Operating Room

I've always wondered what type of "surgury" the performed in these rooms.

...remove FUNNY BONE!!

(sorry, did anyone else have an 'operation' game as a kid?)

surgeries you can and cannot imagine, i got to see some of the medical aftermaths of pennhurst patients

"surgeries you can and cannot imagine, i got to see some of the medical aftermaths of pennhurst patients"

How can I contact you?

"Workedwithpennhurstpts" -- how can I contact you? I think we are all interested in hearing your side of things of how everything worked inside of Pennhurst. Please share.

Labotomies.

workedwithpennhurstpts.... I'd like to hear more also....

Hey, "worked with"...that must have been a wild, depressing ride. What do you do for a living now?

i also had the pleasure of working with one of the patients in the class action lawsuit brought against pennhurst. talk about a wild ride that was. the ride wasnt so depressing as most of the patients now live in mini institutions called group homes, most people just do not hear about the abuse that still goes on with these patients, no i never worked at pennhurst, i worked in the group homes for 12 years, and most would be surprised. cannot answer alot of questions anyone may have but i will give a email here where someone can get ahold of me. wrkinonrn@aol.com, just put in pennhurst in subject and they will get the questions to me if i can answer them i will email you back.

This reminds me of the movie House On Haunted Hill when the girl is using her video camera and walks in on a live surgery that isn't visible to the naked eye

Prob one of my fave bits of that movie, Californiachicky!

I have been in this room and the group i was with found a "chest" of documents

in the documents there was a three ring binder about 5 inches think.

it was completly filled with files of patients and how they died, why they died, when where and the regular stuff...

the odd part of it was that most patients had died from "restraints" or "patient got out of hand, doctors(or nurses) handled"

the worst part was in the back of the binder there was a tally sheet of the operations for 3 doctors..

under each docotrs naem there was a spot for deaths on the table, death form complications, and survivals..

a good 75% died on the table while a few others died form complications..... very few survived the operations

hi worked with. i just tried to email you and aol say that you are not a member. how can i contact you?

what really fucks with me.. is the fact that you could walk through one room... and it looks like ww3 hit that bitch...then look to the corner and find some shit that is absolutly un touched... that fuckes with me... how does some shit inside get so rusted when somthin right next to it looks like it was installed yesterday?

Seems we forget that there was some good there. I had numorous relatives that worked there, adored their patients and retired from the place they started at. One of my aunts had her ribs broke by a patient who hugged her. She knew that he did not mean to hurt her and it was done with love. I am sure their was neglect and horrors there. I used to go every year at Christmas to sing to the patients and although I was very young, there was one wing which was very frightening. Having recently worked at a local bank, there were many released patients who were found "able to care for themselves" that came to me for assistance that they were not receiving from social workers. Some of them paid more in rent then they received in a month from SSI or whoever. I would see them collecting cans out of the trash to raise some money to eat. There were very few programs or state workers that assist them and I have to wonder, in their case, if it is better. Better to be freed and left untrained and with no idea how to take care of themselves opposed to at least having food, companionship, and a home. I am not saying that there were not issues however for some of the patients, it was all they had.

squzz, I could not agree more. I use to wrok there and I had many patients that loved me. I was injuried in a fight with a patient and several other patients came to my aid. I know there were some horrible things that happened their and some very uncaring people. However, most of the staff loved the patients and we worked with them all the time. They were able to do the gardens, have dinner in social groups and just enjoyed their life. If you go into Spring City (the closest town where most patients relocated) you will find many patients that where "able to acheive activites of daily lifes" that are eating off of the streets and in very poor conditions.

Looks like the room in the movie "SAW".

Hey Wonderer:
I agree. Definitely strange circumstances (patient deaths).
i wonder what really did happen.

So what every became of that binder??

i wonder what went on in this room picture it before when people were actually here

Someone should find the binder and document it. I have an odd feeling it may be important to do so.

if it hasnt been found yet, i am planning on visiting it, i will bring it back with me

My grandmother is like a case worker and she worked with two retarded older women. One black and one white. They both went to pennhurst as children. The white woman had not scars or any sign of abuse. The black woman had scars all over her back and she was raped. My grandmother also visited pennhurst in 1977. She doesn't like to talk about it but she told me what her teacher told her "This is what they're letting you see...now imagine what they aren't."

Did you ever consider that maybe her scars were from when she lived at home? Having worked there and read many case histories sometimes going to Pennhurst was a step up from where they came from. You shouldn't assume that because she was black she was abused.

I'm just saying what I heard through my grandmother....Sorry I never mentioned the fact that my grandmother seems slightly insane herself so....maybe she isn't really that reliable.

Which building is this in? Is it in Whitman? I dont think I have been in here before.

i have medical records for most of the patients and it seems like some of them who had worse problems than others didnt recieve any medication. can anyone answer me why? and also if theres anymore information please send it to my email peachesx4269@aim.com along with any questions. im planning on visiting this weekend

ya hears i nice pic if u look through the doors you will see a shadow and follow the out line of the dark figure and yes im writeing to point out all the dark figures to let u know u were probaly being watched

yes thats a person in the hall i zoomed in and its a teenage girl most definantly

Wondered what ever became of those binders

Has any one retrieved the binder yet if so could the e-mail me some copies...Also their should be records of lobotomies somewhere...
also through some of my other research I discover through early death records that in Pennhurst first years of existence, all the deaths that occurred in young men and women in their teens and twenties. It just seemed odd to me that a otherwise healthy 16 year old male was able to live 16 years at home with no real treatment or special care other than what his parents were able to give,but yet when taken to a, at the time state of the art hospital/school that specializes specifically in these conditions to get the best possible care available at the time, and with in a few months hes dead. I guess what I'm saying is I don't understand why it took 60 years before anybody ever did any type of investigation as obvious as the abuse was.
If anybody could help me out with good copies of any other records of interest, disciplinary actions or any other interesting photos and stories I would greatly appreciate it my e-mail is hooverjamie@rocketmail.com

:-)

THIS BUILDING IS BY FAR THE CREEPIEST ONE OF ALL BESIDES THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING ,THE HAIR ON MY NECK STOOD UP ,I NEVER FELT THAT UNEASY FEELING IN ANY OTHER BUILDING ,I WENT IN IT ONCE AFTER THAT AND I COULD NOT BRING MYSELF TO GO IN AGAIN AND NOW IT IS ALL BOARDED UP.WE HAD CREEPY EXPERENCES HERE

I WONDER IF THEY'LL EVER DEMOLISH THESE BUILDINGS.
IN MY OPINION THEY SHOULD. THOSE POOR CHILDREN'S SOULS ARE STUCK IN THERE FOREVER. THEY SHOULD LEAVE THAT LAND ALONE WITH LIKE A FENCE AROUND IT OR SOMETHING.
HAVE ANY OF YOU HEARD ABOUT THE POGVELIA ISLAND IN ITALY WHERE OVER 160 K PEOPLE WERE MURDERED?

the walls are BLUE?? I thought ORs were supposed to be green.

party time in there

IF anyone has any interesting stories please E-mail me, Dem0810@aol.com. Email me with any records also Im interested in knowing what buildings were used for once. Please contact me with any info regarding the binder or other records like it.

as I was sitting here reading these comments in complete silence my dog scratched on my bedroom door from the outside. I about pissed myself.

lmfao, win.....thats just too funny !!

p.s. i c the shawdowy figure too !

if anyone has any old medical records or interesting facts or stories (stories would be nice) from/about this place, please email me at amywalawala@yahoo.com

Love the old intercom next to the door. Ya know, after looking at numerous galleries I'm convinced that bomb shelters should be made of ceramic tiles instead of concrete. That stuff lasts forever & keeps a nice shine to boot.