Saint Francis Hospital and Health Centers

Description

About Us
Welcome to Saint Francis Hospital and Health Centers

Founded by the Sisters of St Francis of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin Saint Francis Hospital opened its doors in 1914 with 40 beds and treated 751 patients in its first year Ninety years later the hospital is licensed for 400 beds serves over 10000 inpatients each year and provides an additional 325000 outpatient procedures or treatments annually to adults and children in multiple locations throughout the Mid Hudson Valley While our hospital has grown significantly in size and the scope of services we provide to our community our dedication to providing the finest compassionate and innovative care for all who need our services has remained steadfast

The team responsible for your stay at Saint Francis Hospital is committed to providing you with the very best care Everyone from physicians nurses and technicians to hospital support personnel dietary staff and volunteers is ready to assist you and your family with the resources necessary to provide for your recover and comfort

Mission
Saint Francis Hospital brings together women and men dedicated to the healthcare needs of the people of our region We personify the Catholic tradition of respect for life and the dignity and worth of each individual We demonstrate that as a diversified health care system our strength is rooted in our acute care foundation our commitment to quality and excellence in all that we do and our belief that wise utilization of our resources will enable us to endure serving generations to come

History

The Sisters of St Francis

Saint Francis Hospital is sponsored by the Sisters of St Francis of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin As a religious congregation of the Catholic Church the Sisters continue the healing ministry of Jesus as inspired by the example of St Francis of Assisi

A Hospital is Born

On February 17 1914 Saint Francis Hospital accepted its first official patient Theodore Bromley of 106 1 2 North Clinton Street Poughkeepsie The new hospital contained 40 beds and treated 751 patients in its first year

The opening culminated a lengthy campaign by local physicians and surgeons to establish a new hospital in Poughkeepsie that would welcome people of all faiths to practice The areas growing population was taxing the capacities of the citys two private sanitariums and Vassar Brothers Hospital which opened in 1887 Only three of the 30 physicians practicing locally had privileges at Vassar Brothers Dr James E McCambridge would recall years later how physicians were forced to do surgery on kitchen or dining room tables Tonsil clinics in which 15 children at a time would have operations were conducted in the basement of a church or community hall

The seed that was to give birth to Saint Francis Hospital may well have been planted by McCambridge himselfon a fishing trip McCambridge had gone fishing with local attorney James E Carroll The two men were joined by Carrolls brother Monsignor Thomas Carroll a Poughkeepsie native who served as secretary to John Cardinal Farley At the trips conclusion the Monsignor promised to speak to the Cardinal about the possibility of bringing a hospital to Poughkeepsie Cardinal Farley agreed to find a community of Sisters to staff the hospital if the community could raise the needed funding The Sisters of St Francis agreed to staff the hospital In the following month local organizers began their preparations including selection of a site

Hillcrest Park Mansion the residence of Daniel Webster Wilbur who served as mayor of Poughkeepsie struck everyone as the ideal location for the hospital quotIt offers the quiet and beauty of a suburb and is at the same time readily accessible to Poughkeepsie Cityquot noted one contemporary writer

Approached by a physician friend about the possibility of selling the property Wilbur volunteered to give the residence and several acres of land to the Sisters of Saint Francis In addition he offered to sell three adjoining stucco cottages and eight small frame houses When the deal was finally struck by the Sisters attorney John J Mylod the price was 50000 A cash payment of 16000 was made with the remainder covered by mortgages In all the hospital property covered nearly 30 acres including an adjoining parcel of 25 acres purchased from the Fairview Improvement Co Fairview parted with the land for the sum of one dollar

The main house was built in the 1850s for Stephen Baker a US Congressman and a founder of the Republican Party As part of Saint Francis Hospital it served first as the hospitals main building later as a maternity ward then as a residence for student nurses and finally as administrative office space Known in its final years as Mary Immaculate Hall it was demolished in April 1983

The first few years were a time of both growth and struggle for the new hospital In 1916 and again in 1919 fires heavily damaged buildings An influenza epidemic in 1918 brought hundreds of patients to Saint Francis Hospital As many as 300 people were treated without charge that year quotThere were many dayswhen affairs looked very black indeed and when by only the most stringent economy were we able to keep our institution openquot wrote a historian of the hospital in 1922 It was in 1919 that a committee of local citizens launched a major funding drive for Saint Francis Hospital which after only five years in operation was feeling the need for larger more modern facilities Despite the national war debt nearly 100000 was gathered Even as fundraising proceeded the hospital was growing with ten beds added in 1920 thanks to an 18000 gift from local banker Oakleigh T Thorne

In 1921 the hospital board approved construction of a new main building a fourstory brick structure that would include among other things three large operating rooms one of which was dedicated to eye ear nose and throat surgery private and semiprivate rooms a 12bed mens ward and a 12bed womens ward

When the unit opened the following year there was one more grand touch a subway connecting the hospitals buildings thanks to a 20000 donation provided by Archbishop Patrick Hayes

In 1924 the new Roosevelt main building was opened replacing the original mansion and providing 60 beds for patients Twentyseven years later in 1951 the Oakleigh T Thorne and Joseph T Towers Wings were dedicated more than doubling the size of the hospital at a cost of 23 million In 1959 the Spellman Pavilion was added and Mss was celebrated in the new chapel for the first time Expansion continued at the hospital with the 1977 dedication of the Neumann Wing followed by the 1982 construction of the Cooke Pavilion

In 1985 Saint Francis Hospital acquired the former Highland Hospital in Beacon which today serves as The Turning Point a 100bed inpatient and outpatient alcohol and chemical dependency treatment center The campus also serves as a home to The WorkPlacereg the hospitals occupational health program and the Special Needs Preschool Program

Home Care Services was added in 1987 and the following year the hospital established a Day Care Program in the Convent that eventually expanded to a second larger site in Spackenkill

A then stateoftheart 3dimensional highspeed helical CAT Scan system was acquired in 1990 and the hospital became the first in the area to own and operate its own MRI unit In 1991 the hospital opened the Sleep Disorders Lab which in 2003 received a 5 year accreditation and designation as a Sleep Center

In 1992 Saint Francis Hospital adopted a quotCREST of Valuesquot to serve as the guiding principles for each individual who shares in our mission Each member of the Saint Francis team works individually and collaboratively to make our values of Creativity Respect Excellence Service and Teamwork present in dealings with each other and those we are privileged to serve

To recognize its work as a leader in Orthopedics the Hospital established the Orthopedic Center of Excellence in 1993 and today offers the only fullydedicated Joint Replacement Center in the region

Also in 1993 Saint Francis Hospital was designated as the Area Trauma Center by the New York State Department of Health It was recognized as the busiest Level II Trauma Center in New York State in 2004

In 1995 a 5 million capital drive was undertaken to expand trauma and emergency facilities creating the George T Whalen Family Trauma Center and to upgrade patient monitoring systems in the Emergency Room and Operating Room Additionally the Endoscopy Suite and Same Day Surgery Center were added the latter of which would be named for legendary philanthropist James J McCann Mair Way the Hospitals main passageway connecting The Atrium to the main hospital building was named for Hospital and Hudson Valley benefactors Peg and Bill Mair who left the Hospital a major bequest of 1 million that was included in this campaign

Responding to requests from physicians who wanted to locate their offices close to the hospital the Medical Office Building at 243 North Road opened in 1998 Two years later The Atrium at Saint Francis Hospital a 150000 sq ft facility opened featuring a new stateoftheart ambulatory surgery center diagnostic imaging center community conference center cafeteria and private physician offices

Saint Francis Hospital suffered the loss of its President Emeritus Sister Ann Elizabeth who died on March 17 2002 at age 91 She was an integral part of the hospital and its guiding light for almost 70 years holding leadership positions in the School of Nursing and the Hospital Sister Ann served as Administrator and President of Saint Francis Hospital from 1962 until her retirement in 2001 In recognition of her extraordinary service the Atrium Surgery Center was dedicated to Sr Ann in 2001

The Saint Francis Hospital Cancer Center opened in 2002 followed by the dedication of the Fr Brinn Center for Psychiatric Care in the Emergency Care Center in 2003

Now as in 1913 when five Sister foundresses responded to Community needs the Sisters of St Francis continue to be present and look forward with the entire Saint Francis Hospital team to upholding this noble legacy as we approach one century of service