The BENJAMIN ROSE HOSPITAL, established in 1953 by the BENJAMIN ROSE INSTITUTE (BRI), advocated for and served the elderly in northeast Ohio until 1968, when UNIV. HOSPITALS OF CLEVELAND purchased it. Under directors Austin B. Chinn, M.D. (1953-60) and Amasa B. Ford, M.D. (1960-68) Benjamin Rose Hospital offered care, research, and instruction which helped redefine old age as a biological and psychosocial function rather than a pathology. The Index of Activities of Daily Living, a widely used geriatric assessment tool developed by BRI's Dr. Sidney Katz (1963), emerged from applied research projects at the Benjamin Rose Hospital. The 63-bed private hospital on Abington Road in UNIV. CIRCLE provided convalescent care and rehabilitation for injured or chronically ill older people. A precursor of late 20th-century long-term care institutions, the hospital implemented innovative, comprehensive treatment plans which crossed the disciplines of medicine, nursing, social work, and occupational, physical, and recreational therapy. Its methodology emphasized independent living and served as a model for geriatric practice. The Benjamin Rose Hospital consistently maintained close ties with the School of Medicine of Western Reserve Univ. (see CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIV.) and Univ. Hospitals of Cleveland. In 1957 UHC assumed administrative responsibility for the Benjamin Rose Hospital while the BRI retained fiscal responsibility. After 1968 UHC operated the facility as Abington House before removing all patient beds by 1983.
Benjamin Rose Hospital Records, Stanley A. Ferguson Archives, Univ. Hospitals of Cleveland.
Johnson, Beth DiNatale. Through the Rose Window: Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care of the Elderly at the Benjamin Rose Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, 1953-1968 (Ph.D. diss., Case Western Reserve Univ., 1995).