With the feast of St. Vincent de Paul on September 27, we will begin a year of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Vincentian Home. Through the years, the sisters and staff have carried on the spirit of St. Vincent which was based on encountering Christ in the needs of our neighbors, especially the sick poor.
Vincentian Home History
In 1920, Mother Emerentiana purchased 17 acres of land across the road from the Motherhouse. And in 1921 she purchased another 36.9 acres of land next to it. When Rev. Lawrence Carroll, then pastor of St. William Church in East Pittsburgh, expressed to Bishop Regis Canevin his concern for the sick poor, the Bishop told him to contact Mother Emerentiana. The Congregation sold the property across the hill to the Diocese. On May 4, 1924, the first building of the Vincentian Home for the Incurables with a 24-bed capacity, named Holy Rosary Cottage, was dedicated and opened. The Vincentian Home was placed under the auspices of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the Vincentian Sisters of Charity placed in charge of the nursing care of the sick poor.
Within two years, through generous benefactors, the Home’s bed capacity was increased to 70 beds with the addition of a second cottage. In 1959, Bishop John Dearden authorized the construction of a new Vincentian Home for the Chronically Ill, a title he preferred to the former. The new building now provided a residence for 150, including a convent. In 1967, the Diocese added a wing for the care of twelve priests. Then in 1979, through a bequest in memory of Ann Klefisch Weigand, a 120-bed wing (Heritage building) with more dining rooms, lounges, therapy rooms and medical treatment rooms was added to the facility to extend its much-demanded services. Then to meet the need of serving semi-independent individuals not requiring total care, an Assisted Living for 52 residents was added and dedicated in 1997. The name was later changed to Personal Care when the DOH regulations changed.
In 1983, Vincentian Home became a corporation under the 1972 PA Non-Profit Corporation Law. The Congregation acquired exclusive sponsorship of the Home from the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1987. In, 1995, the name Vincentian Home for the Chronically Ill was changed to just “Vincentian Home.” Effective August 1, 1999, the facility came under the umbrella of Vincentian Collaborative Services, which coordinated the caring ministries for the aging sponsored by the Congregation.
2004 saw the addition of a beautiful Wander Garden for the residents. In 2007, preparations began for a multi-million-dollar renovation of the nursing home (Buildings 1 and 2), as well as a 60-unit independent living project called Vincentian Villa. And the former priest wing was remodeled for personal care memory care residents. Vincentian Home was now a Continuous Care Retirement Community (CCRC).
The Vincentian Home stands as a living monument to God who inspired its early founders to undertake this great labor of love in the care of the poor, infirmed, and elderly entrusted to them.
