Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has been an anchor institution in North Central Connecticut since its founding in 1897 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Licensed for 617 beds and 65 bassinets, it is one of the largest hospitals in Connecticut.

A regional referral center, Saint Francis provides sophisticated, contemporary medicine with major clinical concentrations in cardiology, oncology, women's and children's services, emergency/trauma care and rehabilitation. Centers of excellence include:

• The Hoffman Heart Institute of Connecticut, the first comprehensive heart institute in Southern New England. .
  
  
• The Saint Francis/Mt. Sinai Regional Cancer Center,featuring the most sophisticated facilities and treatments in the Greater Hartford area.
  
  
• The Rehabilitation Hospital of Connecticut, a 60-bed institution providing comprehensive medical rehabilitation services.
  
  
• The Center for Children's Health and Development, providing general pediatric services and specialized programs in behavioral/developmental pediatrics, adolescent health, child abuse, and neonatal intensive care.
  
  
• The Hartford Regional Lead Treatment Center, the only lead poisoning treatment center for children in the Greater Hartford area, which serves all hospitals in Hartford.
  
  
• The Aetna Foundation Children's Center, which provides assessment, diagnostic and treatment services to children who are the victims of abuse.
  
  
• offering health promotion and wellness programs.
  
  
• established in 1977.
  
  
• The Suffield Visiting Nurse Association, providing home-care services in the towns of Suffield, Enfield, Granby, East Granby, East Windsor, South Windsor and Windsor Locks, in addition to neighboring areas in Southwestern Massachusetts.
  
  
• The John M. Gibbons Pavilion for Women, including maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, infertility services and nurse midwives.
  
  
• Diabetes Care Center, Connecticut's oldest comprehensive outpatient diabetes education program.
  

These centers of excellence are focused on quality, caring and the dignity of every patient. The commitment to these values is evident in Saint Francis' fourfold mission of patient care, teaching, research and wellness.

Saint Francis Care providers also include such community-based and ambulatory services as: Alcohol and Drug Recovery Centers, Inc.; New Directions, Inc.; the Asylum Hill Family Practice Center and the Burgdorf/Bank of America Health Center, which are joint programs with the UConn Health Center; the Gengras Ambulatory Care Center; and the Saint Francis Care Medical Offices in Avon, Enfield, Glastonbury and Rocky Hill.

Saint Francis maintains affiliations with Bristol Hospital and Saint Mary's Hospital, Waterbury, which are independently licensed. Saint Francis and Bristol Hospital operate Collaborative Laboratory Services, which provides medical laboratory services to the two hospitals and other health care providers. Other Saint Francis affiliates include the Saint Francis Physician Hospital Organization, which contracts with third-party payers; Medworks - Occupational Health Services; Physical Therapy Partners; Connecticut Occupational Health Partners, L.L.C..; and Woodland Physician Associates.

A major teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Connecticut Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Saint Francis participates in integrated residency and fellowship training programs in primary care and such specialties as surgery, emergency medicine and cardiology. The hospital also offers free-standing residency programs in obstetrics/gynecology and general dentistry and a fellowship in colorectal surgery.