Best Care for a Lifetime
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has come a long way since 1897, when the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chambéry overcame near-impossible odds to open a two-room hospital in Hartford’s Asylum Hill neighborhood. The new hospital offered a refuge for immigrants who wanted to know that their faith and traditions would be understood and appreciated if they ever needed inpatient care.

In 1990, Saint Francis affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital, a Jewish-sponsored institution that opened in 1923. Mount Sinai was born of a vision similar to the one that led to the founding of Saint Francis decades earlier. The collaboration marked the first recorded instance of a Catholic and Jewish hospital affiliation in United States history. The arrangement was formalized as a corporate merger in 1995.

As the needs of Connecticut residents evolve, so does Saint Francis. In 2011, the John T. O’Connell Tower opened its doors. Ten stories high, the tower features a new emergency department with 70 treatment areas, 13 sheltered ambulance bays, and a rooftop helipad. The upper floors are home to 19 new operating rooms and 135 private patient rooms, including two floors dedicated to orthopedics.

From a fledgling hospital with 32 patients in a ward, Saint Francis has grown into New England’s largest Catholic hospital, with 617 licensed inpatient beds, 65 bassinets, and five centers of excellence that embrace patients at every stage of lifetime.

Responding to the dynamics of the changing marketplace, the hospital recently adopted a five-year strategic plan designed to position it for future growth. The plan sets forth a road map for delivering on its promise of BestCare for a LifetimeSM. Toward that end, a patient-centered model of care has been envisioned to produce the perfect patient experience and the highest measurable quality across the continuum of care needed by our community.