Design

In 1844 members of the trustee board sent Dr. Bell to examine the mental hospitals in Europe to determine what should be included in their ideal hospital. After months of research, Dr. Bell decided to model Butler Hospital after English and Scotch asylums. Dr. Bell found that the older hospitals were in the heart of cities, were fenced in, seldom had open space for recreational purposes and the floor plans allowed for little light, ventilation or space for the patients to live in. In contrast, he learned that the new hospitals in England and Scotland were in the countryside, had scenic plots of land, and spacious floor plans that took into consideration the needs of the patients. He designed a plan for the new Providence hospital that took the best features from the European Hospitals and submitted it to the Board and the hospitals architects, Messrs, Tallman and Bucklin.