St. Francis Health Center

St. Francis Health Center
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System
Geography
Location 1700 SW 7th Street, Topeka, Kansas, United States
Coordinates 39°03′23″N 95°41′45″W / 39.05639°N 95.69583°W / 39.05639; -95.69583Coordinates: 39°03′23″N 95°41′45″W / 39.05639°N 95.69583°W / 39.05639; -95.69583
Organization
Care system Private
Hospital type Community
Affiliated university None
Services
Beds 378
History
Founded 1909
Links
Website St. Francis Health Center
Lists Hospitals in Kansas

St. Francis Health Center (SFMC) is a not-for-profit hospital in Topeka, Kansas, USA. The hospital was founded in 1909 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.

History

In 1908, the Topeka Commercial Club donated land to the Sisters of Charity to build a hospital. Sister Mary Germaine Kramer and Mother Mary Peter Dwyer raised $40,000 in donations so construction could begin.[1]

St. Francis Health Center opened on October 17, 1909, with 40 beds. Assembling scraps of fabric and fashioning them into colorful quilts for patients was one of the first aspects of business the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth pursued. Ever mindful of the cost of things, they were prudent in their approaches to ensure that whatever resources they had available could be stretched to accommodate the needs of everyone who sought assistance for their ailments.[1]

Today the Health Center has 378 licensed beds, a medical staff representing nearly all specialties, adult and youth volunteers and a thriving auxiliary. Skillfully integrating technology with tenderness, St. Francis and its employees have fostered a premier regional hospital featuring the newest medical innovations and state-of-the-art equipment.[1]

St. Francis was the first in the area to purchase an X-ray machine, establish an intensive care unit, install diagnostic ultrasound equipment, conduct a heart transplant, use bedside computers to provide point of service documentation and purchase a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner. The Health Center is also one of only two non-Veterans Administration hospitals in Kansas to bar code pharmaceuticals to prevent medication errors for patient safety and peace of mind.[1]

The healing touch of St. Francis extends beyond the walls of the Health Center to include programs focused on preventive medicine, such as the Mammography Screening Center and the Sleep Disorders Center. Through the Marian Clinic and the Marian Dental Clinic, both owned and operated by Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, St. Francis helps the working poor and the uninsured secure the treatment they need, from immunizations and routine teeth cleaning to surgical procedures and crown and denture work.[1]

Country Legends 106.9 Miracle Marathon for Kids Radiothon

Since 2006, KTPK has done a radiothon for the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN) at St. Francis Health Center in Topeka, Kansas. The radiothon takes place at Topeka's West Ridge Mall, each year during a week in August, on a Tuesday through Thursday from 6AM to 6PM. While on air, they not raise money for the sick and injured children, but the tell stories, as well. 2009 was a record breaking year for the fundraiser, as they raised a record breaker $105,205.59, up from 2008, where they raised just over $102,000.[2] Since then, they've raised amounts between $90,000 and $102,000. The Radiothon is the largest fundraiser of the year for the local CMN.[3]

Leadership

The St. Francis Health Center is led by a group of dedicated community volunteers forming our Board of Directors.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 St. Francis Health Center History
  2. ↑ Radiothon breaks record
  3. ↑ Miracle Marathon for Kids Radiothon with Country Legends 106.9
  4. ↑ St. Francis Board of Directors
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