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

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|Title= Concord State Hospital
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|Title= Mendota Mental Health Institute
|Image= Concord4.jpg
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|Image= Mendota03.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= In 1838, a bill for the establishment of an asylum was passed and the long struggle of more than six years was over. This bill was in the form of a charter to establish a corporation known as the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane. The corporation had power to hold real and personal property for any amount necessary for its support, provided that this income from real and personal estate should not exceed $30,000. There were 39 incorporators. The institution was placed under the management of a board of 12 trustees, three of whom should vacate their office yearly and eight of these trustees were elected by the corporation and four by a Board of Visitors. It was further provided that the sum of $15,000 should be secured to the institution by individuals before any money should come from the state. If these conditions were met 30 shares of New Hampshire bank stock, worth about $18,000, were to be given to the institution. As might have been anticipated, difficulties arose almost at once in the corporation between the subscribers to the voluntary fund and the trustees appointed by the state. It accordingly became necessary for the Legislature to act and provide that the direction, management and control of all the property and concerns of the asylum should be vested in trustees without power of interference on the part of the corporation. It was finally in 1840 deemed best to put the whole institution under the control of 12 trustees, to be appointed by the Governor and council. The Legislature also provided at the same time that all the contributions by private individuals, previously made, should be returned to them if claimed before a certain time.
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|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 asylum was located in 1841 in the Town of Concord, because the town had given the sum of $9500 to secure the location. Private individuals also contributed in addition to this sum. The Building Committee entered upon its duties at once and n October, 1842, procured the completion of a portion of the present center building with accommodations for 96 patients. The whole amount expended for the farm of 121 acres, the erection of the hospital and outbuildings, furniture, stock, etc., was $36,277.70. Of this sum $19,000 had been paid by the state, the balance being received in contributions by the town and citizens of Concord, the Society of Shakers and other benevolent individuals.  [[Concord State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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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.
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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.
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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...]]
 
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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...