HSHS St. Francis Hospital is a 25-bed hospital, founded in 1875 by three Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. The hospital celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2025, making it one of the most historically rooted rural hospitals in the Midwest. The hospital is the only facility providing maternity services in a two-county area with a combined population of approximately 70,000, and in 2025 earned The Joint Commission’s “Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care,” making it one of a handful of hospitals in Illinois to achieve this distinction. The hospital was recognized by the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network as a 2024 “Neighbors Helping Neighbors Award” recipient for outstanding overall performance in quality, operational and financial metrics. HSHS St. Francis also received CMS 5-star recognition in both cleanliness and nurse communication in 2025. In fall 2025, the hospital completed an expansion of its cancer care center, doubling the number of treatment bays for infusion services in a project that was funded entirely by private donations to the HSHS St. Francis Foundation. The hospital also acquired advanced pulmonary function testing equipment in 2025, enabling local methacholine challenge testing for asthma and other respiratory conditions. In addition, the hospital joined a network of Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehab programs to offer comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation with dietitian support and stress reduction counseling.
