Secure hospital unit (men) · Correctional hospital unit · Massachusetts DOC

Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit

Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (617) 971-3753 Info last verified: June 2026

A secure Massachusetts DOC unit within Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston, providing hospital-level medical care for incarcerated men from across the state prison system.

Statewide rules that apply at every Massachusetts state prison

These rules are set by Massachusetts DOC and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in Massachusetts.

Dress code

Dress modestly and avoid clothing that resembles what incarcerated people or staff wear; no revealing, sheer, or provocative clothing.
Each prison publishes its own visiting dress code and item limits — confirm them with the facility before traveling, since a visitor who is dressed out of code can be turned away.

ID: Every visitor must be on the incarcerated person's approved visitor list and submit a visitor application to the prison; the Department runs a criminal-history check before approval. Adults must show a valid government-issued photo ID at each visit. The incarcerated person can add new visitors only during set windows (the first 15 days of March, July, and November).
What to bring: Bring only a photo ID and what the specific facility allows in the visiting room — phones and bags are not permitted. Money for the person is sent through Access Corrections, never handed over at a visit; confirm each facility's item and locker rules before visiting.
Scheduling: Massachusetts has no statewide online visit scheduler — each prison schedules visits by phone and sets its own days and hours, so call the facility to arrange a visit and confirm the schedule. A newly committed person is held at a reception center first — Souza-Baranowski for men, MCI-Framingham for women — before transfer to a permanent prison.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Massachusetts

Overview

The Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit is a secure Massachusetts DOC unit within Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, a state public-health hospital in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston. It provides hospital-level medical care for incarcerated men transferred from prisons across the state who need that level of care.

What Makes the Shattuck Unit Different

It is a secure DOC unit inside a public hospital, not a standalone prison.
It provides hospital-level medical care for incarcerated men transferred from prisons across the state who need that level of care.
A person held here has been transferred for medical care and may return to their assigned prison.

Visiting

The statewide MA DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Correctional Unit. The unit’s own arrangements:

The full approval process is in Visiting in Massachusetts.

Getting There and Parking

The unit is at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital on Morton Street in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. Confirm visitor parking and the entrance with the unit.

Nearby Services

The unit is inside a hospital in Boston, which has gas, food, and lodging nearby. Because the unit is within Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, emergency care is at the hospital itself; other 24-hour emergency rooms operate elsewhere in Boston.

Mail

Incoming personal mail goes to the prison — Massachusetts does not use an off-site mail vendor. Address it with the person’s full name and commitment number and the facility’s mailing address (above); all incoming mail is opened and inspected. Legal mail is opened only in the person’s presence. Full rules are in Mail & Packages.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone in a Massachusetts state prison:

Visiting in Massachusetts — the approved visitor list, dress code, and scheduling by phone
Mail & Packages — mail to the facility and what gets inspected
Phone & Video Calls — free Securus calls, video visits, and messaging
Sending Money — depositing through Access Corrections
Medical & Mental Health — sick call, grievances, and the Ombudsman
Transfers & Finding Someone — reception, classification, and VINELink

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.