A Hospital By Any Other Name...

Royal Gazette Opinion, Thursday 19 May 2005

Last Thursday, St. Brendan’s Hospital was renamed the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.

It was a stroke of genius. For years, people have struggled to find a way to remove the stigma of mental illness. Governments and mental health professionals have tried to educate us while celebrity sufferers have used their fame to raise the issue’s profile. Despite their efforts, the stigma has persisted. So congratulations to the Bermuda Hospitals Board who realised that all that was needed was a new sign and a lick of paint.

No longer will people snicker at the mention of the place on the hill. No longer will they associate it with nutters, wackos and the irredeemably mad. It’s no longer a hospital, where sick people go to get better. Now it’s an institute: Bermuda’s newest higher education facility, whose students may one day graduate with degrees in wellness, first or second class. Wow, what a great place. Where do I enrol?

The Bermuda Hospitals Board’s initiative isn’t the first of its kind, however. The Department of Corrections got its name in 2002 when the then Labour and Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister renamed HM Prisons. The old name was thought to give undue emphasis to the punitive nature of a system which was in fact about “rehabilitation and restorative justice”. Prisons were to be called “correctional facilities” instead.

Mr. Lister had it spot on. The inmates may only have themselves to blame for their incarceration, but that’s no reason for us to make them feel like they’re being punished. They need to understand that we just want to help them fix their errant behaviour. Heaven forbid that they think we’re being vengeful. That could do them some psychological damage, and the last thing we’d want is for them to end up at St. Brendan’s. I mean, the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.

Even the schools have realised the power of a new name to make previously intractable problems just melt away. A couple of weeks ago, the Department of Education said it’s considering changing the names of Clearwater, Dellwood and Spice Valley Middle Schools. And who can blame them? I can’t think of a better way to improve efficiency or boost their students’ test scores than renaming those schools after our local heroes.

But why stop there?

The King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is such an unfriendly-sounding place, evoking images of gloomy, echoing corridors patrolled by stern, Edwardian nurses. It sounds like the kind of place you’d find in a Stephen King novel.

So how about calling it the Johnny Barnes Health Hotel instead? We get rid of any connotation of sickness implicit in “hospital”, lose the reminder of mortality in “memorial” and honour a local hero at the same time. It would put you in mind of a Disneyworld resort hotel. You’d almost look forward to visiting.

We could use the same technique to fight crime. In recent months, Bermuda has seen a rise in vigilante justice. Cases have collapsed as a result of witnesses being unwilling to co-operate with the Bermuda Police Service. But so far the politicians have been unable to figure out how to address the stigma attached to involving the police in gang disputes.

Easy. Instead of the starchy-sounding “Bermuda Police Service”, call them the “Headquarters Hill Posse”. Toss out those intimidating uniforms and shiny black shoes and start issuing baggy pants, Nikes and some chunky gold jewellery instead. Swap the squad car for a set of wheels with blacked out windows, some flashy rims, and a subwoofer. You could even paint the police HQ a different colour. I hear turquoise is popular right now.

Naysayers may cite the “New United Bermuda Party” as an example of how more than a simple name-change is required to eliminate long-held prejudice. They would be wrong. The “New UBP” made a critical mistake: they retained their old name as part of their new identity. Had they called themselves the “Phoenix Alliance” instead, no-one would have had a clue that they had anything to do with the old UBP. Poor dears. They must be kicking themselves.

The Bermuda Hospitals Board may not have been the first to realise that you can eliminate a problem by a change of nomenclature. But they’ve provided us with a timely reminder of the power of the technique. In honour of their achievement, I think they should be gifted with a new name of their own.

The Bermuda Euphemism Board, perhaps?

Comments

[terry on 19.05.05 at 09:43]

The UBP should rename itself 'The Back Seat Boys', or switch the letters around to PUB,(no smoking of course). And Mr. Wolfy could call himself 'roaring fur'.

Terry.

[Referendummy on 19.05.05 at 12:49]

I prefer it's original name; "Parliament".

No, wait...

[jake on 19.05.05 at 14:23]

There is a world of evidence that says there is value in a name.

Coke attributes billions of dollars to its brand and will fight anyone who challenges it.

Black & Decker, long considered a residential brand changed the name on its line of professional tools to DeWalt, along with an industrial yellow and black. They are now the top selling tools on the market for professionals.

With the stigma that St. Brendan's has carried for so long a part of our national dialogue, it is a welcome step that the care professionals have taken to combat this view.

Wellness as a concept is also welcome. Mental illness is often treatable, but stigma keeps those in need from getting help.

I wish them good luck.

[crow on 19.05.05 at 14:28]

"I wish them good luck."

We're all wishing you the best as well, jake....don't fall, it's a steep hill.

[Referendummy on 19.05.05 at 14:40]

But "Mid-Atlantic Wellness Centre" sounds more like a bar, or workman's club. The name's just plain nonsensical and smacks of the touchy-feely squishiness of the 90's political correctness...

[William S on 19.05.05 at 16:25]

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."

[Onion on 19.05.05 at 16:27]

I just hope people don't get confused with Mid-Atlantic Boat Club on North Shore. If the taxi driver doesn't hear you right you may end up at the wrong venue. Or maybe the right venue.

[Tiger Bay on 20.05.05 at 08:23]

MOre in this vein from the UN: "Political education on decolonization must begin with the deliberate de-shrouding of concepts and definitions. In recent decades, the language used to describe the colonial reality had been mystified, so that being referred to as Overseas Territories instead of colonies or dependent Territories removed the colonial reality from the minds of the colonized."

Damn that colonial reality. It seriously messes up my Mid-Atlantic Wellness.

[Adjustah on 20.05.05 at 11:29]

Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute Schizophrenic Convention - Anybody who's everybody will be there...

[Egs on 20.05.05 at 17:36]

The acronym MAWI could be pronounced as Maui, the Hawaiian Island. So one who is sent there could just say I'm going to Maui, and no one will ever have to know... kind of.
And as a former resident (of Bermuda, not the hospital) I'd love to send my mother to MAWI. To bad I don't have power of attorney yet.