Oregon Public Broadcasting

A new chapter in the long history of Oregon's troubled State Hospital starts this week.  Officials will break ground Wednesday on a massive upgrade to the 120-year-old mental health facility.  Salem correspondent Chris Lehman reports.

The project will include part of the original hospital building, best known for being featured in the movie 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'.

Most of the patients at the hospital were placed there by a judge after being ruled guilty but insane.  The instability of the patients is one reason why officials wanted to consolidate the campus so that it's all on the same side of the street.

Linda Hammond is administrator for the Oregon State Hospital Replacement Project.  She says the new layout will eliminate the need to drive patients from one building to the next.

Linda Hammond:  "This will allow us to have one central area where folks can actually receive multiple types of services including their medical services, and be able to move around within the secure perimeter of the facility more freely while still respecting the need to keep the community safe."

The plans were in place before two recent escape attempts prompted a review of security procedures at the hospital.

The Salem project is part of a $458 million upgrade that will include another, smaller facility in Junction City, Oregon.