About Us

Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital
195 Wadsworth Road
Wadsworth, Ohio 44281
Medina County
330-331-1000
800-828-1789 (toll-free)
www.wrhhs.org

Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital is an acute-care general hospital that has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval.  With 113 registered beds, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital is one of the area's largest employers, employing more than 500 people.  The medical staff is made up of more than 200 medical specialists, representing more than thirty medical specialties, from primary care such as family practice and internal medicine, to other specialties ranging from allergy and asthma to urology.  91% of the active medical staff is board-certified.

Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital provides all general medical services including:

• 24-hour emergency medical care, including emergency air transportation, via helicopter, to larger metropolitan hospitals if necessary
• Ambulatory Surgery
• Cardiopulmonary Services
• Home Care 
• Intensive Care
• Laboratory Services, including microbiology and histology labs
• Medical-Sugical Unit
• Occupational Health Services
• Palliative Care
• Physical Rehabilitation Center
• Radiology services including ultrasound, digital mammography with computer-aided detection, 1.5 tesla mri, 64-slice ct scan and nuclear medicine
• Sleep Disorders Laboratory
• Social Services
• Surgery
• Therapy services including Aquatic, Occupational, Physical, Recreational and Speech Therapy

Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital also has the Clinical Specialties department that provides medical specialty services of physicians from throughout northeast Ohio who use the department as a satellite office.  Specialties include cardiology, gastroenterology, general surgery, neurology, sleep medicine, oncology and hematology, pain management, palliative care services, plastic surgery and urology.

Community Services

Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital provides a variety of services to encourage health and wellness.  Such programs include:

• Free health screenings
• A free lecture series featuring hospital physicians and other staff members
• A free speakers bureau
• Classes to teach health-related subjects such as CPR and First Aid
• Free support groups for those with cardiopulmonary diseases or diabetes.

History

Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital succeeded Wadsworth Municipal Hospital, which was founded in 1921.  The Ohio Match Company donated the land and an existing stable, which was renovated to house the hospital.  Wadsworth Municipal Hospital served area residents for 49 years at its original location, 147 Garfield Street in Wadsworth.

Recognizing the need for a new facility, which would serve a wider geographic area, the electorate in the city of Wadsworth, Wadsworth Township and Milton Township (which includes the city of Rittman) voted in May 1963, to create the Wadsworth Rittman Area Joint Township District of Wayne and Medina Counties. The Wadsworth-Rittman Area Hospital Association was then formed to spearhead the construction project and to operate the new hospital.  The new hospital was named Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital and commenced service to patients at its present site in February 1970.  Its primary service area includes Medina, Wayne and Summit counties.

Due to careful monitoring of community and medical staff needs, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital has continued to grow, expanding the hospital facility five times.

The first addition was built to expand the Emergency Center, the Intensive Care Unit and the Laboratory.  The second addition was built to expand administrative offices and the Physical Therapy department, as well as to open an Outpatient Department. The third addition, in 1990, was a three-story medical office building, constructed adjacent to the hospital, to house expanded Radiology and Outpatient services, as well as physician offices.  The fourth addition, a 9,000-square-foot Emergency Center opened in 1996.  The fifth addition, in 2000, was an 8,000-square-foot building for the Therapy Services Department.  This project was done concurrently with the construction of Founders Hall, a four-story building to house the hospital's administrative departments and medical offices.  In 2003, a renovation project for the entire first floor of the main hospital building was completed. The renovation made the hospital very "patient-friendly.” In 2008 a new entrance to Founders Hall was added along with a newly renovated third floor which includes the WRHHS Women's Center, Kidney Dialysis Center and Eye Center.

In 1992, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital built a physician's office building in Rittman.  And, in 1993, the hospital opened an on-site day care, which is now privately owned and open to the community in general.

Because of its commitment to providing technologically advanced medical care, coupled with its dedication to personal attention and service to each patient, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital continues to be a leader in the health care field.  It was one of the first hospitals in Northeast Ohio to provide laparoscopic gallbladder surgery and the first hospital in Medina County to provide Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) services.

Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital also includes Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital Foundation, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital Professional Services Corporation and Healthy Benefits Occupational Health Services. In 2008, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital merged with Summa Health System in Akron.

Volunteers

Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital has two groups of volunteers who provide a wide variety of very helpful services for the hospital and the community.

The Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital Auxiliary operates the gift shop and snack bar and uses the proceeds to donate substantially toward the capital equipment the hospital purchases each year. They also assist with the discharge of patients, staff the surgical information desk, make caps and booties for our newborns and make teddy bears for the young patients in the Emergency Center.

The American Red Cross volunteers staff the front desk of the hospital.  They deliver flowers and mail, water plants and flowers for patients, and provide many clerical services for hospital departments.

Those interested in volunteer opportunities can contact the Auxiliary Volunteer Coordinator at 330-331-1168 or the Wadsworth Red Cross at 330-723-4565.