Press Release: Summa’s St. Thomas Hospital Featured on FOX’s “Prison Break”

Summa’s St. Thomas Hospital
Featured on FOX’s “Prison Break”

National television show episode set in Akron hospital

Akron, Ohio, Jan. 22, 2007— Summa Health System’s St. Thomas Hospital will serve as the setting for a storyline on the Jan. 29 episode of the hit FOX television series, “Prison Break.”

In the episode titled “The Message,” Summa’s St. Thomas Hospital is a meeting place for two of “Prison Break’s” characters, Michael Scofield, who’s on the run with his brother after escaping from prison, and Dr. Sarah Tancredi, a former addict who seeks strength from Alcoholics Anonymous’ Big Book. While no filming for the episode occurred at St. Thomas Hospital, several scenes take place in a fictitious version of the hospital.

In 1939, St. Thomas Hospital made history when the hospital’s administrator, Sister Ignatia, and Dr. Bob, a skilled proctologist and founding member of AA, admitted the first alcoholic patient to St. Thomas Hospital and established a methodology of treatment that spread throughout hospitals worldwide. Since that time, the substance abuse program has continued to grow, and last year, 738 patients receive substance and alcohol treatment at St. Thomas Hospital. In 2006, the hospital dedicated the Sister Ignatia Heritage Center to preserve and honor the work of Sister Ignatia and those who followed in her footsteps in the treatment of substance abuse.

“Many people do not realize the important role St. Thomas Hospital and Akron played in the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous,” said Dr. Victoria Sanelli, medical director of Summa’s drug and alcohol treatment program. “We are excited to have the hospital’s rich history acknowledged in such a unique way on ‘Prison Break.’ ”

“Prison Break” will air at 8:00 p.m. on Cleveland’s FOX affiliate, channel 8.

About Summa Health System
Summa Health System is one of the largest organized delivery systems in Ohio. Encompassing a network of hospitals, community health centers, a health plan, a physician-hospital organization, research and a foundation, Summa is nationally renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to health care delivery. Summa's clinical services are consistently recognized by U.S. News and World Report and Solucient. For more information, visit www.summahealth.org.