The Eastern Lunatic Asylum was opened in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1924. The facility continues to currently operate today under the name, Eastern State Hospital.
The construction on
this facility began in 1771 and the facility was initially a public hospital
but also doubled as a place for individuals suffering from other ailments. After
a fire in the late 1800’s the facility was modified to what we now call a
mental health treatment facility. This fire left two individuals dead and over
200 patients displaced. After being rebuilt, the facility had an outdoor
yard for “patients to walk and take air in” but also had a fence put around it.
The facility held about 20-30 patients, depending on which resources are used
and it was difficult to find narratives of patients time spent at the facility.
One
notable aspect of the hospital is patients were admitted to the hospital on a
first-come, first-serve basis and admission to the hospital did not rely on
qualifiers such as type of mental illness or treatment recommendations.
Patients were treated for both physical and mental illness.
Another noteable aspect was the number of recreational
activities offered to patients such as dances, steamboat rides, team parties
and various games (such as checkers). However, during this time restraints were
significantly utilized such as strait-jackets and Utica cribs.
In the 1920’s the Eastern State Hospital housed about
2000 patients and around this time treatment of the patients changed as well
with the introduction of psychiatric drugs being used in the facility.
The Eastern State Hospital continues to exist today,
with their website noting they have over 300 patients and 900 staff and over
500 acres of land.
In terms of the question of “if I would like to choose treatment at this facility”, this is a difficult one for me to answer. In the early 1800s, no, I would not choose to seek treatment there. However, if I needed help and support this facility does appear to have the staff and facility to manage individuals with significant mental health needs however my hope would be to receiving treatment in my community, rather than in an a hospital or facility.
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I think this hospital is one of the smallest ones that was reported on for this assignment. It's interesting that the hospital was recognized for treating both mental and physical illness at that time because you would think that's what all hospitals would do. I understand that was not the case in the 1800's so it's interesting they chose to provide more services to fewer patients.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the hospital past and present history. Having family is Virginia I was interested in reading the article. It is nice to see how a place can change for the better. I also found it very interesting how the hospital accepted patients first come first serve. I had never heard of a mental hospital accepting patients first come first serve. I am glad they have changed their philosophy.
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