Traverse City (Mich)
It takes about 400 pages to convey a history of the Kalamazoo State Hospital beginning with a heartfelt dedication from author William A. Decker, M.D., who worked at the hospital from 1953-1987 serving as the Medical Superintendent from 1974-1987.
“This book is dedicated to the thousands of mentally ill persons that I had the privilege and opportunity of living with at the Kalamazoo State Hospital, learning from them and gaining the medical-psychiatric expertise that I eventually acquired; and to the hundreds of loyal and dedicated employees that I worked with and for whom I gained a high order of respect. Without those experiences, I would not have been afforded the opportunity of gaining the necessary insight into the vagaries of mental illness and the mentally ill.”
To establish the context within which the Kalamazoo Hospital came to be built, Decker begins the story in Europe in the previous centuries with historical antecedents, theories about mental illness and the treatment of mental disorders. These formative, primitive ideas were gradually adopted in this country where very little understanding of mental disorders existed. When the Kalamazoo State Hospital was founded, then named the Michigan Asylum for the Insane, in 1854, there were no private practitioners of psychiatry even in the largest cities. Psychiatry grew out of the exchange of information between the medical staff of these new public institutions.
Dr. Decker gives readers a comprehensive view of Michigan’s first psychiatric facility including the architectural style and plans, building descriptions and history, Legislative Acts regarding the operation and governance, personnel including Medical Directors, historical perspective on the causes of insanity, their treatment and services, noteworthy events and a complete bibliography and appendix.
Dr. William A. Decker served with the Michigan Department of Mental Health for nearly 34 years, the last 13 years as Medical Superintendent of the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital.
He is a cum laude graduate of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, and earned his medical degree at Wayne State University, College of Medicine in 1952.
During the course of his employment with the Michigan Department of Mental Health, he served in several capacities including: Assistant Medical Superintendent, Pontiac State Hospital; Chief of Clinical Affairs; Assistant Medical Superintendent and Medical Superintendent of Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital. He founded the first Children’s and Adolescent’s Division in a Michigan State Hospital at Kalamazoo and served as its Director for 14 years.
Dr. Decker’s professional activities included many functions. For the past 45 years he has been a forensic examiner for the State and Federal courts in Southwestern Michigan. He has been a lecturer for the National Institute of Mental Health and a surveyor for the American Medical Association. He was appointed by Governor Swainson as Chairman of the Sub-committee on Administrative Reorganization of the Michigan Department of Mental Health and an adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Western Michigan University.
After retiring in January 1987 from the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Decker Joined the Staff of the Battle Creek Veterans Administration Hospital as Chief of Psychiatry for 7 months in 1988, served on the Department of Mental Health’s Task Force for Quality Care; Long Range Planning Committee; acted as psychiatric consultant to the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice and Urban Affairs, Juvenile Law and Corrections from 1988 to 1994, and performed as an independent auditor of psychiatric services for the Michigan Department of Corrections, from 1988 to 1998 as well as continuing as a forensic psychiatrist serving Federal, State and County courts and private practitioners.
Dr. Decker served as the Chairman of the Michigan Psychiatric Society’s Committee on Public Policy and President of the West Michigan Chapter of the Michigan Psychiatric Society. From 1977 to 1982 he was a special lecturer for the Michigan Judicial Institute. From 1994 to 2003, he served as a Compensation and Pension Examiner for the Veterans Administration.
For five years, 1984 through 1989, he produced a weekly public information program on mental health topics aired on public access station in southwestern Michigan, and was inducted into the Kalamazoo Access Center’s “Hall of Fame” in 1988. The program won the Michigan Mental Health Association’s Prestigious Media Award in 1985; a resolution from the Michigan State Senate and a letter of commendation from Governor Blanchard.
He was honored at the 1986, Annual American Psychiatric Association’s Convention by elevation to the status of Life Fellow and to the status of Distinguished Life Fellow in 2003. In 1986, he was awarded a joint resolution by the house and Senate and in 1987 by the Senate in recognition of his leadership in the field of psychiatry and his many years of service to the mentally ill of Michigan. In the same year, the Michigan Department of Mental Health accorded him a Certificate of Commendation and the Michigan Psychiatric Society, a Certificate of Merit. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill tendered him their Exemplary Psychiatrist Award in 1993. Dr. Decker continues to practice his specialty of psychiatry, limiting his practice to forensic and workman’s compensation issues.