Chicago-Read Mental Health Center
Chicago-Read Mental Health Center is a state-run inpatient JCAHO-accredited facility, located in the community of Dunning, northwest of Chicago, Illinois. In 1965, as a community alternative to state managed hospital care, the Charles F. Read Zone Center was established in Dunning as a mental health facility. It was located west of Oak Park Avenue. It later merged operations with Chicago State Hospital when it closed in 1970. The new inpatient mental health center was renamed the Chicago-Read Mental Health Center.
History
Public institutions in Dunning have provided shelter and care for the mentally ill and destitute residents of Chicago since 1854, beginning with the Cook County Poor Farm. The Poor Farm was a large 320-acre complex with a Poorhouse, Insane Asylum, Tuberculosis Hospital and working farm. In 1912, Cook County sold the Dunning Poor Farm to the State of Illinois, who assumed responsibility for the Insane Asylum and renamed it the Chicago State Hospital. A fire at the State Hospital on 26 December 1923 killed fifteen people. Two wings of the hospital were destroyed. Press reports described the building as a "death house" even before the fire.In 1963, after the Community Mental Health Act was passed in the United States to provide federal funding for community mental health centers, Illinois built six "zone centers" providing community mental health treatment. The Charles F. Read Zone Center was established as a community alternative to state managed hospital care. Established in 1965, and located west of Oak Park Avenue, the Charles. F. Read Zone Center took over the operations of the Chicago State Hospital when it closed in 1970. The new facility was renamed the Chicago-Read Mental Health Center.