Hospitals have wealth of history


Founded in 1931, Bradley Hospital in East Providence is the nation's first psychiatric hospital devoted to children and adolescents. Shown are Roland Barrett, Ph.D., (left) chief psychologist and Dan Wall, president. (photo by Kathryn Hardy)

By Phyllis Hanlon

Noted for its historic medical, academic and financial institutions as well as for prominent names in retail, business and manufacturing, New England is also home to several venerable psychiatric facilities. In the early days, far-sighted individuals foresaw the importance of such institutions. Three of those hospitals are briefly described below.

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Unable to find quality medical care for his beloved daughter who suffered from cerebral palsy, epilepsy and retardation as a result of probable encephalitis, George Lothrop, astute businessman and colleague of Alexander Graham Bell, established a charity to fund a hospital specifically for children. The Emma Pendleton Bradley Home in Rhode Island was founded out of sorrow and anguish "…and the hope that from the affliction of this one life may come comfort and blessing to many suffering in like manner," Bradley wrote in his will.

In 1931, 25 years after Bradley's death, construction was completed and the doors of the country's first children's psychiatric hospital opened to the public. From its inception, the institution gained acclaim as an important research institute out of which many significant discoveries flowed. A number of pharmacological breakthroughs for schizoid and convulsive disorders in children were discovered. The use of advanced technological tools, such as electroencephalography, was first implemented at this facility. Additionally, the hospital gained a reputation for providing free care to those in need of services but without financial means.

During the ensuing years, Bradley became incorporated as a hospital (1957); formalized an affiliation with Brown University (1973); joined LifeSpan (1996) and implemented several innovative outpatient and community programs. According to Daniel J. Wall, hospital president, Bradley offers a variety of services - from inpatient and residential to outpatient and special education programs - to more than 300 children. He notes that, in addition to enhancing patient services, the expansion of operations has improved the hospital's overall fiscal health.

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The inspiration for several songs, poems, books, novels and screenplays, McLean Hospital, the first mental hospital in New England, has also been responsible for many significant contributions to the field of mental health since it first opened its doors in 1811. Initially known as the Psychiatric Asylum of the Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean operated in Charlestown before moving to its current Belmont location in 1895. Noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead played a key role in relocating the facility as well as creating an extensive underground tunnel system and a series of mansion-style homes that dot the beautifully sculptured grounds.

Since 1888, when McLean created laboratories to study pathology, psychology, microbiology and chemistry, the facility has continued to lead the field in mental health research. In 1960, the hospital became the first center for electron microscopy in any U.S. psychiatric facility and 13 years later established the first alcohol and drug abuse research center in a private, American psychiatric institution.

McLean's research on the brain has led to new understanding of psychiatric illness in children as well as FDA-approved treatments for Alzheimer's patients. A Harvard Medical School affiliate and member of the Partners Healthcare System, McLean operates a highly competitive internship/ residency training program.

According to Philip Levendusky, Ph.D., director of the department of psychology and vice president of new program development, the ongoing success of the facility can be attributed to the large number of psychologists who hold significant leadership positions. Specifically, he mentions the contributions of the late Irene Stiver, Ph.D., who founded the women's psychology program at the hospital and Philip Holtzman, Ph.D, who is highly regarded for his research on schizophrenic disorders.

"We are in growing mode, unlike many other psychiatric hospitals," Levendusky says. "Psychology is alive at McLean and represents an integral part of the delivery of clinical care."

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In 1822, in response to widespread publicized mistreatment of the mentally ill, the Connecticut State Medical Society applied for and was granted a charter to establish the Connecticut Retreat for the Insane, later called the Neuro-Psychiatric Institute of Hartford Retreat. Notably, this was the first hospital of any kind in the state.

Two years later, the first patients entered the facility, which practiced "moral treatment," a concept promoted by its first superintendent Eli Todd, M.D., that posited that mental illness was a treatable disease and replaced a cruel, inhumane environment with kindness and compassion. Frederick Law Olmstead again worked his architectural magic as he interspersed hundreds of unique trees - many of which still stand today - across the facility's 35 acres of rolling hills.

The hospital faced several challenges through the years, including the Depression and two world wars, yet continued to grow its research, education, internship and residency programs and, by 1938, had gained an international reputation and global attention. In 1943, the name of the facility was changed to The Institute of Living and more recently (1994) joined Hartford Hospital to become its Mental Health Division.

The Institute is also affiliated with Yale University, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and offers training programs in psychiatry, psychology, social work, nursing and rehabilitation. The Institute leads the field in outcome studies of new drugs and its researchers have created a distinctive computerized clinical alert system.

According to Harold I. Schwartz, M.D., psychiatrist-in-chief and vice president of behavioral health at the Institute, many new state-of-the-art programs continue to be developed. "Specifically, we have just opened the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, a modern brain imaging research center which will carry us into the future," he says. At the crux of a statewide, integrated behavioral health system, the Institute is emerging as one of America's leading not-for-profit centers for comprehensive patient care, research and education in behavioral, psychiatric and addiction disorders.

Recognized early in its history for identifying a link between mind and body as well as for the significant amount of free care it provided, the Institute today offers a number of specialty programs as well as outpatient, partial hospital, residential and inpatient services in addition to therapeutic programs at the Grace S. Webb School.

Hospitals have wealth of history (July 2003 Issue)

Hospitals have wealth of history
(July 2003 Issue)