ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL, the first general public hospital in Cleveland, was established in 1852 in a 2-story frame house at Willett and Monroe streets in OHIO CITY. The SISTERS OF CHARITY OF ST. AUGUSTINE were invited by Bp. AMADEUS RAPPE of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland to undertake the hospital's management. The hospital building was purchased from a railroad company with funds derived from the sale of sand and gravel from diocesan-owned property. A public fair was held in Kelly's Hall (Superior St.) to raise money for the hospital. Two Sisters of Charity, Sr. Bernadine and Sr. Francoise, and 2 novices (Louise Brouillat and Cornelia Muselet) came from the Hospital of St. Louis in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, to staff the new facility. In addition to caring for indigent patients, St. Joseph served as an orphanage. Boys were taught carpentry and tailoring and made suits and cassocks for Cleveland's Catholic clergy. The hospital was closed in 1856, but the building continued being used as an orphanage until St. Vincent Orphanage was completed in 1859. The facility's location away from the central city and its emerging identity as an orphanage may explain the demise of St. Joseph Hospital. In 1865 the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine again established a hospital, ST. VINCENT CHARITY HOSPITAL, to serve the poor in Cleveland.
Gavin, Donald R. In All Things Charity (1955).
Hynes, Michael J. History of the Diocese of Cleveland (1847-1952) (1953).