Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a non-profit 514-bed academic medical center and safety-net hospital in the South End neighborhood of

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. As part of the Boston Medical Center Health System, the hospital provides primary and specialty care to residents of the

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...

area. It is also the principal teaching hospital of Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and home to 66 residency and fellowship training programs.

History

Boston City Hospital was the first municipal hospital in the United States, opening in 1864. In 1960 Boston University's Medical School founded the Boston University Medical Center in the South End neighborhood to provide residency programs and research opportunities for students and faculty. Two years later Massachusetts Memorial Hospitals president Jerome Preston and Boston University president Harold C. Case announced a merger of Boston University Medical Center and the creation of a new board of trustees to oversee the institution with the stated purpose "to provide and maintain better health in contemporary society." This agreement replaced an earlier 1959 compact of association. The following year Massachusetts Memorial Hospital as a constituent of the Boston University Medical Center Hospital would announce their first year without a deficit. In 1994 Boston University Medical Center and the East Boston Community Medical Center created an equal joint partnership to purchase the Winthrop Hospital. By 1996 Boston City Hospital had an expected budgetary loss of $150 Million dollars over the next five years. Due in large part to these issues Boston Mayor Thomas Menino was a major proponent of a merger setting a July 1 deadline for such a deal. He stated the merger is "the most important thing I will do as mayor." Boston City Council voted 9-4 on June 29 of 1996 in favor of a merging Boston City Hospital and the Boston University Medical Center to create the new Boston Medical Center. The new combined hospital had over 3,800 employees and more emergency room visits than any other hospital in New England. From 2015 through 2018, BMC undertook a campus redesign project to update clinical spaces, improve efficiencies, and better serve

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...

s. This project included the closure of the Newton Pavilion and the relocation of the services previously in the building to other parts of the hospital campus. In August 2024, amid the bankruptcy proceedings of Steward Health Care, the Massachusetts governor's office announced that BMC would acquire two of Steward's hospitals. BMC on October 1, 2024 finalized its purchase of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in the

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

neighborhood of Boston, later renaming them Boston Medical Center – South and Boston Medical Center – Brighton, respectively. The Commonwealth seized the property of the latter through

eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

to facilitate its transfer to BMC.

Patient care and programs

BMC offers care in four

primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...

practices (Adult Primary Care, Family Medicine,

Pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

, and Geriatrics) and more than 70 specialties and subspecialties, including seven areas that have been named US News high performers. As a

Level I Trauma Center A trauma center, or trauma centre, is a hospital equipped and staffed to provide care for patients suffering from major trauma, major traumatic injuries such as Falling (accident), falls, motor vehicle collisions, or gunshot wounds. The term "tra ...

, the hospital is the busiest center for trauma and emergency services in New England, and the 11th busiest

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

in the U.S. Boston University Medical Center

Rooftop farm

Boston Medical Center has a rooftop farm, which grows produce for its patients and their food pantry program. In 2022, the farm was recognized by the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. The farm yields some 5,600 pounds of produce each year. According to ''Greenroofs'', "the rooftop farm has 2,658 square feet of growing space and harvests about 25 different crops".

References

External links

Boston Medical Center Documentary
By Rachel Gotbaum. WBUR. 2006 audio documentary on the 10th anniversary of the merger, describing history and innovative programs of BMC. (RealAudio) {{authority control Hospitals in Boston Boston University Medical Campus Teaching hospitals in Massachusetts Hospitals established in 1996 Non-profit organizations based in Boston South End, Boston Trauma centers