Summa Health’s commitment to behavioral health is long-standing, including our contribution to addiction treatment. We are proud of our legacy expressed through the contributions of Dr. Bob Smith and Sister Ignatia. With limited resources, a visionary nun who had emigrated from Ireland and a physician from Summa Health’s former St. Thomas Hospital together created the first hospital-based unit in the country dedicated to the treatment of alcoholism. It was not an easy journey for Sister Mary Ignatia, C.S.A, hospital registrar at St. Thomas Hospital and Dr. Robert H. Smith (Dr. Bob), co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) along with Bill Wilson. Alcoholism wasn’t yet recognized as a disease, and those suffering from it were thought to lack willpower or morals.

 

Sister Ignatia’s compassion, along with Dr. Bob’s fortitude, prompted the duo to admit a patient who desperately needed help from his addiction to alcohol. Sister Ignatia put the patient in the only available room she had, the flower room, where flowers were stored for patients.  As more patients were admitted, Dr. Bob took care of their physical needs, while Sister Ignatia, known as the “Angel of Alcoholics Anonymous,” and members of AA took care of the individual’s spiritual and emotional needs.

 

It was Sister Ignatia who introduced the custom of giving tokens to recovering alcoholics to mark their sobriety—she gave patients in the alcoholic ward a Sacred Heart scapular to remind them of their commitment not to drink, and asked them to return it to her before they took a drink.

 

Since those early days, the Summa Health Behavioral Health Institute has evolved into a regional mental health leader expanding to meet the continuing needs of the community. Just like those early days with Sister Ignatia and Dr. Bob, Summa Health remains committed to offering the care and support to help people survive, adapt and gather new hope and possibilities in their lives.

 

For more than eight decades, Summa Health has been committed to engaging people in the treatment of alcohol and other substance use disorders and improving the care offered. We have a rich history of offering the full spectrum of behavioral health care for the community, and we are unwavering in this commitment. 

 

In January 2023, we took the next step in the future of behavioral health care and opened the Juve Family Behavioral Health Pavilion. Learn more about this facility or take a virtual tour.

 

 At Summa Health, we truly honor our history and respect the traditions born here.