A long-running push to move Bridgewater State Hospital out from under the purview of the state’s Department of Correction has new momentum on Beacon Hill, after a recent vote in the state Senate.
Bridgewater State Hospital is a medium-security facility that houses both men who are civilly committed for mental health treatment but not criminally sentenced, and pre-trial detainees who are sent there for evaluations.
Advocates for years have been calling for Massachusetts to transfer the hospital to the oversight of the Department of Mental Health, arguing that a correctional setting is not the right environment for people in need of treatment…