Saint Francis Hospital Collaborates with Local Partners to Lead Positive Change
April 3, 2025 | HARTFORD, Conn. – Saint Francis Hospital was proud to welcome leaders from Trinity Health along with over 25 local community partners and businesses for a Community Investing Meeting on Thursday, March 20 at the hospital’s Connecticut Institute for Primary Care Innovation. Trinity Health Of New England is a part of Trinity Health, one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation, comprised of 93 hospitals and nearly 250 continuing care, urgent care, and other health services around the country.
Trinity Health’s Community Investing Program was established more than two decades ago as a way for the organization to leverage its financial strength by investing in low-risk, low-interest rate loans to build infrastructure in the communities its member hospitals serve. The Community Investing Program has dedicated $5 million in Hartford, leveraging resources and partnerships to address Social Influencers of Health (SIOH) – conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
The meeting provided an overview of the Community Investing Program and the existing loans in the Hartford community, which include workforce development and Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI) projects, as well as how these investments support Trinity Health Of New England’s broader community health strategy. Community partners in attendance provided informational summaries about their current and planned future projects and engaged in collective planning around the various strategies and goals presented by Trinity Health and other partners.
“As member of Trinity Health, it is our Mission to serve as a compassionate and transforming healing presence in our communities,” said Carolyn Alessi, Regional Director, Community Health and Well Being, Trinity Health Of New England. “Because of the support of Trinity Health and our community partners, we are able to provide not just clinical medical care, but transformative, life-changing opportunities that address food insecurity, workforce development, housing, education, and more. We are so grateful for the support and collaboration in providing impactful support to our neighbors in need.”
Trinity Health’s community investments serve priority communities, which are locations within a Trinity Health service area that have faced severe economic challenges, received significant Medicaid or financial assistance support, or experienced past disinvestment. Much of the work at Saint Francis is focused on the North End of Hartford and the revitalization of that community.
Trinity Health also recently hosted the TCI Learning Institute in Springfield, Mass., bringing together representatives from nine sites across the country to collaborate on fostering policy, systems, and environmental changes within their communities.