Franklin County healthcare options are growing at a rapid pace - both in availability and in quality.

Residents have immediate access to healthcare at Franklin Hospital, a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital in Benton. Residents benefit from Franklin Hospital's partnership with St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon. The relationship provides access to a network of physician specialists.

St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital, like each of the region's largest hospitals, is expanding its services while gaining attention for outstanding quality.

Current growth is coming through the establishment of tertiary-level programs such as interventional cardiology and open heart surgery. St. Mary's Good Samaritan was the 2003 Gold Award for Achievement of Excellence given by the Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence, an Illinois organization dedicated to honoring quality.

Southern Illinois Healthcare, a healthcare system that operates three of the region's top hospitals, reaches into Franklin County through the Miners Memorial Health Center in West Frankfort. SIH serves Miners Memorial Health Center through Herrin Hospital.

SIH facilities also include Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and St. Joseph Memorial at Murphysboro. Over 2,000 Southern Illinois Healthcare employees, physicians, and volunteers touch the region through its facilities while collaborating with some of the nation's top hospitals including the Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital in Springfield and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion is a $42 million hospital that opened in 2002. Heartland Regional Medical Center touts its new heart clinic and a new rehabilitation center. The investment in facilities has prompted investment in personnel and HRMC has added 28 doctors to its staff over the last four years.

Neighborhood care can be found throughout Franklin County. There are nearly 20 clinics in Franklin County communities including six in Benton, five in West Frankfort, two in Christopher, and clinics in Sesser and Zeigler.

Franklin Hospital
Heartland Regional Medical Center
St. Mary's Good Samaritan Inc.
Southern Illinois Healthcare
     Herrin Hospital
     Memorial Hospital of Carbondale
     The Center for Medical Arts
     St. Joseph Memorial Hospital

Clinics in Franklin County (area code 618)

Benton

Christopher

Sesser

West Frankfort

Zeigler