Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter
Staff and patients of Bellevue Hospital worship at the celebration of the hospital's 145th year of existence at St. George's Anglican Church, 83 East Street, downtown Kingston, yesterday. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/DEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
RESIDENTS AND staff of the Bellevue Hospital, yesterday gathered at the St. George's Anglican Church on East Street, downtown Kingston, yesterday, to celebrate the 145th anniversary of the institution.
They were in high spirits as they sang praises with hymns such as When Morning Gilds The Skies and Come Let's Magnify The Lord.
When the singing subsided, Reverend Dr. Edmund Davis, chaplain of Bellevue Hospital, brought the realities of the institution to the fore.
"The staff of the Bellevue Hospital works in the most deplorable unimaginable condition, with little recognition and appreciation," he pointed out. "These heroic doctors, nurses, social workers, struggle daily against enormous odds to keep the hospital open, to make the environment liveable, and to love and care for the residents who live there in the most unacceptable situation."
He described the efforts of the staff of the mental institution as a labour of love and sacrifice for which no financial reward can compensate. "Bellevue is one of the most neglected institutions in Jamaica, an urgent need for the hospital is to remove the historic stigma and to adjust the negative attitude that has been associated with the hospital and with mental health care."
To this end, Dr. Davis stated that families should take more responsibility for the relatives they take to the institution. He added that more Jamaicans need to provide voluntary support services as well as tangible assistance for the staff and patients of the hospital.
While acknowledging that mental health care all over the world does suffer a kind of stigma because of its the nature, Mrs. Yvonne Miller, Chief Executive Officer at Bellevue, noted that good things happen in the hospital environment.
"The staff is dedicated to the service and people are living with dignity," she affirmed.
Noting that the institution is not without challenges, she added that it is in need of more maintenance as some building are over 40 years old.
Staff shortage and adequate security are problems, she said revealing that the institution needs at least 50 per cent more nurses.
The 145-year-old institution currently has close to 900 residents, 250 nurses and 15 doctors.
