Gov’t closing Psychiatric Hospital; will provide ‘halfway homes’ for patients with nowhere to go
Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony says the National Psychiatric Hospital at New Amsterdam, Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne) will be closed eventually as the government is keen on providing “modern” services to Guyanese in need of mental health care.
“Over time, the current facilities we have in New Amsterdam, we’ll be closing those facilities,” Dr. Anthony said during his address to a neonatal conference at the weekend.
The facility, according to the Health Minister, was constructed in the mid-1800s. He alluded to the outdated nature of the facility and said the government wants to provide more modern services to people in need.
The government, he also said, is not keen on persons remaining in local mental health facilities for extended periods of time.
In fact, the Health Minister pointed out that the new Mental Health Protection and Promotion law caters for those modern services and specifically states that persons with mental illnesses should not be segregated from society.
According to Article 16(1) of the law, a person with illness shall have the right to live in, be part of, and not be segregated from the community.
Further, it states that a person with mental illness shall “not continue to remain in a mental health facility merely because the person does not have a family or is not accepted by his or her family or is homeless.”
For years, many people have been kept in the New Amsterdam facility because they don’t have anywhere else to go. Last October, Dr. Anthony said more than half of the 200 patients receiving care at that facility can be discharged and receive care from their communities instead but those persons have no home or support system to go back to.
To remedy this, Dr. Anthony said, “we have to find halfway homes for people who have nowhere to go.”
He also noted that people with mental illnesses will be treated when they have acute episodes. Otherwise, they can receive treatment in their communities.
The saying in the olden days, bring them mad people to Berbice Mental Hospital (old name) and put some sense in them heads…. Now, I want to believe, they will be moved to GT where the GoG can knock “better”
sense in them head… Hope it’s not the GPH, god forbid.