About Saint Francis
Saint Francis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center is a 137 bed Skilled Nursing Facility located in the Grafton Hill area of Worcester. Our campus consists of 63 long-term care beds, including a 16 bed men’s only unit. The center has only private, semi-private and grand semi-private rooms. We have five nursing units, 53 private rooms, two (2) small neighborhood Alzheimer’s Units totaling 37 secure beds, 35 Sub-Acute and a separate Adult Day Health program that can provide services for up to 60 participants per day. The skilled nursing facility has a beautiful Chapel and celebrates Mass six days a week.
The History of Saint Francis
The sacred history of the Little Franciscans of Mary had its beginnings in 1889. It is here that the foundresses, those 11 courageous women with generous hearts placed the ‘cornerstone’ of the congregation. Saint Francis maintains many of the traditions of the Little Sisters, with a focus on reverence and respect for life.
Our Mission is to provide compassionate, loving care rooted in dignity, reverence and respect for life.
Our values are:
Participating in the mission of healing
Addressing the holistic needs of the aged, individuals in need and caregivers
Restoring and maintaining health
Promoting wellness
Providing a variety of services and settings open to all people
Little Franciscans of Mary
A memorial wall was unveiled June at the St. Francis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center to honor the founders of the center, the Little Franciscans of Mary, a religious order with its roots in Manchaug and Worcester.
Superior General Francoise Duchesne, pfm, of the order’s Mother House in Baie St. Paul, Quebec, Can., spoke to members of the order from Worcester, Maine and Quebec, priests from the Worcester Diocese, St. Francis Center officials , workers, residents and friends.
In remarks in French, translated into English by Sister Rena Mae Gagnon, pfm, of Worcester, Sister Francoise said the theme of the gathering was “keeping the memory alive.”
She said it was in Worcester that “the sacred history of the Little Franciscans of Mary had its beginnings in 1889. It is here that the foundresses, those 11 courageous women with generous hearts placed the ‘cornerstone’ of the congregation.
“In Canada, in Quebec and here in the United States they built a spiritual edifice which is still the pride of those who followed after them and all of those who spread the love of God in collaboration with the local churches through the education of youth, the loving care of the elderly and the compassionate care of the sick.”
The establishment of the order was not easy. It was accomplished only after disagreements with a pastor in Worcester who first helped them get started, a bishop who first approved the forming of the order and then ordered them out of the diocese, the loss of the first two sisters around whom the order was born and a change in their mission from running an orphanage to caring for the elderly.