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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The North Texas State Hospital has provided mental |
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health services to the public for a century; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1922, the first patient was admitted to the |
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facility, known briefly as the Northwest Texas Insane Asylum before |
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its designation as the Wichita Falls State Hospital; it was well |
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equipped for its day, offering surgery, radiology, laboratory |
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analysis, electrotherapy, and hydrotherapy; by 1930, a staff of |
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7 doctors and nearly 100 attendants served a population of more |
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than 1,500 patients; most personnel lived on the 940-acre campus, |
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which encompassed a farm that made the community almost entirely |
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self-sustaining during the Great Depression; and |
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WHEREAS, The hospital expanded to nearly 100 buildings by the |
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1940s, and during wartime labor shortages, a reduced staff worked |
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long hours to care for approximately 2,400 patients; conditions |
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improved, and in 1951, an annex to serve geriatric patients was |
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opened in Vernon; the number of residents decreased over subsequent |
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decades with the advent of effective psychotropic medications and |
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access to community programs and nursing home care; the hospital |
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was able to increase its service area from 23 to 53 counties in the |
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1980s, and Vernon State Hospital was redefined as the state's |
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forensic psychiatric facility; and |
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WHEREAS, In the late 1990s, the Texas Department of Mental |
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Health and Mental Retardation undertook efficiency reforms and |
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combined the administrations in Wichita Falls and Vernon as North |
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Texas State Hospital; today, it includes the Wichita Falls campus, |
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the main Vernon campus, and the Vernon-South Campus; NTSH provides |
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inpatient care for those referred by the local mental health |
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authority, as well as forensic psychiatry and competency |
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restoration services for adolescents and adults in the criminal |
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justice system; and |
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WHEREAS, Committed to excellence in mental health care, North |
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Texas State Hospital has made a positive difference in the lives of |
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countless people, and its 100th anniversary provides a fitting |
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opportunity to recognize its many contributions to the communities |
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it has served; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the 88th Texas Legislature |
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hereby commemorate the centennial of North Texas State Hospital and |
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extend to all those associated with the hospital sincere best |
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wishes for the future; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for the hospital as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas Senate. |