Having successfully served numerous war veterans, Cushing Hospital begins its next era in meeting the needs of older adults, directly addressing a social crisis.
By the 1950s, advances in medicine increased life expectancy of white males almost two decades; people were now living into their 60s. The needs of older adults and the concept of geriatric medicine became evident in broader society. "While the social security system provided guaranteed minimum incomes for the elderly, little had been done to ensure their wellbeing in other respects... it was an emerging crisis and government was beginning to take notice." As their condition allowed, older adults would stay in their homes or receive care from family.
As they continued to age or their physical or mental condition declined, those with means went to nursing homes to receive skilled nursing care, and those without means were sent to mental hospitals, lacking other alternatives. The state saw success from an experimental program in Foxborough and saw opportunity in the Cushing facility. In 1954, the state took ownership of the hospital from the federal government and created "a prototype of a congregate and/or assisted living facility" intended to care for older adults with physical limitations.
