Carrying on the legacy of a pioneer in addiction medicine

In 1935, when society largely viewed alcoholism not as a disease but as a severe moral failing, Sister Ignatia Gavin, CSA saw something different: a medical condition afflicting a person worthy of profound respect.

It was this radical compassion and unwavering belief in "the dignity of the human person" that led Sister Ignatia, a vowed member of Cleveland’s Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine (CSA), to become a pioneer in addiction medicine.

At St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, she treated the first patient with alcoholism documented as a medical illness in a hospital setting, leading to a transformative shift in care. Her work established the core principle of modern addiction treatment: that care must begin with dignity. This foundational effort earned her the title "Angel of A.A." for her pivotal collaboration with Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson (Bill W.), the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. She later founded Rosary Hall, a substance abuse treatment program at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland that has served more than 100,000 individuals since 1952.

Now, her legacy is being strengthened through future physicians from Case Western Reserve. Thanks to a $300,000 philanthropic commitment from the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and the medical staff of the former St. Vincent Community Health Center, two crucial initiatives have been established at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine: The Sr. Ignatia Gavin, CSA, Student Research and Innovation Fund and The Sr. Ignatia Gavin, CSA, Endowed Pathway Lectureship to support addiction medical education.

The gift supports a two-pronged approach: the research and innovation fund provides students with clinical rotations at Rosary Hall, allowing them to gain firsthand experience with patients with substance use disorder and understand the condition's impact on patients and families. The endowed lectureship then broadens their knowledge in addiction medicine to foster advancements in the field.

“Addiction is an incredibly fundamental human process, deeply rooted in our neurological development and influenced by environment, lifestyle and medical interventions,” said School of Medicine Dean Stan Gerson, MD. “Our medical students will benefit from the learning opportunities created by this endowment and our attention to the importance of addiction to human health in our curriculum.”

The aim of this gift is for students to bolster their understanding of “not just the how, but the why for those experiencing addiction," said CSA Congregational Leader Sister Judith Ann Karam. “The earlier we can educate professionals to identify persons showing signs of addiction, the sooner they can then assist them in recovery.”

This deeper educational approach recognizes that addiction is not a separate clinical problem but a condition interwoven with a patient's entire health history, said Michael Goar, president and CEO of Sisters of Charity Health System, which was established in 1982 as the parent corporation for the CSA-sponsored ministries. The gift will allow students to “advance [their] understanding of how addiction impacts other medical conditions of a patient, as well as the impact of addiction on their loved ones." 

Ted Parran, MD (MED ’82), the Isabel and Carter C.T. Wang, MD, Professor in Medical Education, is an expert in addiction medicine and leads the School of Medicine’s Addictions Pathway, through which medical students can specialize in prevention, identification, treatment and study of patients with substance use disorders.

“These endowments in Sister Ignatia’s honor recognize the critical dual necessity to continue to study and provide state-of-the-art compassionate care to these highly stigmatized patients and to integrate the teaching of this throughout medical education,” Parran said.

"We look forward to witnessing how this gift to CWRU School of Medicine makes a positive impact on the community at large," said Sisters of Charity Health System Senior Vice President, Fund Development, Mark Cotleur.