Service of Thanksgiving marks closure of Longstone Hospital
20/06/2014
The recent Service of Thanksgiving to mark the 39 years of care and treatment provided at Longstone Hospital was led by chaplains Rev Denis Maguire, Father Peter McAnenly, Canon John McKegney and Rev Ivan Thompson.
Roberta Brownlee, Chair of the Southern Trust, recounted the history of the hospital and the contribution made by medical, nursing and support staff from 1975.
“The closure of Longstone Hospital is a bittersweet day for the Armagh area. But it’s important to remember the medical, nursing and support staff who provided care and treatment, the patients who were cared for at the hospital, the patients’ families and friends, the management involved in overseeing the hospital, and the community and voluntary groups connected to Longstone over five decades.
“Once home to 250 patients, the long-stay patients from Longstone Hospital have been resettled into the community and the Assessment and Treatment Unit transferred to the Bluestone Unit at Craigavon Area Hospital this month.”
Dr Joan McGuinness, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director for Learning Disability; Angela Cullen, Ward Sister at the Assessment and Treatment Unit; a hospital patient; and Mickey McAree, Clinical Services Manager also participated in the service.
Dorsy Unit, the Trust’s new 10-bed Adult Learning Disability Assessment and Treatment Unit, on the Bluestone site at Craigavon Area Hospital opened earlier this month.
Photo
Rev Ivan Thompson, Dr David Dorman, Roberta Brownlee, Deirdre Dorman and Canon John McKegney at the Service of Thanksgiving. Missing from the photograph are Rev Denis Maguire and Father Peter McAnenly.