Rosary Hall celebrates 60th anniversary

Leaders from the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, Sisters of Charity Health System and St. Vincent Charity Medical Center recently welcomed the greater Cleveland community to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of Rosary Hall at an event at Windows on the River.

At the event, organizers showed the following video about Rosary Hall, where patients and their families find the road to freedom from addiction through a recovery process that is compassionate, comprehensive and one of the best in the country.

Rosary Hall was founded by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in 1952 and has provided continuous care, treatment and hope to alcoholic and drug dependent adult men and women ever since.

One of the nation’s first hospital-based treatment programs, Rosary Hall is unique because it is located within an acute-care hospital, meaning medical issues such as heart disease, intestinal problems, hypertension, diabetes and liver problems can also be treated while addressing addiction. Rosary Hall provides services to clients from all socio-economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Sister Ignatia Gavin of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, who was building her own ministry to help alcoholics at Akron’s St. Thomas Hospital, worked closely with Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA is deeply connected to Rosary Hall. Sister Ignatia moved her ministry to St. Vincent Charity, where she opened the new 17-bed center in December 1952, naming it to commemorate the day permission was given to begin the project—the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.

Rosary Hall quickly built an annual caseload of more than 1,000 patients by balancing spiritual health with the tenants of AA. At the time of Sister Ignatia’s death in 1966, Rosary Hall was considered one of the finest treatment centers in the country. Its legacy of compassionate care and innovation has continued for 60 years.

Today, Rosary Hall includes a 17-bed inpatient detoxification unit, medication-assisted treatment, intensive outpatient program, individualized counseling, after-care, family program, and case-managed transition into community and support networks. Annually, it treats about 1,500 patients through its detoxification and intensive outpatient program.

Rosary Hall is part of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. It continues to host an AA meeting every Friday at 6 p.m.