Our Story

For over a century, the Saint Antoine Community has been delivering compassionate care to seniors in an environment that fosters warmth, connection, and a sense of belonging. Located in peaceful North Smithfield, Rhode Island, Saint Antoine Community provides high quality healthcare services that help members of our community age with the utmost dignity and respect.

In addition to our expert care, residents enjoy restaurant-quality meals, beautifully manicured grounds and walking paths, engaging activities, and a supportive environment where they can thrive and find joy in every moment.

Our Community offers residents access to an expansive continuum of services. The progression of support services begins with The Villa, our assisted living community, and extends to Saint Antoine Residence, our short/long-term skilled nursing and rehabilitative care community. Positioned within a few hundred feet of each other, these buildings ensure convenient access to comprehensive care.

History of Saint Antoine

In December 1875, Msgr. Charles Dauray, of Quebec, Canada, traveled to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where he played an instrumental role in founding both Saint Antoine Community in North Smithfield as well as Precious Blood Parish in Woonsocket. In 1904, he invited the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, followed by the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, known as the “Grey Nuns,” to establish ministries, and help meet the growing spiritual and physical needs of the immigrants flooding into the area.

Established as L’Hospice du Saint Antoine in 1913, the first Saint Antoine Residence was located across the street from Precious Blood Parish on Hamlet Avenue in Woonsocket. A new community was later constructed on Mendon Road in North Smithfield in 1941. L’Hospice du Saint Antoine changed its name to Saint Antoine Residence in 1987 with a purpose of “establishing and maintaining a home for the elderly, the sick, or impaired.”

In 1994, more than fifty years later, a new state-of-the-art building was constructed and designed with capacity for 260 resident beds. Services and amenities offered at The Residence include: 24/7 skilled nursing care, customized care plans, rehabilitative services [physical, occupational, and speech], wound care, dementia care, hospice support, and daily activities.

In 2000, Saint Antoine Residence further expanded its campus with the opening of a new assisted living complex, The Villa at Saint Antoine. This community opened with 76 spacious apartments and capacity for 90 residents, including 14 semi-private units. This French-country setting offered a unique blend of independent and catered living with physical, social, and spiritual services. In addition, this setting offered a continuum of care where the residents could have priority access to Saint Antoine Residence for long-term skilled nursing care and short-term rehabilitation services.

Saint Antoine Residence stands as Rhode Island’s largest long-term care community, holding the distinction of being the recipient of the state’s inaugural license, License #0001.The Residence has notably been recognized as a trailblazer in the nursing home industry with the inception of the first nursing home Primary Care Program, End-of-Life Hospice Suite, and Secured Alzheimer’s/Dementia Unit.

Spring of 2024 will see the opening of Primrose Lane, a secure assisted living and memory care unit with 24 private residential suites, located within the Saint Antoine community. This newly developed expansion addresses a growing need for affordable memory care, offering a beautiful blend of privacy, safety, and community in a warm and familiar environment.

Saint Antoine Community is a healthcare ministry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.