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Heritage Wall honors the past

The Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio, have played an important and often unsung part in the history of Steubenville.

Yes, they served in churches and parochial schools.

But, from the 1930s on, they also served as part of the foundation of the city’s medical community, joining the earlier established community-based Ohio Valley Hospital with Gill Memorial Hospital.

During the course of the city’s growth and success in the industrial boom of the 20th century, the two medical facilities grew and expanded.

The two facilities faced a future where their success was no longer assured as the industrial boom turned to bust after the 1980s, leading to the foundation of Trinity Health System in 1996 with the affiliation of the sisters’ St. John Medical Center and the Ohio Valley Hospital.

And, the sisters continue to play a role integrating Trinity into Catholic Health Initiatives, the major national hospital group that now wholly owns and sponsors Trinity Health System.

Though the Sisters of St. Francis who work at the hospital are down to just two, it’s the spirit of their order’s dedication to health care that they carry forward to the lay community serving patients at Trinity today.

It’s a vibrant and complex history and it’s important to recall just how, medically speaking, the community got to where it is. That’s why the Heritage Wall recently dedicated at Trinity Medical Center West is something worth taking a pause to observe while visiting the medical center.

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