Summa Health is building a new behavioral health facility on the Akron City Hospital campus.
The $60 million project will allow for inpatient and outpatient care to take place under one roof, but it will also be the end an era at St. Thomas.
St. Thomas hospital and its Ignatia Hall was the first hospital in the country dedicated to treating alcoholism. Under this plan St. Thomas will be vacated but the services provided there, including psychiatry and addiction medicine, will move to the new facility.
The head of Summa’s Akron and St. Thomas campuses, David Custodio, says the history won’t be lost.
“St. Thomas obviously has been an intergral part of the community and the care that’s been delivered there through AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] and Ignatia Hall, we will continue to honor and pay homage to the heritage of that,” Custodio said.
He also adds no decisions have been made about the future of the St. Thomas campus, but Summa plans to break ground on the new facility next summer with completion targeted for 2022.
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