 Manning, the Reverend William Tobin and Mother Bernardine McMullen, R.S.M.At the time of its opening, the hospital was not completely finished, but was opened in order to administer care to victims of one of the first and most devastating epidemics to plague the Lima area, the Spanish flu influenza pandemic of 1918.Through the coming years, St. Rita's expanded to add more beds and services to meet the healthcare needs of the community.