Hartford Hospital is an acute care hospital located in the South End of Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. The hospital was formed in 1854 after the State of Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 granted a charter for the Formation of Hartford Hospital following a boiler explosion and resulting fire at the Fales and Grey Car Works resulting in 19 deaths and 23 people seriously injured. The hospital campus is located on Seymour Street in Hartford, and is directly adjacent to the main campus of the Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Connecticut Children's Medical Center is a comprehensive pediatric hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The hospital serves more than 15,000 children in primary care services, 30,000 in emergency care services, and 6000 in surgical services annually...

.

At 819 beds, Hartford Hospital is one of the largest medical centers in the Northeast and the second-largest in Connecticut. The hospital is a major tertiary care facility for the statewide region and is state designated as a Level I Trauma Center, able to care for the most critically injured of patients. It has over 35 operating rooms one of the largest surgical caseloads in the United States.

In addition, Hartford Hospital operates Connecticut's only air ambulance

Air ambulance

An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....

 service, LIFE STAR which began operation in 1985 and operates two American Eurocopter BK-117 helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

s. One helicopter is based on the rooftop helipad at Hartford Hospital and another is based at affiliated Backus Hospital

Backus Hospital

The William W. Backus Hospital is a 213-bed, not-for-profit, acute care community hospital in Norwich, Connecticut.The hospital was founded in 1893 by William Wolcott Backus and William Albert Slater, in response to the region's growing healthcare needs....

 in Norwich, Connecticut

Norwich, Connecticut

Regular steamship service between New York and Boston helped Norwich to prosper as a shipping center through the early part of the 20th century. During the Civil War, Norwich once again rallied and saw the growth of its textile, armaments, and specialty item manufacturing...

. LIFE STAR provides patient care and inter-facility transport between hospitals in New England and New York. In addition, LIFE STAR provides advanced life support scene response and transport for the most critically injured and medically unstable patients in Connecticut. These patients are taken to Level I or Level II trauma centers across the state according to state regulations. The program averages 1,400 patient transports per year and plays a vital role in providing speedy access to trauma care for patients in outlying, rural areas.

Hartford Hospital also boasts the second largest multi-place hyperbaric chamber in the Northeastern United States, second only to Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, in Sleepy Hollow, NY. Capable of treating up to ten patients at one time, this chamber treats both chronic wounds and emergencies, such as carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after enough inhalation of carbon monoxide . Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas, but, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating, it is very difficult for people to detect...

and Necrotizing Fasciitis.

Jefferson House

Jefferson House is a department of Hartford Hospital that has provided long-term care and rehabilitation services to seniors in the greater Hartford area for more than 120 years.

Jefferson House offers patients a secure environment where they can avoid extended hospital stays but still receive "nursing care, intensive rehabilitative therapy, nutritional counseling, self-care, and the psychological support necessary for reestablishing independence in their daily lives."

History

Originally located at 36 Jefferson Street in Hartford, the Old People's Home of Hartford offered the "elderly an alternative to the county poorhouse." The Connecticut Legislature authorized the facility by a Special Act in 1873 and opened its doors in 1884.

Public Documents of the State of Connecticut described the home:

PRIVATE PROVISION FOR THE AGED

THE OLD PEOPLE'S HOME HARTFORD

LA Sexton MD Superintendent

The Old People's Home is under the same management as the Hartford Hospital and was organized by an act of the General Assembly in 1873. An attractive three storied building of brick and stone was erected for the use of the Home on Jefferson Street opposite the Hospital grounds, and has accommodations for seventy persons. The rooms are large and well furnished and everything is provided which will insure to the occupants the comforts of a well-appointed home. Religious services are held every Sunday afternoon from October to July in an attractive and convenient chapel at the west end of the building.

Residents in the Home must be citizens of Connecticut persons of good character not under sixty five years of age and in reduced circumstances. For several years applicants for admission have exceeded so greatly the means of the Home to support them that it has been necssary [sic] to make the entrance fee $1,000 for permanent inmates. A few boarders are received at $7.00 per week and the Home is well filled at all times.

The name was changed to Jefferson House in 1953. The home cared for and honored its commitment under the old life-care concept until 1979 when the last original resident passed away. It cared for 662 patients from 1884 to 1979.

A new facility was constructed and opened in Newington, Connecticut in 1980, as a short-term rehabilitation facility.