Sunmount: A Small State School for the Retarded

Sunmount:A Small State School for the RetardedOLEH M. WOLANSKY, Director Suffolk State School Melville, New York O M.D. FLOYD H. CARMICHAEL, Chief Supervising Nurse Sunmount State School Tupper Lake, New York State Schooltients, were remodeledR.N.N SEPTEMBER 1, 1965, Sunmountto serve 510 retardedwas opened as the first of New York State's small public residential schools for the mentally retarded. It is located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains and serves the five northeastern countiesof bothsexes and all ages, includinginfants.remodeling began a few weeks before the state formally acquired the property, after the last of theof the state. The facility was formerly a Veterans Administration medical and surgical hospital, and it was acquired by the State Department of Mental Hygiene through special legislative action. The acquisition included 1 1 1 acres of property, all buildveteran-patients were transferred to other VA facili ties. On September 20, 1965, we admitted the first 20retarded patients, who were transferred from Rome State School. By late November 1966, Sunmount hadits full capacity,with 394 patientsfrom ourings and equipment, and some 320 employees who elected to remain at Sunmount rather than transfer to another VA facility. They included physicians,nurses, attendants, and clerical, dietary, and maintecatchment area state institutions rectly.who were transferred and 118 who werefrom other admitted dinance personnel. The physicalA variety of programs has been developed to serve patients of all ages and all degrees of retardation. The academic programs, for educable of train albe patients aged 5 to 21, include homemaking, industrial arts, and auto mechanics,...