History of Linstead Hospital

THE GENESIS of Linstead Hospital goes back more than 100 years. The vestry minutes at the National Archives, as well as The Gleaner’s archives, and the National Library as researched by Rev Noel Hann provided much needed information to piece together the history of the institution.

On November 24, 1852, a committee recommended that a private tenement (the Cottage) be rented for the purpose of a hospital for £35.00 per annum.

At that time, there were itinerant doctors who travelled the country tending to the sick and sometimes performing autopsies.

On January 5, 1853, it was ordered that Dr Charles Bruckenridge, one of the t ravelling doctors, be paid a s alary retroactively as medical attendant to the Parochial Hospital

(Linstead) for the period up to December 28, 1852. On January 31, 1853, Dr Bruckenridge was appointed Parochial Surgeon.

In March 1854, a committee appointed to enquire into the state of the Parochial Hospital formed the opinion that the house at Linstead, occupied as the parochial hospital, was unfit for that purpose.

The committee recommended that the land belonging to the parish at Rodney Hall be considered for use as a hospital. It was suggested that labour for the construction could come from convicts in the district prison. It was further recommended that the hospital should have an out office for reception and a plan for further expansion.

On October 12, 1855, John McPhail recommended the purchase of freehold land for £100 to build a new hospital.

In 1857, a committee was formed to look at how the hospital was being managed, and on April 7, 1858, it was ordered that a draft for £60 be made in favour of the chairman of the Hospital Committee to purchase lands on the Rodney Hall Parish Lands.

The Vestry Minutes of January 14, 1859, mentions the completion of the hospital and that “the new hospital shows it to be a very creditable building”.

On April 5, 1859, the chairman of the hospital committee, John Hall reported that the kitchen and privy (out house) would be completed in four weeks.

The minutes of April 1859 also indicated that Matron Martin would received salary of £15 per quarter and Surgeon William B. Allan £50 per quarter.

APPROVAL

Things appear to have gone well for a while as the only mention made in the minutes concerning the hospital after 1859 was April 6, 1884. Here, approval was given for the construction of a 15,000 gallon water tank.

In 1905, an order was given for the closure of the hospital, which was not received well by the district. A petition signed by approximately 700 persons was sent to the governor for the decision to be reconsidered. The petition was rejected by the governor, who cited that the hospital was not viable based on the small number of persons that accessed the facility.

According to The Gleaner, the hospital remained closed until May 1911 when it was reopened. For the reopening, the building was repainted and considered to be in fine order.

Up to 1955, there were minor modifications to the buildings, and the hospital became known for its tuberculosis ward as it had been a treatment centre for tuberculosis cases prior to the construction of the King George V Jubilee Memorial Sanatorium, now the National Chest Hospital.

On February 1, 1936, the operating theatre, which was being erected at the hospital, was now completed and The Gleaner describes it as a very imposing structure.

On December 13, 1955, the Ministry of Health allocated £30,000 for capital improvements at the Linstead Hospital. This was for a new outpatients and administrative block, kitchen equipment, and for building two quarters, one for the resident matron and the other for the assistant medical officer. This sum would also cover extension of the operating theatre and improvements to sanitary conveniences.

The opening of the Alumina Partners of Canada Bauxite Company (Alcan) Ward took place on February 23, 1968. The cost of construction was £15,000, with Alcan donating £12,600. The building constructed by the Public Works Department. It consisted of six air-conditioned rooms intended for private patients.

HOSPITAL FEES FOR THE PUBLIC

Then Minister of Health Hon Dr Herbert Eldemire, who was the special guest at the opening ceremony, announced that hospital fees for the public would come into effect on April 1,1968.

In 1985, discussions were held pertaining to the closure of the hospital, however, then Minister of Health Dr Kenneth Baugh explained that while some hospitals would be decodified and modified, none would be closed.

In 1999, the Health Sector Pay Review Committee recommended that Type C hospitals such as Linstead be downgraded, providing limited services.

Over the years, the hospital has benefitted significantly from the various community groups and individuals. These include the Lions, Rotary and Soroptimist clubs, church groups, friends of the hospital, Linstead CDC, and the Linstead Hospital Restorative Committee, which was renamed Linstead Hospital Redevelopment Committee.

The hospital serves the parishes of St Ann, St Andrew, St Mary, Clarendon and St Catherine, with a patient load of approximately 30,000 persons per annum.

The Linstead Hospital Restorative/Redevelopment Committee was created with the primary focus of restoring the Linstead Hospital to its former glory.

REV. NOEL HANN Deputy Chairman of the Redevelopment Committee