", it is unusual to be in a psychiatric ward for dysthymia as opposed to depression or bipolar disorder, unless the person is there voluntarily.

If i am not mistaken, I believe at one time, the "time of death" was lsited as the time the medical examiner arrived to declare that the individual did in fact die. In other words, until this person (medical examiner) arrived, a person was not legally dead. Thanks to forensics and many medical advancements the time of death is now listed as the actual time a person dies. I believe the time of the medical examiner's arrival is also listed. Am I close on this one? Anyone know for sure?

I don't have the foggiest but if its true its an interesting fact! Thanks for mentioning it.

I will be on the remaining wards December 4th 06, giving a holiday party. We visit the locked wards and then give a big bash (deejay, etc) for those permitted to come to the party.

I worked in the Long Beach Adult homes in the early 80's where patients were dumped in the exodus that occured (I think) after certain psychotropic drugs were introduced to keep these folk calm. I love them all and was well-loved. I heard their tales of diabetic comas and saw lobotomy scars. That was at the Brighton Home in Long Beach on Lincoln Blvd. and the Boardwalk - it is about to come down, but there may be a few of those folk still there - I've not visited for a while. At that time I only knew of Pilgrim as the place my friends had come from, now I live out here iright near there and still work with younger folk who've come through there or are housed there. I MUST SAY that I think the fascination with this place DOES have to do with what was done to people with mental illness, but sadly, the fascination is also with to those to whom it was done. This is all about stigma that must be broken. Just know that many of us on Zoloft and Paxil would have been placed here and institutionalized as well back in the day. There was shame then in having mental illness in the family and there is still today. Thank God, today most of us in mental health focus on RECOVERY rather than CONTAINMENT and control. There is life and recovery for those with mental illness diagnosis - when once it was thought incurable and sensational.

If i were to try and get into this building...wat are the odds of me and a few friends getting caught?
and if we did does anyone know how serious the charges would be?

i think they should make a show about pilgrim state,maybe on the sci fi channel.keep some of those historic buildings from getting demolished

i would like to tour the property,maybe take some photos of the old buildings,not condo complexes

As I read the above comments I could not but think of the current situation. We no longer warehouse the mentally ill in huge institutions such as pilgrim rather they are now festering in our jails and as homeless people wandering beyond our perception. Is that really progress?

My brother died in Pilgrim State in the mid-70s. He committed suicide. He had been in and out of that place for years. He was only 33 years old. Only my parents know all of the horrors that went on there and thank God they never fully shared them with us. My brother was a wonderful man who had a horrible desease and suffered God only knows what. I only hope others will have a more humane fate.

i would love to talk a stroll down there and check it out...love mysterious places! i find that the stucture of the place facinating

i went in it it was pretty dark and very creeoy so i decided to come back when i got some flashlights together

what were those big white buildings that were knocked down was that edgewood?

you should all check out: http://lioddities.com and look at the forums/message boards for pilgrim. wonderful pictures, stories and facts. i interviewed there, and there are no more inhumane things going on there. and the things didn't happen to everyone, and not everyone who works there now, are the bad people. i just found out my great grandmother died at pilgrim. i was never told that. i found her death certificate... i was just told she died from lots of strokes. this shall be interesting. i want to get her records. can someone tell me how? my lioddities username is stellarx33, and my email is stellarx33@aim.com this is a good site. i like it.

y dnt they fix it?? make new buildings.. or do sumthing productive with it.. makes our town look like crap.. (visible to anyone),, especially when the public bus runs right thru it.. smh

This is crazy; I've never seen such a large morgue before. But it makes sense that with a higher patient population, you'd need a larger facility to house the dead bodies. I'd love to see this in person.

I spent about two years at Pilgrim as a patient during the 1980's and my father, according to records spent four years there: 1958-1962. We both shaired the same patient number. Part of a long term study, one would suppose. I also know he was interred at Edgeweed for some time but the record keepers refuse to admit the fact. Why? Someone above mentioned something about Germany committing crimes during the secound World War. If, I suspect, the facts became known of some of the human experiments that went on in the institutions on Long Island, for instance, way before that war, that many people would say that what Germany did was mere kid stuff compaired to what was being done here in this country. In fact, what we might have done to P.O.W.'s and their offspring might bring internatioanal war crimes investigations against the U.S.A. If you daubt what I say, starte beings detectives and begin to investigate sites such as this! It's somewhat of a sin to experiment on children and raise them for such...Isn't it?

I work there the top right one was not used due it was to close to the wall

i saw some recent pics of this place all the dores have been ripped off :(

My mom spent all of my childhood at Pilgrim. I vividly remember the weekend trips to visit her when she was finally allowed visitors...barred windows, screaming half-clothed women and pretty much utter degradation.

well this is the room i worked in, I was a lab tech in the 60's...looks kinda different, but the truth it was weird then and spooky.

I been very intrested in these buildings..
To all whose family members who died . I give out my sincere apologies. For they now can R.I.P, they shouldnt of been treated in the condition that they stood in their final moments of life before death.

I too, would love to visit this place in person.

I worked at blg 7 at KP. Yes, there are ghosts
there. Don't, don't go in, ever! By chance, and'
by accident, I saw the forms after sunset. It
was at the northend of bld 7, floor two. I left in a hurry, of course, and never returned. I worked there in Security.

My mother was just recently put into Plgrim State, should I be worried? There aren't any more shock treatments and things like that anymore is there? I admit, I'm nervous about it.

my great grandfather died while he was employed at Kings Park in 1969. He reportedly fell off the roof of a building. My grandfather worked at KP until just before his death in 1972. Does anyone know anything about the Corcorans of Kings Park?

Samina,
Yes, shock treatment is still performed here as it is in almost every other mental hospital and ward in this country. It is not done as it was in the early days. Patients are unconscious when it is performed and they wake up with no memory of the treatment. They are placed on a cardiac monitor and given oxygen, along with an IV during the treatment. There is always a doctor and at least 2 nurses present to care for the patient. Who is your mother's healthcare proxy? Is it you or is she a ward of the state? The only way it can be performed against her will is if her healthcare proxy allows it or the court mandates it.

why did it exist?

Bottom row second storage unit from the right of the picture.... on july 4th 2009...i laid on the table and was pushed in by my friends to see what it would feel like to be inside the storage unit....it was a very uneasy awkward feeling that led me to jump out quick...

yeah its more like six a day during the peaks
i know because i get paid to put bodies in the fridge so yeah if it was only one death per day why would that mortuary be so big? also on average 2 to 3 thousand people per year. also its a great place to keep beer during summer

?????? -I find it odd...coming across something like that ...(I'm 26 and my birthday is in the middle of October)
Scary as unknown govt/military experiments were, well...I only hope not too many people died (and not horrifically) for me to have my Paxil and Klonopin.
...I may not have suffered too badly, as the worst of my symptoms would consist of sobbing and refusing to leave my bed...Not major depression. Just anxiety flare-ups in the event of a stressful situation. Heck, I'd only be suicidal if I were convinced an apocalypse were falling around my ears.

SAD.

Several posts ago there was a discussion of "time of death". For many years it was exactly as the next poster detailed. If a patient was dead the only individual allowed by the state to determine this was a Dr. This led to exactly the situation the family member detailed. Many misunderstandings happened . About 20 years ago the state of OH passed a law that anyone with any medical training could declare someone dead. The ER docs, where I worked, loved this one because nursing homes and hospice patients no longer had to come to the ER to be pronounced. For years the doctors had to leave their patients and go out and get in the back of an ambulance and declare that the patient was in fact dead. Just one of the little wrinkles in a system that is Dr centered.

I find it so hard to believe i live fifteen minutes away from a place that only seems to exist in the movies i watch. It is very interesting but sad at the same time i just wish all the stories that people said on this would mesh because quite frankly they aren't mixing well. Sort of like orange juice and tooth paste. I wish someone just told me what really happened something that made all these stories go together.

too all those people who suffered the stuff done to them and those who have family may they rest in peace and there soles be lifted and brought to heaven . i had family work there . it is very unpleasent thing to see. :(
im very intrested in this as well as many others. so sorry for all those stuff and things that where done . people are so rude and have NO HEART WHAT SO EVER! those are the people who desrve to be exicuted and or put in jail for the REST OF THERE LIFE. harshfullness :(

I literally live 5 minutes from the hospital....I have never been inside any of the buildings...but to get in the morgue I just might have to....and as far as all the concerns about getting caught here,...I have spoken with the NYS department of mental health police a few times, and they have told me that the only areas that still belong to Pilgrim state are the buildings that are still in use...thats it....the rest of it belongs to heartland now...but that there security is there almost constantly....I'm curious about the tunnels...anyone know anything about those?

i use to go here all the time! i would turn my lights off shortly after comming off the sunken meadow onto crooked hill rd, rite before coming up to the abandon buildings. pull my car right up to the front and walk right in. in the winter time theres like no security or cops in the area. but from spring till early november its a hot spot for people to go there and check it out so they up the security. i got caught a few times, once had to sit on the curb and get my car searched. however its really something else in there, ive gone during the day its pretty sick, if youve ever seen the movie rose red , thats what its like walking in there. at night its very very dark. ive herd noises in there and seen things but then again bums do like to make their homes in there.

i was here last week we took some photos and saw some pretty weird thingd like silowettes of ppl on doorways when no one else was in the room besides us and weird noises its freaky man

Absolutely haunted, why would it not be?

i was jus there tnn.. are the morgue still there? and if they are what building because ik they have been takeing some down

my father was an alcoholic. his frist trip to pilgram state hospital was when he got the dt's.that was around 1957 when i was 15. thereafter he was there and many other state hosp. mostly pilgram state. i remember visiting him in those scary builings. it seems he always wanted to be admitted late at nite. the last nite we admitted him we go a telegram the next morn. telling us he was dead. i was always told he choked. years later i was told he was murdered that nite. cant say i missed him. that was a nitemare life.

i had a number of family members that worked there and i know for a fact there were many very kind people working there and were compassionate toward the patients