We are Raising Hope and Changing Lives.

Saints Foundation is a division of St. Francis Regional Medical Center (SFRMC) that raises funds to support both SFRMC and Benedictine Living Community-Shakopee (St. Gertrude’s & The Gardens), each of which is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

We work together to connect the passion and commitment of community donors and volunteers with services and programs that help improve community health. More specifically, Saints Foundation will secure financial resources and make grants to St. Francis Regional Medical Center or St. Gertrude’s & The Gardens in order to:

• Expand innovative, patient or resident centered healthcare programs and services.
• Purchase cutting edge technologies that improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
• Enhance the campus’ physical environment to promote a healing environment.
• Enrich support services that ease the burden of illness and disease for patients, residents and their families.
• Support charity and mission-related care, which promotes community health and health care services for the poor and powerless.

Saints Foundation unites the unique strengths of St. Francis and St. Gertrude’s to provide meaningful opportunities to advance the future of health care. From the first breath of a baby at St. Francis Family Birth Place to the last breath of an elderly patient at Benedictine St. Gertrude’s End-of-Life Hospice Suite, donations through Saints Foundation make a difference.

St. Francis Regional Medical Center

In the 1930’s when the nearest hospital was in Minneapolis, three local residents – Bror Pearson, M.D., Father Marks and Frank Strunk – petitioned a group of Franciscan Sisters to open a hospital in Shakopee that would serve all community residents.

With community support and $2,000, they purchased the Scott County poorhouse and founded St. Francis Hospital and Home in 1938. The transformation of the Poorhouse into a makeshift hospital was assigned to four young German Sisters – Sister Alphonsine Segar, Sister Paschalia Etges, Sister Ascentia Froehling and Sister Johanna Metzen. For two weeks prior to opening the facility, the Sisters painstakingly worked together with community members to bring the old structure up to state standards. Finally, on November 3, 1938, they opened the doors to serve all who needed care.

St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens

St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens has a rich tradition of providing quality long term and rehabilitative care for the residents of Scott, Carver and western Dakota counties. The seeds of St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens were planted in 1888 when Mother Scholastica Kerst and her blood sister, Sister Alexia Kerst, led a small group of Benedictine Sisters from St. Joseph, Minnesota to Duluth to establish St. Mary’s Hospital. From these efforts emerged the Benedictine Health System, a nationally recognized non-profit leader in providing services and care for older adults, of which St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens is a reputed member. Today, St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens offers assisted living apartments, long term care beds, short term rehabilitation beds, end of life suites and spiritual care. In the Christian tradition of servanthood, St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens serves persons of all faiths in a caring environment.

St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens has been serving our community for over twenty-five years with 105 skilled nursing beds for long term resident care and short term rehab therapy. We also have 40 assisted living apartments providing seniors assistance in daily living in a nurturing and active community. Additionally, we are physically adjacent to the hospital on a comprehensive medical campus.

In 2020, St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens expanded additional housing services to now offer a full continuum of care for individuals 55 plus.

St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens offers:

• Independent Living
• Memory Care
• Transitional care
• Rehabilitation for cognitively impaired
• Home therapy
• Assisted living community at The Gardens
• End of Life suites
• Therapy outpatient services, including aquatic therapy and mobility courtyard

Planning Council Members

Saints Foundation is guided by a volunteer advisory council comprised of community members, as well as healthcare professionals representing both St. Francis Regional Medical Center and St. Gertrude’s and The Gardens. These members, along with their affiliation, are listed below: