# Who was Sister Ignatia, and what part did St. Thomas Hospital play?

**In short:**
- Sister Ignatia was a nun of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine who worked in the admitting office of St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio. Starting around 1939–40, she and Dr. Bob admitted alcoholics there for treatment, the first religious hospital to take A.A. prospects on a regular basis.
- In the St. Thomas ward a newcomer was treated medically and visited by A.A. members, and Dr. Bob saw the patients without charge. By the time he died in 1950, the sources say about 5,000 alcoholics had passed through.
- Today's Big Book calls her "one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know" (p. 171). That line is in the introduction to Dr. Bob's story, written after 1950; the 1939 text doesn't mention her.
- She later ran an alcoholic ward at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland. Our later printing of *A.A. Comes of Age* says she died in 1966.

## What the Big Book says

The 1939 Big Book doesn't mention Sister Ignatia or St. Thomas Hospital. The introduction to "Doctor Bob's Nightmare" in today's edition, written after his death in 1950, says that he carried the message to more than 5,000 alcoholics and gave his medical services "without thought of charge" (p. 171), and that "In this prodigy of service, he was well assisted by Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, Ohio" (p. 171), "one of the greatest friends our Fellowship will ever know" (p. 171).

## The co-founders' own words (1948, 1969)

- **Dr. Bob, 1948** (his last major talk, in P-53): "The ward theoretically accommodates seven alcoholics, but the good Sister Ignatia sees that it's stretched a little bit." (P-53). Whenever he caught himself thinking he could take a drink, he said, he knew he had been neglecting "the boys in the ward" (P-53).
- **Bill W., 1969** (his last major talk, in P-53): "Between 1940 and 1950, in the company of that marvelous nun, Sister Ignatia, he had treated 5,000 drunks at St. Thomas Hospital in Akron." (P-53).
- **P-53's sketch of Dr. Bob** (pamphlet © 2017) says he first met Sister Ignatia at St. Thomas in 1928, became associated with the hospital in 1934 and joined its active staff in 1943 (P-53).

## Bill's account (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957; P-44)

Bill calls St. Thomas "the first religious hospital to receive prospective members of A.A. for treatment on a regular basis" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). He tells how, when Dr. Bob asked for a private room for his first patient, Sister Ignatia said: "Doctor, we do not have any beds, much less private rooms, but I will do what I can." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957), and put the man in the hospital's flower room (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). "From 1939 to the time Dr. Bob took his leave of us in 1950, over 5,000 had thus been treated." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957).

In April 1950, Ohio members placed a plaque in the alcoholic ward, written by Bill, honoring the Sisters and staff; it calls Akron the birthplace of A.A. and St. Thomas the first religious institution to open its door to the society (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). "Characteristically, Sister Ignatia would not let her name appear on the inscription." (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). By 1957, Bill writes, she was working at St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland, in a ward called Rosary Hall (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957).

P-44 (Bill, describing events through 1955) says the St. Thomas ward "had ministered to five thousand alcoholics by the time Doctor Bob passed away in 1950" (P-44), and that this hospital and Knickerbocker Hospital in New York were where "the best techniques of combined medicine and A.A. were worked out" (P-44).

## The ward (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980)

*Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers* says Dr. Bob met Sister Ignatia in 1928, when she worked in the admitting office (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). When another hospital told him to take his alcoholic patients elsewhere, he came to her; she was wary, having once been scolded for admitting a man in the D.T.'s: "I was fearful to admit an alcoholic" (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). She agreed, used the flower room, and "This was in August 1939." (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). The book says that "between that day and the time he died 4,800 alcoholics were admitted into St. Thomas under his care" (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980).

It describes how the ward worked: a priest she sent to look into A.A. reported well of it; the ward grew to eight beds; patients saw only A.A. visitors, often fifteen a day; a man could be admitted only once; and Dr. Bob visited daily without pay until his health failed (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). "In 1952, Sister Ignatia was transferred from St. Thomas to administer the alcoholic ward at St. Vincent's Charity Hospital in Cleveland" (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). A footnote in our later printing of *A.A. Comes of Age* says: "Sister Ignatia died in 1966" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957).

## Where the sources differ
- **When it started.** *Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers* (1980) says August 1939 . Bill (1957) says "From 1939" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957), but in the same passage calls 1950 "ten years after the start of Dr. Bob's and Sister Ignatia's pioneering" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957). In 1969 he said "Between 1940 and 1950" (P-53).
- **How many.** About 5,000 (p. 171; P-53; P-44); "over 5,000" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957); "several thousand alcoholics by the time of Dr. Bob's death in 1950" (A.A. Comes of Age, 1957); 4,800 admitted under his care (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980). The 1939 Big Book gives no figure, since the ward hadn't begun.
- **Treated, or recovered.** Most sources say treated or admitted; P-53's sketch says he "guided some 5,000 fellow alcoholics to recovery" (P-53). Our sources don't say how many of those treated stayed sober.

## Read it yourself
- "Doctor Bob's Nightmare" and its introduction (pp. 171–181), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_personalstories_partI.pdf
- P-53, *The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous*: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/P-53_0725.pdf
- *A.A. Comes of Age* and *Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers* are sold by A.A. World Services: https://onlineliterature.aa.org
- Related: *Who was Dr. Bob?* · *When did Dr. Bob die, and what were his last words to A.A.?* · *Does the Big Book endorse treatment centres?*

## Sources
| Source | Pages | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to "Doctor Bob's Nightmare" | 171 | written after 1950 |
| P-53, Dr. Bob's last major talk; Bill W.'s last major talk; biographical sketch | — | December 1948; October 1969; pamphlet © 2017 |
| P-44, *A.A.'s Legacy of Service* (Bill W.) | — | describes events through 1955; pamphlet © 2018 |
| *A.A. Comes of Age* | (footnote, later printing), 108 | 1957 |
| *Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers* | — | 1980 |

Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001).
*Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book, P-44, P-53,* A.A. Comes of Age *and* Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers *are © A.A. World Services, Inc.; Dr. Bob's 1948 talk in P-53 is © AA Grapevine, Inc.*