St. Brendan?s Hospital is to have a new name. Not only is the new name a symbol of change, we are also recognising that the services provided by the hospital have truly come into the 21st Century in a big way.

St. Brendan?s has already had a colourful face-lift, so it is also no longer ?the pink place on the hill?. When St. Brendan?s Hospital was first opened in 1848 for people with severe mental illnesses or learning disabilities, it was called the ?Lunatic Hospital? or ?Lunatic Asylum?. The term ?asylum? means ?place of safety? and the hospital served its purpose well at that time, although by present day standards, living conditions were Spartan and treatment was extremely limited.

Over the years there have been massive changes. What has changed you may ask? A more educated and understanding Bermudian community, a highly trained, proficient workforce, access to the latest medications, new technology and equipment, as well as appropriate legislation have transformed the mental health facility.

Today, it is a caring centre for individuals of all ages, providing services primarily to people who are able, as a result, to lead relatively normal lives in the community. Our four programmes are Mental Health, Learning Disability, Substance Abuse and Child and Adolescent. Each has a very vibrant outpatient service, which dominates its service time. The people who use the services range from individuals who have anxiety or depression resulting from a crisis at a particular time, to children and adolescents with emotional problems, adults with learning disabilities, individuals with substance use problems and people with more enduring mental illnesses.

The services are not only at the Devonshire base, but also in the satellite clinic at Warwick, on the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital site for the Child and Adolescent service, and in a number of group homes throughout the Island.

In the past, our clients in the group homes would have received care in hospital, but now they can be much more integrated into the community and lead fulfilling lives with a little help from the skilled staff in the homes. The Learning Disability programme has ten group homes, and the Mental Health programme has 12 community homes throughout the community. St. Brendan?s more than meets international standards of healthcare and keeps abreast of the very latest in innovations. With advances in the understanding of mental illness and immense improvements in medication and other therapies, people need not fear mental illness as they used to. Given that one in five of us will at some point in our lives experience mental illness, we need to accept that it is no different from any physical illness we might have, and that no stigma need be attached to a mental illness diagnosis. Increasingly, the work of the staff is to promote wellness and to educate people in all walks of life about healthy living in body and mind. We believe that having a new name is only one step in our efforts to achieving our vision, to be a ?Centre of Excellence?.

The new name will be more reflective of all the services available today, and will enhance our efforts to provide a more holistic approach to healthcare delivery. It will allow us to be more internationally renowned as a first class provider of specialised mental heath care and an ideal centre for education and research.

We have made many steps forward in our efforts to improve mental health care delivery in Bermuda over the years. It is anticipated that once again the Bermuda community will join with us and support this new step, so we can truly move forward together.

Please join us for this historic renaming ceremony tomorrow at 5.30 p.m. at the western side of ?the old St. Brendan?s Hospital?.