Conditions of Hospital

Crowded conditions of the Pharmacy Room at Medical Center

The town of Petersburg knew about the discrimination that faculty and patients faced all throughout the functioning years of the hospital. The hospital expressed that its mission was "to provide state of the art mental health care and treatment to forensic and civilly committed patients" but many argue this was far from the truth. Patients were kept in conditions such as being fed in their cells, having no sewage system, and being kept in the dark. The hospital continued to have flaws such as overcrowding and inhumane sleeping conditions. By the 1950s, it was said to have 300 patients in one large room. The lack of proper bedding resulted in hundreds of patients sleeping on the floor. This led to sicknesses being spread due to unhealthy living conditions. Pharmacies were overcrowded with medications which made it difficult for the staff to work accordingly with each patient's needs. Although this was the first mental health care facility for African Americans in the country, they were overlooked.

How did employees face discrimination as well?

Transcript of Board Discussing employment 

On April 1857, many matrons seeking work were denied because the board claimed that it was “impossible” to find a black woman that had the proper qualifications. [1] The board wrote transcripts discussing the negative consequences of hiring a non-white matron. They continued to hire white matrons who were willing to work in such conditions. The board unanimously arrived at the conclusion that hiring a black woman would not be practical. It was not until several decades later that they began to consider black matrons at this hospital. More work needs to be done to find the treatment of faculty and patients. There are very few public records of what actually occurred in the facilities. The public is only aware because of first-hand transcripts that were written, but there is a lack of descriptions and records. Records of patients remain private in order to protect individuals and their families as well as respect them.