Alberta Hospital

My parents spent the majority of their careers at what they refer to as “Alberta Hospital.”  This facility is located in the rural outskirts of Edmonton, Alberta and has experienced the wrath of deinstitutionalization. The facility was originally founded in 1911 and experienced many name changes such as Alberta Mental Hospital, Alberta Hospital for the Insane, Provincial Mental Health Hospital, Ponoka Mental Hospital, and Ponoka Insane Asylum. The wording choice in the facility name alone implies how mental health, illness, and treatment has been stigmatized over the decades. Robinson posits that “society needed protection from people with mental illness by providing care in isolated institutions on the outskirts of town (2010, p. 628). A CBC article references that 246 Alberta Hospital beds were closed and redistributed throughout the Edmonton area in either general hospitals or community services (2009). My dad’s unit remained functional, as he worked on a different, non-geriatric unit, but my mom’s unit was one to experience the closures. She was then relocated to a geriatric psychiatric unit in a different hospital. My parents recall the petitioning, and many clinicians voicing their concerns with cutting beds.

My parents were dedicated registered nurses, both working in geriatric psychiatry (which is where they met in 1983). Collectively, they have spent nearly 50 years dedicated to their careers in this field. Irene spent her career in geriatric psychiatry, and George started in geriatric psychiatry and later went on to adult psychiatry. They are now retired. Throughout this blog, I will make reference to their stories regarding the subject matter – which can be found in Module 3 and Module 5.

References:

• CBC (2009). Hundreds of alberta hospital beds to close. [Online]. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/hundreds-of-alberta-hospital-beds-to-close-1.835401
• Robinson, K. M. (2010) Policy issues in mental health among the elderly. Nursing Clinics. 45 (4) 627 – 634.