The Wyoming State Hospital is a center for treatment, rehabilitation, and recovery. It is part of the Wyoming Department of Health’s Behavioral Health Division. It is the only state-operated psychiatric hospital in Wyoming, providing a full range of services and programs for adults.
In March of 1886, the Wyoming Territorial Legislature appropriated $30,000 for the erection of a State Mental Hospital, which was completed in 1887.
In 1923, the Seventeenth Legislature declared, “the official name of the asylum shall be the Wyoming State Hospital.”
There is no resemblance between the multi-faceted complex of today and the original institution. The first building in 1887 housed male patients and their attendants on the first floor, women patients and their attendants on the second floor, and kitchens, pantries, and storerooms in the basement. The present campus encompasses over 25 buildings. In addition to the two treatment units housed on five treatment halls, there are facilities for staff as well as a chapel, and a dining room and kitchen complex. You will also find an array of service buildings that include the laundry, maintenance shop, garages and general supply storage buildings.
The true measure of growth, of course, is shown by continued improvements in the care and treatment of the mentally ill. Today, the Wyoming State Hospital strives to provide state of the art therapeutic services.