[4] St. Francis is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report[5] in Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Orthopedics.

[3][7][8][9] The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary opened a convent on the land and used it as a camp for poor and chronically-ill children from New York City.

[10] In 1937, two percent of Brooklyn schoolchildren suffered from rheumatic heart conditions and needed charitable healthcare assistance.

[13] In December 1983, First Lady Nancy Reagan visited St. Francis Hospital after she and President Ronald Reagan brought two children, Ah Ji Sook (7) and Lee Kil Woo (4), from South Korea to the United States in November 1983 for open-heart surgery at St. Francis Hospital.

[14][15][16] Mrs. Reagan held a press conference at St. Francis Hospital that December 15th; the surgery saved the lives of both children.