Atascadero State Hospital

Atascadero State Hospital, formally known as California Department of State Hospitals - Atascadero (DSHA), is an all-male maximum-security forensic institution that houses mentally ill convicts who have been committed to psychiatric facilities by California's courts, located on the Central Coast of California, in San Luis Obispo County, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Located on a 700+ acre grounds in the city of Atascadero, California, it is the largest employer in that town. DSHA is not a general purpose public hospital, and the only patients admitted are those that are referred to the hospital by the Superior Court, Board of Prison Terms, or the Department of Corrections.