Summa St. Thomas Hospital

Summa St. Thomas Hospital was a former orthopedic and psychiatric hospital located in Akron, Ohio. The hospital opened in 1922 and was originally operated by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine as a non-denominational, non-profit general hospital. In 1989, St. Thomas Hospital merged with Akron City Hospital to become Summa Health System. The emergency room was closed in 2014, and the hospital was closed in 2023.

Summa St. Thomas Hospital
Summa Health System
Geography
Location444 N. Main Street Akron, Ohio, United States
Coordinates41°05′50″N 81°30′49″W
Services
Emergency departmentClosed: 2014
History
Opened1922
Closed2023
Links
Websitewww.summahealth.org/locations/hospitals/stthomas
ListsHospitals in Ohio

History
A Christian chapel at Summa St. Thomas Hospital. It was used by patients, their families, and hospital staff for prayer and worship.

On August 16, 1935, Sister Ignatia Gavin, a Catholic sister in charge of admissions at St. Thomas Hospital, with the help of Dr. Bob Smith, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, admitted the first alcoholic patient under the diagnosis of acute gastritis. This event made St. Thomas Hospital the first hospital in the world to treat alcoholism as a medical condition, and the first religious institution to recognize the rights of alcoholics to receive hospital treatment.[1]

In 2010, Summa Akron City Hospital and St. Thomas Hospitals were awarded nursing's highest honor, Magnet recognition, by American Nurses Credentialing Center. Only six percent of hospitals in the United States are recognized as Magnet hospitals.[2]

In 2014, St. Thomas hospital closed its emergency room and replaced it with a general practitioner, directing their emergency room patients to Akron City's recently opened 100 bed emergency room.

The Summa Health Behavioral Health Institute vacated the St. Thomas building and moved into the nearby 60 bed Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion on the Summa Health System–Akron Campus, which was completed in early 2023. Alcoholics Anonymous artifacts were preserved and moved.[3]

Recognition and honors
  • Was designated as a Magnet Hospital in 2010.[4]
  • Was ranked No. 1 in the Akron metro area for cancer, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, orthopaedics, pulmonology and urology in 2010.[5]

References
  1. "Sister Ignatia Gavin, CSA (1889-1966)". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  2. "Find a Magnet Hospital". American Nurses Credentialing Center. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  3. Lin-Fisher, Betty (12 August 2022). "'Honor the legacy': Summa to Close St. Thomas Chapel with Ties to AA, Relocate Many Items". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  4. "Find Magnet Facility". Nurse Credentialing. Archive
  5. "Strategic Market Research for Pharmaceutical Companies - Health Industries Research Companies (HIRC)". www.hirc.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.