Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org Whiting Forensic Division in Middletown on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. The hospital provides treatment and evaluation services for patients with mental health conditions who are involved in the criminal justice system, or are not ready to be safely treated in less restrictive settings. The CVH Whiting Task Force on Tuesday recommended that lawmakers start thinking about how to close Whiting Forensic Hospital — the maximum-security psychiatric hospital in Middletown — and transfer patients to a more modern building more amenable to their care. Task Force co-chair Michael P. Lawlor acknowledged that it will be a “long process” for legislators to replace the building. It will include allocating the money for a new facility, determining its capacity by gauging how many patients actually need to be in a maximum-security setting, designing a building that has an architecture that meets modern standards for long-term hospital care in a secure setting and gathering input from all relevant parties.