When St. Vincent Charity Medical Center announced last year it would no longer offer inpatient services, it was big news, especially in the Central community, where the hospital began in 1865. 

Many in the neighborhood were confused about what the closure meant for their healthcare options. 

Our health reporter, Candice Wilder, and I visited the campus – now called St. Vincent Charity Community Health Center – earlier this year to take a tour and learn more about what kind of care the community can expect moving forward. 

I recently checked in with the Sisters of Charity organization, which runs the health center. Spokesperson Mary Rose Sullivan told Signal Cleveland via email that the campus “continues to offer outpatient primary medical care, urgent care services, outpatient behavioral health care, Rosary Hall (addiction medicine), crisis and recovery services, psychiatric emergency services and occupational health services.”

Sullivan said that, as the organization continues to evaluate its path forward for the St. Vincent campus they are doing more to address food insecurity.  

“Under the leadership of Sr. Miriam Erb, CSA, Mission Kitchen is expanding, she wrote, providing meals from the St. Vincent campus, for the Friendly Inn and soon will serve hot meals at the Men’s Shelter at 2100 Lakeside,” 

I also reached out to community members to see how the changes have affected them.

Still walking to the pharmacy 

Sandra Johnson is a lifelong Central resident who said she went to St. Vincent’s to get treatment for her overactive thyroid. She lives so close to the campus that she would often walk to her appointments. 

“They would check my blood  sugar levels, my cholesterol too,” Johnson said. “Then I would go down the hall and get my prescription from the pharmacy. It was a one-stop shop, and I really loved that.”

She now sees doctors at MetroHealth Medical Center. Johnson feels inconvenienced in many ways. Not only is it harder for her to get to the West 25th Street hospital, but she said she misses the treatment she received at St. Vincent. Some days, MetroHealth doesn’t offer her as much. 

“I used to be able to go to St. Vincent whenever I wasn’t feeling well and get my thyroid checked every day,” Johnson said. “At Metro, I thought they were gonna be able to do that too, but it hasn’t always been that way.”

When asked if she still utilizes any services at St. Vincent, she said she uses the pharmacy, but will be looking to change that soon.

“I have two prescriptions left to be filled at St. Vincent,” she said. “After that, I don’t know what my plans will be. I want somewhere where I can get everything taken care of all at once, so I’ll be on the lookout.”

‘Cleveland is losing a very good place’ 

Charles Dicks lived in Central for 66 years. Struggles with arthritis changed that. Dicks currently lives in Warrensville Heights.

He utilized the inpatient care that St. Vincent offered to have hip replacement surgery, and he described it as one of the best hospital experiences in his life. He’d had a few.

“I had to have both of my hips replaced in 2020 and 2021,” Dicks said. “I ended up having to move here [Warrensville] because I needed a place that had an elevator. I couldn’t walk up the stairs anymore.”

When Dicks heard that St. Vincent would no longer be offering inpatient care, he was disappointed for the people still living in the area. 

“In 2020, I stayed there for five days, and in 2021, I was there for three days,” he said. “I did my rehab there. There’s really no other good hospital down the way, in the inner city. I thought to myself, Cleveland is losing a very good place.”

Since Dicks currently lives in Warrensville Heights, he currently travels to University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center to get his medical needs met. He said if St Vincent’s were to return to inpatient care, he would absolutely go back. 

“The doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists all came and talked with me every day,” Dicks said. “Usually, other places will send a nursing assistant or someone who is still learning to come see you. At St. Vincent, the doctor actually came and talked with me about how I’m doing and what was going on with my health. I appreciated that.”

Misses the people, misses the convenience 

Cheryl Mullins is a Collinwood resident who said she frequently went to St. Vincent’s for treatment for diabetes. It worked with her schedule – she attends daily services at Faith Baptist Community on East 55th Street.

“I was going there for treatment for a good five or six years, if not longer,” Mullins said. “I would take the paratransit to my appointments, and it was just super convenient for me.”

She currently gets her medical care at the Cleveland Clinic. Overall, she is satisfied with the care she is receiving. But she still misses St. Vincent.

“You get used to the people and the environment when you go somewhere for so long.” Mullins said. “It can just be somewhat of an uncomfortable switch.”