Nashauna Drummond, Staff Reporter

"There's life in it and I have to manage it (Bellevue). I have to manage it that way." - Hugh Porter - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

"If it's going to be closed, I don't see it closing for now and if it's going to be, it wouldn't be immediate." This is the conviction of the new chief executive officer of Bellevue Hospital, Hugh Porter. The perception that the hospital is closed or closing is one that Porter hopes to dispel during his tenure. The second misconception about the institution that he would want to dispel is the stigma attached to it. "This is not a mad house, this is a hospital. People come here when they are ill. We cater to a lot of poor from the lower strata of society whose needs are taken care of here."

Porter believes that one of the first steps in improving the image of the institution is with a community relations officer. "I'm lobbying for a community relations officer. This person will have internal and external roles to deal with the dynamics of public perception and societal attitude towards mental illness. He noted that public perception sometimes impedes the progress of those treated at the hospital. "Persons who get treatment here most times are not integrated back into their community so they relapse." He also notes that as a result, they end up homeless.

The Challenge

With a postgraduate certificate in public financial management from the University of Connecticut, a Certificate in marketing from the University.