Our History

In 1888, a group of local citizens, led by soap maker James N. Gamble, invited Ms. Isabella Thoburn to Cincinnati. The expectation was that Ms. Thoburn would start a program to train deaconesses and missionaries to carry on religious, educational, and philanthropic work. Ms. Thoburn arrived in 1889 and found that the Gamble family had provided a house and funds to begin her work. The endeavor was named The Elizabeth Gamble Deaconess Home Association in honor of Mrs. James Gamble, who had dedicated her life to Cincinnati’s needy. On one storied day, Ms. Thoburn found a sick woman crying on the street because she had cancer and could not get medical care; the deaconesses’ plan expanded at that time to include a ten-bed hospital named Christ’s Hospital. Between 1889 and 1901, the Association trained only deaconesses as nurses, but they soon recognized the need for enrolling other qualified young women. This paved the way for the formation of The Christ Hospital School of Nursing in 1902.

 

Over the next 120 years, The Christ Hospital School of Nursing has grown in size and sophistication to meet the changing health care needs in the greater Cincinnati and tri-state region, graduating over 7,000 registered nurses. In 2006, The School transitioned into The Christ College of Nursing and Health Sciences. In its journey to Learn, Grow and Become, The Christ College continues to pursue excellence in health care education, a pursuit that has been at the core of the institution’s mission and history and is aptly stated in its unchanging motto -

 

Summo Commisso Missi,

On Highest Mission Sent.