Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital

Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital is location in Vekllei.

Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital, often Bethlehem Hospital or just Bethlehem, is a medical facility that caters to convalescing patients suffering from psychiatric disorders in Vekllei as an autonomous corporation of the Bureau of Public Health. It is located in the republic of Paria on Scallop Island, which is dedicated solely to the hospital and its extensive grounds. It was first established there in 1904 as a leper hospital, but became a ruin after its closure in 1968. It was renovated and reestablished by the Commonwealth Government in 2021 to serve as a voluntary hospital dedicated to extended recovery. A healthy wood of pines and eucalypts covers most of its interior, and the island is famous for its beaches of white sand. The pleasant grounds and weather are supposed to ease mental anguish and provide a calmer environment for recovery among its patients.

The hospital maintains a grounds across the entire island, which covers about 16,000 acres. Most of its facilities are concentrated in its south and south-east, with the remainder dedicated to woodland and some agriculture. The hospital campus is divided into sections depending on risk and the level of psychiatric care required, and includes a number of constituent facilities and clinical asylums.

Constituent Asylums & Facilities of Bethlehem Psychiatric Hospital

• Pinel Asylum

• Roman Asylum

• Corpus Christie Psychiatric Hospital

• Federation Sanitorium

• Mother Mary of Bethlehem Chapel

• Palace Baths & Pools

• Dominican & Parian Gardens

• Pearl Woods

• Eucalypt Forest

• The Orchards

• Various food gardens and farmland

• Tennis Courts, Oval & Cricket Pitch

• Gymnasium for indoor sports and athletics

• Secure Beach

• Reddy Acre Dock & Processing Facility

• Bethlehem Airfield

The physical appearance of the hospital is much like a resort, with central towers in its south with accomodation and medical wards, tennis courts, gardens, beaches and a chapel. The main campus area covers around 300 acres. The rest of the island is covered by woodland and orchards that are criss-crossed with paths and boardwalks, which are accessible to certain patients and staff. The island produces much of its own food, grown in gardens and farmland around the main campus. A lot of sculpture is created in therapy there, examples of which can be found all over the island.

Bethlehem is a voluntary hospital, and patients must elect to transfer to it. Medical psychiatry in Vekllei is typically performed locally, and involuntary psychiatric holds are actioned in hospitals or dedicated facilities. As such, patients of Bethlehem must be well enough to consent to transfer. The purpose of Bethlehem is to serve as a place of escape for the mentally unwell, and to aid recovery through convalescence and physical seperation from contributing ailments. Many of its patients suffer from depression, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, eating disorders or schizophrenia among others.

Despite its physical isolation, the hospital is well-connected to the Vekllei medical system and is inspected regularly. Standards of staff are high – perhaps the highest in the Vekllei psychiatric system – and the employment of former patients is common practice. It is thought former patients are better equipped to empathise with and manage psychiatric disorders, and they make up about half of nurses on the island. There are about 6,000 patients on the island, most of whom are admitted for periods between three and sixteen months.