The Disability Law Center Urges the Commonwealth to Prioritize the Rights, Health, and Safety of Individuals with Disabilities at Bridgewater State Hospital
September 2, 2025
Boston, MA – The Disability Law Center (DLC) has released a public report detailing its findings from monitoring and investigative activities conducted at Bridgewater State Hospital (BSH) during the first half of 2025. DLC again calls upon the Commonwealth to take action to protect the needs of people with disabilities at BSH and implement the organization’s two long-standing recommendations:
Immediately transfer oversight of BSH from the Department of Correction to the Department of Mental Health; and
Construct a modern psychiatric hospital to serve the BSH population.
The August 2025 report is the latest of more than fifteen reports DLC has released concerning BSH since 2014 that have documented the poor care and conditions within the state prison and persistent unlawful restraint, seclusion, and involuntary medication practices sanctioned by the Department of Correction and its contracted medical and mental health provider. Included in this report are temperature and humidity readings DLC took during a site visit this summer that showed heat indices between 85 and 97 degrees inside BSH units, illustrating the unsafe conditions for BSH patients, many of whom take psychiatric medications that amplify heat-related illness. As the report states, with roughly 1,000 individuals admitted to BSH for evaluation and treatment every year, “[t]he negative impact that the failings within BSH have on the Commonwealth’s disability population, the mental health and judicial systems, and public safety cannot be overstated.”
“Faced with over a decade of DLC reports detailing continuing legal violations and serious health and safety risks to the individuals with disabilities involuntarily committed to Bridgewater State Hospital, the Commonwealth must act by transferring oversight to the Department of Mental Health and closing the facility,” said Barbara L’Italien, Executive Director of DLC.
As the designated Protection and Advocacy agency for Massachusetts, DLC is authorized under federal law to monitor facilities where people with disabilities live and receive services and investigate incidents of abuse, neglect, and death throughout the Commonwealth. Line Item #8900-0001 of the FY 2025 Budget provides DLC funding and enhanced legislative authority to monitor the efficacy of service delivery reforms, physical plant, and continuity of care at BSH.