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

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|Title= Norristown State Hospital
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|Title= Eastern State Hospital Lexington
|Image= Norristown 17.jpg
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|Image= Esho2.jpg
 
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|Body= In 1876 Governor John Hartranft formed a commission to study the need for a state-owned hospital in southeastern Pennsylvania. A 200-acre tract in the northern part of Norristown borough was chosen for the hospital and work began on March, 21, 1878. Upon completion on February 17, 1880 there were only two other state-owned hospitals, one in Danville that opened in 1872 and one in Harrisburg that opened in 1851. Plans were underway to construct another at Warren. Norristown was built to alleviate the overcrowding in the psychiatric wards of the Philadelphia Almshouse and other hospitals in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 1880, the hospital was turned over to the Board of Trustees for operation. It operated under the "cottage plan," using small cottage structures to house patients instead of one large facility. During this perriod, the hospital was opened to both sexes and continued to be divided into men's and women's departments until 1923. Serving nearly 3,000 patients, in 1924 the hospital was reorganized under one superintendent. As with most hospitals at the time, there was a farm with animals on the grounds and the patients helped to operate the facility until the 1950s. As of 1998, the hospital still functions as a mental hospital.
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|Body= On February 15, 1816, the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act establishing a public hospital in Fayette County. The act incorporated a group of citizens, the “Contributors of the Fayette Hospital,” who wished to erect a building at their own expense to serve as a hospital for the accommodation of “lunatics” as well as other “sick poor.” The act gave the Contributors the right to establish a committee, elect officers, raise money to purchase a piece of land in or near Lexington, and to contract for the construction of a building to serve as the hospital (An act for founding, 1816). The Contributors meet on March 1, 1816 and elected a building committee consisting of Andrew McCalla, Sterling Allen, Stephen Chipley, Thomas January,and Richard Higgins. McCalla was appointed chairman (Fayette Hospital, 1816). In an open letter in the Kentucky Reporter on April 17, 1816, the Committee presented their mission and asked for assistance. They noted that there were many “poor, disabled, and infirm members of society” without the aid of medicine who with the assistance that could be provided by a “Public Hospital,” might become useful to themselves, their families, and society. They also noted that “lunatics,” who have no “rich relatives” to care for them, “roam at large through the country...” and in many instances “endanger the lives of other members of society.” The best remedy, they suggested, was the erection of a public hospital. They argued that the hospital was not only their best chance at a cure but also a means by which physicians could acquire “superior skill” by treating them. Finally, they declared that “society itself would be made more secure against the wild and desperate actions of lunatics, if provision was made to contain them within its walls.” The Committee concluded the letter by requesting that “ALL” people of Kentucky contribute to the support of the hospital (To the people of Kentucky, 1816).
  
 
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Their early efforts must have been effective for not long after their incorporation, the Building Committee purchased the “Sinking Spring” property on which the present hospital now stands (Perrin 1882: 391). On June 30, 1817, the corner-stone of the “Fayette Hospital” building was laid in the presence of a large group of spectators. [[Eastern State Hospital Lexington|Click here for more...]]
From the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare web page: The second half of the nineteenth century was witnessing the opening of state hospitals for the care and treatment of persons who had mental illnesses. Prior to this care and treatment had been provided in County Almshouses, which were very, very overcrowded. In May 1876, under Public Law 121, the Pennsylvania Legislature called for the establishment of a state mental hospital to serve the Southeastern District of Pennsylvania.
 
 
 
Norristown State Hospital received its first patient, a woman, on July 12, 1880. Two more women arrived on July 13th followed by the first two men on July 17th. Very soon thereafter groups of individuals were admitted from other state hospitals and county almshouses. By September 30, 1880, there were 295 men and 251 women receiving in-patient care and treatment. [[Norristown State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
 
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Revision as of 04:42, 30 January 2012

Featured Article Of The Week

Eastern State Hospital Lexington


Esho2.jpg

On February 15, 1816, the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act establishing a public hospital in Fayette County. The act incorporated a group of citizens, the “Contributors of the Fayette Hospital,” who wished to erect a building at their own expense to serve as a hospital for the accommodation of “lunatics” as well as other “sick poor.” The act gave the Contributors the right to establish a committee, elect officers, raise money to purchase a piece of land in or near Lexington, and to contract for the construction of a building to serve as the hospital (An act for founding, 1816). The Contributors meet on March 1, 1816 and elected a building committee consisting of Andrew McCalla, Sterling Allen, Stephen Chipley, Thomas January,and Richard Higgins. McCalla was appointed chairman (Fayette Hospital, 1816). In an open letter in the Kentucky Reporter on April 17, 1816, the Committee presented their mission and asked for assistance. They noted that there were many “poor, disabled, and infirm members of society” without the aid of medicine who with the assistance that could be provided by a “Public Hospital,” might become useful to themselves, their families, and society. They also noted that “lunatics,” who have no “rich relatives” to care for them, “roam at large through the country...” and in many instances “endanger the lives of other members of society.” The best remedy, they suggested, was the erection of a public hospital. They argued that the hospital was not only their best chance at a cure but also a means by which physicians could acquire “superior skill” by treating them. Finally, they declared that “society itself would be made more secure against the wild and desperate actions of lunatics, if provision was made to contain them within its walls.” The Committee concluded the letter by requesting that “ALL” people of Kentucky contribute to the support of the hospital (To the people of Kentucky, 1816).

Their early efforts must have been effective for not long after their incorporation, the Building Committee purchased the “Sinking Spring” property on which the present hospital now stands (Perrin 1882: 391). On June 30, 1817, the corner-stone of the “Fayette Hospital” building was laid in the presence of a large group of spectators. Click here for more...