Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

From Asylum Projects
Jump to: navigation, search
(471 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{FAformat
 
{{FAformat
|Title= Mount Hope Retreat
+
|Title= Mendota Mental Health Institute
|Image= Mount Hope Vint 02.jpg
+
|Image= Mendota03.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= In 1840 the Sisters of Charity, because of some dissatisfaction on the part of the Board of Directors, severed their connection with the Maryland Hospital, where for several years they had been in charge of the insane inmates and where they had been eminently successful.
+
|Body= Mendota opened on July 14, 1860 when it admitted a patient who had been brought all the way from Oconto County...a long trip by horse and wagon. Even though the hospital was not yet ready to open, that Saturday it was decided that, because of the distance the patient had been brought, he should be received. Thus began Mendota's ready response to the needs of patients and communities, which has been its tradition.
  
The Sisters moved their operations to a of their own, and 17 patients were at once placed in their care. Their first building was a small two-story brick house on Front Street, near Fayette, adjoining St. Vincent's Church. Dr. Durkee was then installed as medical attendant. This building soon proved insufficient and the Sisters were forced to seek more commodious accommodations. They finally purchased a lot improved by a frame building on the Harford Road, a short distance from the city limits, and called it Mount St. Vincent. This was arranged for the accommodation of patients, and the Sisters devoted themselves with renewed zeal and constantly increasing success to the good work they had undertaken. In 1842 Dr. William H. Stokes was invited to assume the medical charge of the new institution and his untiring energy, devotion and fidelity contributed greatly to its advancement and success. With the rapid growth of the institution, Mt. St. Vincent soon became overcrowded with patients, and the Sisters were compelled a second time to seek more ample quarters in order to meet the demand of those who appreciated their kindly care and attention.
+
Mendota has gone through many changes since then, some of them dramatized in the changes in its name. It opened as an "Asylum", appropriate in an era when little could be done for the mentally ill except to house and care for them...i.e. to give them asylum...when their families and communities could no longer cope with their needs.
  
In April, 1844, Mt. Hope College, situated in the vicinity of what is now North Avenue, Laurens, Park and Bolton streets, was purchased with its ample grounds from Mr. Treadwell by Rev. L. Deluol, who was then Superior of the order. On taking possession of this property the Sisters changed its name to Mt. Hope Institution. As it had been built as a college, it was found admirably adapted to the care of patients and the rooms and dormitories were very desirable. Several springs on the property afforded an ample supply of water, which was forced into the house by hydraulic rams. [[Mount Hope Retreat|Click here for more...]]
+
In a later era, when patients were recognized as having an illness...mental illness...the name was changed to Mendota State Hospital, reflecting its responsibility for providing treatment.
 +
 
 +
In more recent times, with the discovery of psychiatric medications and with new approaches (some of which resulted from research at Mendota itself) it became possible for the mentally ill to be treated in community hospitals and clinics. But there remained a need for a place for those who required more specialized treatment than most community hospitals and clinics could provide, and where the tradition of research, education, and consultation that Mendota had already established could continue. Mendota was then changed to its present name of Mendota Mental Health Institute. [[Mendota Mental Health Institute|Click here for more...]]
 
}}
 
}}

Revision as of 04:45, 2 August 2020

Featured Article Of The Week

Mendota Mental Health Institute


Mendota03.jpg

Mendota opened on July 14, 1860 when it admitted a patient who had been brought all the way from Oconto County...a long trip by horse and wagon. Even though the hospital was not yet ready to open, that Saturday it was decided that, because of the distance the patient had been brought, he should be received. Thus began Mendota's ready response to the needs of patients and communities, which has been its tradition.

Mendota has gone through many changes since then, some of them dramatized in the changes in its name. It opened as an "Asylum", appropriate in an era when little could be done for the mentally ill except to house and care for them...i.e. to give them asylum...when their families and communities could no longer cope with their needs.

In a later era, when patients were recognized as having an illness...mental illness...the name was changed to Mendota State Hospital, reflecting its responsibility for providing treatment.

In more recent times, with the discovery of psychiatric medications and with new approaches (some of which resulted from research at Mendota itself) it became possible for the mentally ill to be treated in community hospitals and clinics. But there remained a need for a place for those who required more specialized treatment than most community hospitals and clinics could provide, and where the tradition of research, education, and consultation that Mendota had already established could continue. Mendota was then changed to its present name of Mendota Mental Health Institute. Click here for more...