Both my grandmother and great-aunt died at Essondale of complications of old age. In the case of my grandmother, she suffered a broken hip at age 87 and didn't survive. I, too, asked the same question when I found out that this hospital was an insane asylum. It was explained to me by a very nice genealogist, that there were other wings in the hospital, and the fact they were patients there did not indicate they were insane. "the provincial mental hospital at Essondale was a large complex with several different divisions. The Valleyview Hospital section was primarily for the elderly and their attendant problems." Hopes this helps, Gerry Perry Henderson, Nevada