Special to the Ledger

At the grand opening of the Saint Francis Care Comprehensive Women’s Health Center in Hartford on Nov. 2 were (l to r): Christopher M. Dadlez, president and CEO; Barbara Gordon and Tracy Fox; and E. Merritt McDonough, Jr., president, Saint Francis Foundation.
Photo credit: Joe Driscoll.

HARTFORD – Barbara Gordon of West Hartford and her daughter, Tracy Fox of Colchester, were among several donors recognized by the Saint Francis Foundation on the morning of Nov. 2 at a special VIP reception held prior to the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially opened the new Comprehensive Women’s Health Center at Saint Francis Care in Hartford.

The Comprehensive Women’s Health Center is a 24,500 square-foot, $9.1 million facility, located on the footprint of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center’s former Emergency Department. It is designed to provide a comfortable and inviting place for women to receive coordinated specialty care.

“The Comprehensive Women’s Health Center is a true collaboration of multiple services provided under one roof,” said Christopher M. Dadlez, president and CEO of Saint Francis.  “Focused on disease prevention, risk assessments, and wellness, the Comprehensive Women’s Health Center demonstrates our ongoing commitment to integrated, coordinated healthcare for women.”

In addition to other services, the new Center offers the latest imaging technology, including 3D breast tomosynthesis imaging, ultrasound elastography, stereotactic image-guided breast biopsies, and bone density scans.  A new 3T MRI scanner with advanced scanning capabilities has been installed in the MRI department adjacent to the new Center. The additional square footage at the Center also allows the Breast Health Center to increase the number of breast imaging systems available for patients. Radiologists and breast surgeons will be on site for breast imaging and minor surgical services. Same-day mammogram results will be available.

The Center will also be home to the Kavorski Genetics Program, which offers genetic counseling and testing to patients believed to have a genetic cancer syndrome, and will have a certified genetic counselor on site full time, for the benefit of women and families who are at high risk of hereditary cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, and other female hereditary cancer syndromes, several of which are prevalent in the Ashkenazic Jewish community; the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; the Women’s Heart Program; and the Integrative Medicine Program.