July 20, 2009 issue
Amish place of rest
Psychiatric center in Goshen honors advocate for Amish
By Emily Dougherty For Mennonite Weekly ReviewGOSHEN, Ind. — Sam Bontrager became interested in people’s behavior and emotional stability while working at his family’s plumbing, heating and electric business.
From left, Sam Bontrager of Goshen, Ind., speaks upon accepting a plaque at a dinner June 25 at Oaklawn Psychiatric Center honoring his contribution to creating mental health programs for the Amish while Lee Hochstetler, therapist for the Amish until 2004, listens. — Photo by Emily Dougherty/MWR
“My interest was in why one customer would act one way and the other would act another way,” said Bontrager, a member of Woodlawn Amish Mennonite Church.
That interest contributed to Bontrager serving Oaklawn Psychiatric Center for 41 years as an advocate for the Amish, helping them connect with treatment for mental health and addiction problems.
Amish community members joined with staff and physicians to honor Bontrager at a dinner June 25 at Oaklawn.
Bontrager joined the board of directors for Oaklawn Psychiatric Center in 1968 after selling his family business.
At Oaklawn, Bontrager and others noticed the discomfort when Amish patients were intermixed with people from the community in therapy sessions.
Lee Hochstetler, a therapist who began working as Oaklawn’s chaplain in 1989, described the kind of situation that sparked the vision for the program.
“I watched a session with seven people coming off of hard drugs and one Amish old woman,” he said. “I thought, ‘We’ve got to have something different or better.’ ”
According to Chet Peachey, then vice president of patient care services, Oaklawn conducted awareness meetings across the county, speaking in Pennsylvania Dutch to the different Amish communities.
“This was pretty important for us in getting the program started,” Peachey said.
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