"St. Vincent psychiatric ward: Gazette team finds relative calm, order," Montreal Gazette. December 20, 1969. Page 3.
---
By RICHARD NUTBROWN
In a continuing probe by The Gazette into conditions at St. Vincent de Paul penitentiary, a reporter-photographer team has found the psychiatric ward to be relatively calm and well-kept. A visit was made to the ward a day after charges that guards are being "constantly bombarded by sudden deafening outbursts of yells and cries of men clinging to cell bars in the psychiatric ward, screaming to high heaven about their desperate state" were made by Robert Deslauriers, assistant research director for the Publie Alliance of Canada.
The accusations were presented in a brief to an arbitration tribunal in Ottawa by the alliance on behalf of 2.000 prison guards.
Mr. Deslauriers also claimed that the psychiatric ward at St. Vincent de Paul was "awfully dirty."
Dr. Bruno Cormier, head of the prison hospital, told The Gazette the alliance's statements were "completely false" and that he has never heard of or met Mr. Deslauriers.
"Sure there has been some noise at night," he said, "but this is a mental hospital. The last time we had trouble with a patient was in July. Since then it has been very quiet, this I can assure you.
The psychiatric hospital is located in a wing which has been isolated from the rest of the prison, and to which was added a pre-fabricated construction for offices, occupational therapy, nursing-post and treatment rooms.
Psychiatric services first began in 1965 and it was decided then to set up facilities similar to those in the general community, with full hospitalization services, including an out-patient clinic, Dr. Cormier said.
Several inmates, many so troubled they had become psychotic, are alive today because of the hospital, Dr. Cormier said.
Experience in the psychiatric hospital at St. Vincent de Paul has been that most psychotic inmates are not dangerous," he pointed out.
"The difficult offender is not generally found among the psychotic ones, but among those with severe character disorders."
One patient is serving 30 years. When young he decided on an armed forces career but was discharged for psychiatric reasons. He was first convicted in 1960.
He was released in 1968, but four months later was back on the 30-year term. This patient would cut deep gashes into his flesh then burn the open wounds with matches or cigarets. "I suffered so much he told The Gazette.
"Now with a staff of five psychiatrists things are much better, he said. "Before, Dr. Cormier was all alone and I could only see him about once a month.
Another patient is serving his second term. Prior to being placed in the mental hospital, he had seizures and was difficult to deal with
All I had was a loud speaker prison closed-circuit radio)," he said, "and I didn't have anybody to talk with when I got nervous
He is receiving treatment daily and is recovering slowly. He said the food was good but and stopped, looking at the prison official listening to the interview.
In the hospital cell section itself, there is an unpleasant mingled odor of antiseptic and perspiration. The walls, remnants of a 100-year-old former convent, were painted last December.
The windows are very dirty. The bleak light, refracted through the glass and dirt, gives the ward a medieval air.
But the floors are swept daily, and each inmate cleans his own cell. Nothing is spotless, but an attempt is made to keep things clean. The choice and taste of the food is the prisoners main complaint
One inmate in the mental hospital described the food as 35 per cent bad and 75 per cent needing improvement while a disgruntled prison official listened. He also complained that "food delivered to the patients is always cold."
The Gazette's photographer-reporter team tried a sampling of prison food. Both agreed that the soup was good, but neither could figure out what it was. The rest of the meal, hamburger steak, peas and potatoes, was edible not palatable.
Caption:
Prisoner scrubs floor of St. Vincent de Paul psychiatric ward
