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

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{{FAformat
|Title= Connecticut State Hospital
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|Title= Mendota Mental Health Institute
|Image= Connecticut_SH_PC.jpg
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|Image= Mendota03.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= In 1866 an act to create a hospital for the insane in the State of Connecticut was passed, but the birthday of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane cannot truly be said to have occurred until it was delivered to the public April 30, 1868.
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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 report of the commission appointed by the Assembly in the year 1865 showed that there were 706 insane persons in the State of Connecticut, of whom 202 were in the Retreat at Hartford; 204 in the almshouses; and 300 outside of both; that it was impossible to secure suitable care and medical attention for this large and deeply afflicted class, either in the Retreat or in the almshouses, or in private houses; and that considerations of humanity and of true economy, as well as public welfare, demanded that these persons should liberally be provided for by the state.
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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.
  
The act, modified and supplemented by other acts, appears in the revision of the General Statutes, 1888. It provided that "The land of the state and its appurtenances in Middletown shall be and remain the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane." Further, "That the government shall be vested in a board consisting of the Governor and 12 trustees to be appointed by the Senate, one from each county and four from the vicinity of the institution. During the regular session of the General Assembly of 1889 the Senate shall appoint six of said trustees, of whom three shall hold office for four years from the first day of July, 1889, and three for three years from the first day of July, 1890. During the regular session of the General Assembly of 1891, and biennially thereafter, the Senate shall appoint six trustees, who shall hold office for four years from the first day of July following their appointment. The Governor may fill any vacancy which occurs during the recess of the General Assembly until its regular session. No trustee shall receive compensation for his services.  [[Connecticut State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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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...