Evening star. [volume], August 14, 1955, Page A-12, Image 12

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
THE SUNDAY STAR, Washington, D. C.
SUNDAY. AUGUST 11. 19. VS
A-12
PATIENT OR PRISONER?
Virginia Areas Forced
To Jail Mentally 111-
Continued Fropi First Page t
rary mental breakdown. .The '
trip probably could have been 1
avoided if the man had been ob- '
served for several days in a
hospital psychiatric ward near '
home, as is done in the District.
The wife of a Navy captain
gave birth to their third child 1
shortly after he left for overseas. ‘
When she came home with the c
new baby she became hysterical. 1
Doctors call this postnatal 1
shock, and can successfully treat !
it in short time.
But her maid had not heard 1
of postnatal shock and called '
for police. The mother was put ;
in jail until her husband was 1
reached and made arrangements
to get her in a private sana- '
torium. She recovered in a short :
time, but still can remember
those hours behind bars.
Three weeks ago a husky '
colored laborer was locked up in
the Alexandria Jail for being
drunk. He went into the DTs
and struck his head against
something in the cell, perhaps
the bars, the metal bunk or the
floor—no one was quite sure.
Dr. James Gooch, jail physi
cian, was summoned but the man
was beyond help. He died of a
fractured skull.
"Jail isn’t the place for men ■
with the DTS.” said Dr. Gooch.
‘‘They belong in a hospital equip- '
ped to take care of them. They '
need medicine.”
In Washington, victims of the
DTs are taken to the psychl- j
atric ward at District General
Hospital.
“A man with the DTs is a '
sick man,” commented Dr. Wini
fred Overholser, superintendent 1
of St. Elizabeths Hospital. “He |
belongs in a hospital. It is in
human to let him go through the
DTs in jail.”
Similar Cases ,
Dr. Gooch has treated other
prisoners who bashed in their
teeth, cut their faces, and ■
suffered other injuries during :
DT seizures. In Virginia, it is '
possible to commit alcoholics to :
State mental institutions, but
usually the DTs set in before
anyone realizes the commitment 1 ,
should be .made.
A war veteran who went ber- \
serk was carted around in an am- s
bulance for six hours because .
Alexandria Hospital has no ward ,
for mental cases. The hospital ,
arranged a sanity commission. .
The commission met in the am- (
bulance behind the hospital. The (
patient then was taken to Staun- ,
ton.
Sometimes nearby Virginia's t
two community hospitals, Ar- ]
lington and Alexandria, try to |
cope with mentally disturbed i
patients. The results convince
officials of both institutions that (
it isn't fair to the mental pa- ;
tients—or other patients—to at- 1
tempt to handle such cases with- i
out the right equipment and i
trained personnel. i
A 44-year-old woman who i
tore off all her clothes in the i
street was brought to Alexan- I
dria Hospital by ambulance. She i
was raving. All the hospital 1
could do was lock her in a small. ’
basement room until a sanity
commission could meet the next i
day. A sanity commission re- t
quires a judge and two doctors. I
and it isn't always possible to f
get them on a minute's notice, t
The patient managed to break 5
out of the room and raced '•
through the hospital halls, 1
screaming at the top of her 1
voice. A call went out over the
loudspeaker system for all or- I
derlies to converge on the hall
where the woman was loose. 1
They caught her and got her•
back in the room.
Luckily, no one was harmed—
although there were many rest
less in the hospital that night.
That woman w r as sent to a i
State mental institution the next
day after a commission found
she was mentally ill. She died a
few days later.
Doctors concluded that ex
haustion contributed to her
death because she was in an
enraged frame of mind for so
long before she was given proper
care by specialists in mental
diseases.
Hysterical Girl
A 15-year-old girl who took
an overdose of barbiturates was
brought to Alexandria Hospital.
She was hysterical and in ob
vious need of quick psychiatric
care.
Tire hospital had to keep her
In the basement room until Ju
venile Court Judge Irene Pres
cott arranged for admission to a
mental institution. It took nurses
and internes away from other
duties to keep a constant watch
on the girl while she was at the
hospital.
Alexandria Hospital officials
estimate at least 25 mental pa
tients wind up there each year,
and at least 50 alcoholics with
the DTs are admitted, even
though the hospital isn't equipped
to cope with such cases.
According to John Anderson,
administrator of Arlington Hos
pital. mental patients have stayed
there as long as four weeks
without psychiatric treatment
while arrangments are made to
get them into State mental insti-
H* IM. %Ji
g||K
wFm
* % -
u
1% W"-m
'MJkk **™*%m%'
rs>-
JUDGE J. R. DUNCAN
Held Commission
In Ambulance
tutions. In the seven years he has
been at Arlington Hospital, he
recalls at least a half-dozen oc
casions when mental patients
have broken out and disrupted
hospital routine. Police had to
capture them.
There is another reason why
psychiatrists believe some kind
of short-term mental-care fa
cility should be available in this
area. Some disorders of the mind
need only brief treatment—pref
erably close to home where fam
ily can visit the patient. The.
number of insanity commit
ments to State instituitons might
actually be reduced if the nearby
area had a psychiatric ward.
According to Dr. Overholser.
only about one-fourth of the
people treated at the psychiatric
ward at District General Hos
pital go on to St. Elizabeths.
Why the Problem
There are several reasons for
these backwoods conditions in
an urban area which has a pop
ulation approaching half a
million.
The biggest problem is dis
tance. Virginia has mental in
stitutions, but none is close
enough to the nearby area to
offer quick service when a mental
patient needs it.
Western State Hospital at
Staunton is 154 miles away. Cen
tral State for Negroes at Peters
burg is a 131-mlle trip. It is
156 miles to Southeastern State
at Williamsburg. The Colony for
feebleminded near Lynchburg is
163 miles distant, and the South
western State Hospital at Marion!
is 344 miles down into the far
corner of the State.
Sometimes the problem is what
to do with a disturbed person
until a sanity commission can
meet. If the person does not
: seem dangerous to himself or
others, the sheriff or city ser
geant tries to leaye him at home
until the commission is con
vened. In many cases families'
make arrangements to take the
patient to an institution as soon
as the commitment is made.
Not Always Foreseen
, Insanity isn't always foreseen.
When a warrant is issued for a
sanity hearing; it becomes the
duty of the sheriff -or city ser
geant to bring the peiWi before
a commission. Occasionally that
necessitates a brief stay in jail
while a judge and two doctors
are rounded up to preside. When 1
the commitment is made, the pa
tient becomes the responsibility
of the sheriff or city sergeant.
They usually have no choice but
to put the person in jail if trans
portation to a mental institution
hasn’t been arranged before- ~
hand.
The jail officials Sky this is a
distasteful responsibility. They
are supposed to maintain cus-,
tody until an amubulance or car
is sent from the State institu
tion. If transportation is not
available right away the sheriff
or sergeant can obtain emergency
permission to transport the pa- '
tient —but they say the author
ity isn't always easy to get as
long as the ambulance can come
within five days.
Virginia has reasonably up-to
date laws that allow admission
to the State institution without
formal commitments. Two phy-i
sicians can certify that a pa
tient needs admission for ob
servation. A resident may enter
any of the institutions volun
tarily for treatment. But the
patients must have their own
transportation to use either
procedure.
As stated before, neither Ar
lington nor Alexandria Hospital
has a psychiatric ward. The two,
voluntary hospitals have had
their hands full in recent years
trying to keep up with the area's
tremendous population growth
and ever-increasing demands for
the more common, types of hos
pital care— maternity wards, sur
gical beds and the like.
There is a psychiatric ward
just across the Potomac River at
District General Hospital, but it
is for District residents only
under a nine-year-old directive
of the District Commissioners.
Changing the directive to admit
Virginia residents wouldn’t help
much, according to officials at
District General, because the
psychiatric ward already keeps
pretty well filled with patients.
What Has Been Done
There have been efforts to do
something about the lack of psy
chiatric facilities in the nearby
Virginia area, but so far little
progress has been made.
Dr. William H. Young, director j
of the Alexandria Mental Hy-;
giene Clinic which offers out-!
, patient care for people with emo
tional problems, recognized the
need for a psychiatric ward in
Northern Virginia three years
-"0. He submitted a report to a
firm surveying Alexandria Hos
pital’s future needs stating:
‘T am especially concerned
about the lack of temporary hos
, pital facilities where a disturbed
patient can be kept with safety
and comfort overnight or for!
short periods.
“Thus, patients must occasion
i ally be detained in jail or kept
under anxious observation in an
’ 1
V
JUDGE HUDGINS
Reported Conditions
To Fairfax Board
MISS FREIDA REICHER
Devoted Worker
To Improve Conditions
Bft ’ |
If Wm\ 'S
« k, M -■mm-: |||gt|
3 1 ftrftßi B j®| H ’■ 'J* B
m wjr JH m ■ mr
W S'V K K Igf ' Biff mm H
is ft fl| y iH
I HfII i B B & IB *
Hf w%m ft. B i BBr~" Br m
fjP’' nMunmraMH
MBBb jB j B
HHBIkB j BB
GOOD FOR THE MIND?—Jail is the only secure place Northern Virginia has
to put mental patients before they are transferred to State institutions, as
demonstrated here by a reporter.
7 Virginia Groups Push
For Mental-Care Wards
At least seven organizations
have taken an interest in the
lack of iacilities to care for men
tal patients in the Virginia sub
urban area.
The Alexandria Junior Wom
an’s Club was one of the first to
become interested in the prob
lem. TWo years ago it brought
some individual cases to public
attention, and several public
meetings were held to discuss
what could be done.
The Foundation for Commu
nity Aid to Mental Patients, in
corporated 11 months ago, has
as part of its program the es
tablishment of psychiatric wards
in general hospitals. The presi
dent. Miss Freida Reicher. a
sculptress, has been collecting
statistics about mental commit
ments.
The Mental Hygiene Society
of Northern Virginia has dis
cussed the problem at several
meetings.
The Alexandria Mental Hy
giene Society, a chapter of the
Northern Virginia group, now is
making a study of the situation.
MENTAL FACILITIES CALLED
'MOST DESPERATE HEALTH NEED'
Facilities for care of acute emotional illnesses is called
today's "most desperate health need” in an article appear
ing in the August issue of Hospitals magazine, publication
of the American Hospital Association.
The article, by Dr, Lee G. Sewall, tells of the need for
psychiatric units in general hospitals. Dr. Sewall calls the
hospital administrator the key person to pilot establishment
of a psychiatric ward, and suggests ways it can be done.
"Striking benefits accrue to the hospital and to the
community when a psychiatric unit is developed.” writes
Dr. Sewall. He lists 12 advantages of establishing psychiat
ric care facilities, and discusses objections sometimes raised.
According to Dr. Sewall. there are about 4.800 general
hospitals in the United States and only 380 have psychiatric
units.
"That means that 91 per cent of the general hospitals
are not meeting the total health needs of the communities
served.” he says. "This No. 1 Jiealth problem of the
Nation cannot be ignored. It wilfnot go away by pretend
ing that it does not exist.”
inadequately protected home. . . .
Often, because of the difficulties,
hospitalization is deferred and
the patient's ultimate recovery
hindered. Many of these patients
could accept local hospitalization
in their own hospital while they
resist travel, separation and ad
mission to the insane asylum or
the unfamiliar hospital.”
In the report he noted that the
United States Public Health
Service recommends that a gen
eral hospital allocate 10 per cent :
of its beds to mental cases—2o
per cent of these for violent
cases. He suggested a 20-bed
psychiatric unit for any future
addition at Alexandria Hospital,
i stating that "anything short of
ithe above recommendations is
only half a job which will lead j
to further frustrations andj
patchwork improvements later." j
According to Dr. Young, a 20-bed |
unit could be handled by two
nurses and three aides during
daytime hours, and one each at!
night.
As a result of Dr. Young's re-1
port, the hospital consulting firm
of Neergard, Agnew St Craig in!
March, 1953, suggested establish
ment of a 10 to 15 bed psychi
atric unit in any future addition
!at Alexandria Hospital and rec
ommended further consideration
of how it should be financed. The
■
CHARLES GOFF
Offers Co-operation
From Alexandria Hospital
Mis. Wilma Phillips, a board
member, is chairman of a field
study committee that is drafting
a report on the number of men
tal cases in the Alexandria area
that need hospital care each
year. Questionnaires are being
sent out to all Washington area
psychiatrists next week by the
Alexandria group to see how
much use they might make of a
psychiatric ward if one is estab
lished in Northern Virginia.
The League of Women Voters
has been working closely with the
Alexandria Mental Hygiene So
ciety. Lack of short-term psy
chiatric care facilities has been
put on the Alexandria league's
agenda for discussion at meet
ings beginning this fall.
The Alexandria Medical Soci
ety has a committee on mental
commitments.
.The Northern Virginia Re
gional Planning and Economic
Development Commission dis
cussed mental patients’ plight
last spring and has referred the
problem to its Committee on
Hospitals for further study.
. hospital, however, has never
found itself in a position to go
ahead with any new additions
since the report was submitted
A number of civic organiza
: tions have taken an interest in
i the problem in the past two
years, but so far their efforts
have not produced any results.
Ernest N. Hudgins, substitute
itrial justice of Fairfax County
who presides at the sanity hear
i ings in his county, brought the
matter to the attention of the
Board of County Supervisors
i about six months ago. He said
the area needed some place to
I put mental patients and alco
. holies with the DTs. He told
of one occasion when an un
r controllable 12-year-old girl had
; to be committed to a mental
I j institution.
l| "I couldn’t see a 12-year-old
•jgo to jail,” said Judge Hudgins.
l|“We just ignored standard pro
cedure and sent her to Staunton
.iright away after she was com
mitted.”
Temporary Aid Voted
The Fairfax supervisors last
[Wednesday, on motion of Mrs.
i Anne Wilkins, asked Arlington
■ Hospital to provide temporary
■ detention facilities for mental
II patients.
• i Mrs. Wilkins was designated
i by the supervisors, at the time
!|Mr. Hudgins submitted his re-
ww
m ft I
JOHN ANDERSON
Hospital Administrator
Recognise* Problem
'£ * *
WBm mm ■ MPg- >
POSSIBLE REMEDY—It has been suggested that this vacant old clinic build
ing behind Alexandria Hospital might be remodeled into a psychiatric ward.—
Star Staff Photo.
port, to serve on a regional com
mittee to study the mental
patient detention problem. Mrs.
Wilkins said the committee never
was organized, and declared that
she was unaware Arlington Hos
pital had no place to put mental
patients until The Star discussed
I the problem w ith her last week.
| Alexandria Civil and Police
Court Judge James R. Duncan
Sn several occasions has tried
to arouse community interest in
the lack of facilities for mental
patients. He presided at the
sanity commission held in the
back of the ambulance.
The Alexandria Hospital
Board of Directors four months
ago decided to try a temporary
solution. Dr. Joseph Barrett.
State commissioner of mental
health, was invited to come in
spect the hospitals basement
room and see if it could be ap
proved for detention of mental
patients until they can be trans
ferred to State institutions.
This would allow deputies from
the city sergeant's or sheriffs
office to stand guard over a
patient kept in the room.
Dr. Barrett told The Star last
week that he planned to make
the inspection trip as soon as
possible, but said he didn't think
too much of the idea because it
sounded like the basement room
would be just another jail cell.
What Can Be Done
The question remains what
nearby Virginia can do to offer
victims of mental disease the
treatment they deserve.
Alexandria City Sergt. Mo
riarty believes the situation
might be improved if the State
gave blanket permission for lo
cal sergeants or sheriffs to trans
port mental patients to institu
tions immediately without wait
ing for State ambulances.
He concedes this would not
solve the problem of what to do
with mentally ill people before
they are committed, and agrees
with mast other officials in the
area that a psychiatric haspital
ward offers the best solution.
Charles M. Goff, new admin
istrator at Alexandria Hospital,
feels care of the mentally ill
patient should be part of the
medical facilities offered in a
community.
“Hospitals located within the
community should co-operate in
every respect to assist in this
obligation of the city,” said Mr,
Goff. “Alexandria Hospital will
be only too happy to participate
in providing adequate facilities
for the diagnosis and treatment
of the mental patients. However
the physical structure of the
hospital at this time does not
■lend itself to the establishment
of a psychiatric department. Any
program of expansion should
i necessarily include a study of
the community need, and ways
lof meeting this need, in relation
to this type of patient.”
Mr. Anderson, administrator
at Arlington, has similar senti
ments.
1 “To take care of mental cases
m f BB
ft I . BEft
a . yB
I Ajm
I v 188
■ l
'
' WS
in SB
SCENE OF A COMMITMENT —A sanity commission once was held in the
back of an ambulance for a violently disturbed mental patient. He was hauled
around for six hours before commitment.
there should be facilities specif!- 1 !
cally designed for this purpose,”j<
said Mr. Anderson. “There is a'<
great need for some sort of
mental facility In Nothern Vir- 1
ginia. Naturally, since I am in
terested in Arlington Hospital.
I would be glad to have such a
facility either for the county or -
for the Northern Virginia re
gion located in Arlington Hos- :
pital.
"On the other hand, if such a
regional facility could be estab
lished at Alexandria Hospital or
elsewhere in the area that would
be a fine thing. I want to bd
frank in stating, however, that
I regard—and the staff and
medical society agree with this \
—our greatestaieed at Arlington
Hospital at the moment to be a
contagious-disease ward.”
Since administrators of both
Arlington and Alexandria Hos
pital appear ready to welcome:]
establishment of a psychiatric
ward, it seems unimportant!
vhether one is located at Alex- 1
andria, Arlington—or perhaps at”
the proposed new Fairfax County
hospital.
The real problem is how to::
finance such a facility. There isii
an unoccupied clinic building be-1 1
rr the music box
A COMPLETE RECORD SHOP l____
Victor • Columbia • Capitol • London
Mercury • Decca • Angel and Most All Other
Labels • Classical, Popular, Jazz
THE MUSIC BOX POES |T AGAIN!
CgiOO *
Thi* We Believe
Complete Catalogue ■ AUUECT
5,000 Series original fcVlIMi
Including All New ■ list price DDI£B
Releases— $c.95
All 12” Long Play Hi D in America
427 10th St. H.W. SAVE T,ME AND MONEY n*. 8-2515
Corner E St. BUY IT AT THE MUSIC BOX j OPEN 9to 9 I
.
hind Alexandria Hospital, but
:even that would require a lot
of money for remodeling.
Hill-Burton funds might be
tapped for additions at either
hospital—including a psychiatric
ward. Matching funds still must
be raised in the locality. The
State has Its hands full improv
ing existing mental hospitals,
and has no plans to help finance
psychiatric wards at general hos
pitals for treating patients be
fore they are committed to State
institutions. Since patients are
by law a State responsibility
once they are committed, the
State might see fit to pay for
their care in a psychiatric ward
while awaiting transportation to
a mental hospital—but money
for initial construction is some
thing the State prefers to leave
up to the localities.
When officials of the various
| jurisdictions approach the prob
lem jointly, the financial prob
lems and other difficulties may
never be solved. They have done
it on other occasions—for the
!juvenile detention home about
to be built, the home for the
aged near Manassas, and the
i Alexandria-Fairfax sewer system
now under construction. Why
:nol again for the sake of the
'mentally sick?
Mental Care
Is Vote Issue
Improving care of mental pa
, tients has been a favorite Issue
iof Northern Virginia politicians
for at least a decade.
But their efforts have been
directed at State mental hos
pitals, and little thought has
'been given to care of the men
tally sick before they get to the
asylums.
Undeniably the lawmakers
ifrom Northern Virginia have
done much to raise standards at
j State mental hospitals.
“Not Treatment”
j State Senator Charles R. Fen
jwick of Arlington three years
ago showed slides of conditions
at State mental hospitals to the
State Hospital Board. He com
mented: "This is not treatment
—it is merely confinement.”
George Damm, former mem
ber of the House of Delegates
Ifrom Arlington, told the North
-jern Virginia Mental Hygiene So
briety in 1953 that “Virginia
should appropriate *2.50 a day
[ per patient for its mental hos
jpitals, $500,000 for more and
t better clinics and sls million
r for additional new hospital build
; mgs”
t “Too Little Too Late”
„ Omer L. Hirst, member of the
House of Delegates from Fairfax
" County, earlier this year called
-. the State’s approach to care of
e mental patients "too little and
. too late.”
And so the comments have
poured forth from practically
e every office seeker—successful
e and otherwise —for many years.
y
Senator Fenwick acknowl
r edged that little, If anything,
had been done to take care of
mental patients, locally, before
compnitment to State institu
tions.
e “Something Needed”
"Certainly something is need
s ed,” he said. "I have talked to
- Dr. Barrett (Dr. Joseph Barrett.
- State commissioner of mental
f health) a number of times
; about this problem. But the
• State's attention is focused on
t improving existing facilities.”
• He said he believed the local
p hospitals eventually would have
l' to provide a ward for mental
v cases, and suggested that the
» program should be financed
regionally.