Federal Officials to Investigate Oregon's State Mental Hospital

Scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Did this Nicholson classic become a sore on the state's conscience? Photo Courtesy: recordsearch.com

(PORTLAND) - The U.S. Justice Department says it will investigate whether Oregon is violating the constitutional rights of patients at the state mental hospital in Salem, a probe Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he welcomes.

The state was notified last week that the investigation had been launched into an institution that gained attention 30 years ago when Jack Nicholson was filmed there portraying a rebellious patient in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and has become a sore on the state's conscience.

Editorial writers at The Orgonian newspaper, which reported the investigation Saturday, won a Pulitzer Prize this year for a 15-part series about conditions at the institution, often described as crumbling or shameful.

The hospital is 122 years old. An architectural firm said one building, which houses about 100 patients, is at risk of collapsing during an earthquake.

Recently, it made news when workers started putting 3,615 copper cans holding the unclaimed ashes of former patients into plastic boxes. The urns had become a symbol of the hospital's conditions, and officials said the frequent examination by journalists, legislators and other visitors was accelerating their deterioriation.

In a bipartisan effort, Kulongoski and the leaders of the Oregon Legislature this month said they would support spending upward of $330 million on a plan to replace the institution with four decentralized facilities. The Legislature meets in early 2007.

An aide to Kulongoski described the letter from the Department of Justice that arrived Wednesday as "kind of benign," with an offer to work with the state.

"The governor welcomes this examination," said spokesman Lonn Hocklin. "He feels that if the federal investigation uncovers anything, he wants to make sure that it gets addressed in the plan."

Cynthia Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said there is "an active and ongoing investigation" by the department's civil rights division. She declined to say what touched off the investigation.

A patient advocacy group filed a lawsuit last year over conditions at the hospital, but dropped the suit after legislators allocated $9.2 million for more staff members and new hospital space.