Brigham and Women's Hospital

{{Short description|Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox hospital

| Name = Brigham and Women's Hospital

| Org/Group = Mass General Brigham

| Image = Brigham and Women's Hospital - 3740161197.jpg

| image alt =

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| Logo = File:Brigham_&_Women's_Hospital_MGB_Logo.svg

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| Location = 75 Francis Street
Boston

| Region =

| State = Massachusetts

| Country = US

| Coordinates = {{Coord|42.336152|-71.106834|region:US-MA_landmark|format=dms|display = title, inline}}

| HealthCare =

| Funding =

| Type = Teaching

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| Emergency = I

| Helipad = {{Airport codes|||MA39}}

| Affiliation = Harvard University

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| Beds = 793

| Founded = 1980

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| publictransit = MBTA

{{Bulleted list|{{rint|boston|bus}} 8, 19, 39, 47, 60, 65, 66, CT2, CT3|{{rint|Boston|green}} D, E}}

| Website = {{URL|brighamandwomens.org}}

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| h1-number = H1

| h1-length-m = 16

| h1-length-f = 54

| h1-surface = Rooftop, metal

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Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two founding members of Mass General Brigham, the largest healthcare provider in Massachusetts. Giles Boland, MD, serves as the hospital's current president.{{cite web |title=Robert Higgins, MD, MSHA President, Brigham and Women's Hospital |url= https://www.brighamandwomens.org/about-bwh/leadership/robert-higgins |website=Brigham and Women's Hospital |publisher=Brigham Health |access-date=15 February 2023}}

Brigham and Women's Hospital conducts the second largest hospital-based research program in the world, with an annual research budget of more than $630 million.{{cite web |url=https://www.brighamandwomens.org/about-bwh/newsroom/awards-honors-grants?SearchTerm=&pageSize=10&newsType=pressreleases&category=awards&pageDetailUrl=%2Fabout-bwh%2Fnewsroom%2Fawards-honors-grants-detail&year=0&pageNum=1| title=Awards, Honors & Grants News – Brigham and Women's Hospital }}

History

File:Bwh-longwood.jpg|221 Longwood Avenue, formerly the Boston Lying-In Hospital building, part of Brigham and Women's Hospital but separate from the main building at 15–75 Francis Street; view from Longwood Avenue

File:Free Hospital for Women.jpg|Former site of the Free Hospital for Women across the street from Olmsted Park. This institution was absorbed into Brigham and Women's Hospital.

File:Brigham Circle at dusk, September 2009.jpg|Remaining entrance for the original site of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, established in 1913

Brigham and Women's Hospital was established with the 1980 merger of three Harvard-affiliated hospitals: Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (established in 1913); Robert Breck Brigham Hospital (established in 1914); and Boston Hospital for Women (established in 1966 as a merger of Boston Lying-In Hospital, established in 1832, and Free Hospital for Women, established in 1875).{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 1954, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital became the location for the first-ever successful kidney transplant, performed on identical twins, Ronald Hendrick (the donor) and Richard Hendrick (the recipient). J. Hartwell Harrison, Chief of the Urology Department, operated on the donor, and Joseph Murray was the surgeon for the recipient. Murray later received a Nobel Prize for this and other work. Dr. Samuel A. Levine introduced the arm-chair treatment of myocardial infarction in the 1950s and his protégé Dr. Bernard Lown was an early innovator in the development of the coronary care unit in the 1960s.{{cite journal |last1=Julian |first1=D |title=The evolution of the coronary care unit |journal=Cardiovascular Research |date=September 2001 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=621–624 |doi=10.1016/S0008-6363(01)00365-0|pmid=11530092 |doi-access=free }}

After a 10-year affiliation with Faulkner Hospital in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston, BWH merged with the community hospital in 2012 to form Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital.{{cite web|title=Preliminary Review of PHS Proposed Acquisition|url=http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/hpc/hpc-preliminary-review-of-phs-ssh-harbor-12-18-2013.pdf|publisher=Commonwealth of Massachusetts Health Policy Commission|date=18 December 2013|quote=PHS is now called Mass General Brigham|website=mass.gov|pages=1, 5|access-date=8 November 2014|archive-date=17 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317134432/http://www.mass.gov/anf/docs/hpc/hpc-preliminary-review-of-phs-ssh-harbor-12-18-2013.pdf|url-status=dead}}

In April 2017, Brigham and Women's announced they would be offering voluntary buyouts to 1,600 staff in an effort to control costs. The hospital was profitable, but this move was due to higher labor and other costs amid stagnant payments from insurance companies. The hospital also needs to pay for two large projects, a $550 million new outpatient and research building that opened the previous year and a $335 million new software system launched in 2015.{{cite news|last=Dayal McCluskey|first=Priyanka |date=2017-04-27|title=Brigham and Women's offers buyouts to 1,600 workers|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/04/27/brigham-hospital-offers-voluntary-buyouts-workers/ziDBNctyyioYrRL0GJ2t0J/story.html|access-date=2017-04-27}}

Also in April 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts announced that Brigham and Women's Hospital and its nonprofit hospital and physicians network, Partners HealthCare, agreed to pay a $10 million fine to resolve allegations that a stem cell research lab fraudulently obtained federal grant funding.{{cite news|last=Finucane|first=Martin|date=2017-04-27|title=Partners, Brigham and Women's to pay $10m in research fraud case|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/27/million-settlement-announced-brigham-and-women-research-fraud-case/Tml7mJl1isJhUwSOZIyNlO/story.html|access-date=2017-04-27}}

In the late 2010s, Brigham Health contracted with Evergrande to provide medical training and consulting to set up the private Boao Evergrande International Hospital in China. The venture struggled due to lack of patients; the contract was allowed to lapse and Brigham branding was removed by mid-2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/26/metro/how-brigham-health-helped-create-chinese-hospital-elites-almost-nobody-came/ |title=How Brigham Health helped create a Chinese hospital for elites — and almost nobody came |author1=Deirdre Fernandes |author2=Rebecca Ostriker |author3=Liz Kowalczyk |author4=Patricia Wen |website=The Boston Globe |date=December 26, 2021}}

Rankings

Brigham and Women's Hospital has consistently been recognized as a top hospital in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and in 2025 was ranked as the joint #1 hospital in Massachusetts, alongside Massachusetts General Hospital.

In 2024, Brigham and Women’s Hospital was ranked first in the nation for obstetrics and gynecology for the third consecutive year and was ranked nationally in 12 specialties, including in diabetes & endocrinology (#2 in the nation), cancer (#4 in the nation), and rheumatology (#4 in the nation).

Quality and safety

In the early 1990s, BWH pioneered computerized physician order entry to prevent medication errors. BWH has received patient safety awards for its electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) and barcoding system, which places barcodes on patients' medications, name bands, and nurses' badges.{{cite web|url=http://www.brighamandwomens.org|title=Boston Hospital & Medical Center |publisher=Brigham and Women's Hospital |access-date=2 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511170319/https://www.brighamandwomens.org/|archive-date=11 May 2020|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal |last1=Cooley |first1=Thomas W. |last2=May |first2=Dianne |last3=Alwan |first3=Michael |last4=Sue |first4=Caron |title=Implementation of computerized prescriber order entry in four academic medical centers |journal=American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy |date=15 December 2012 |volume=69 |issue=24 |pages=2166–2173 |doi=10.2146/ajhp120108|pmid=23230041 }}

Research

BRI has worked on regenerative medicine, designing nanoparticles to attack different cancer types and starting a clinical trial for a type of Alzheimer's disease vaccine. BWH research also includes population studies including the Nurses' Health Study and Physicians' Health Study.

In 2017, the hospital began the first human clinical trials to reverse the aging process using NAD{{+}}. The trials are headed by biologist David Andrew Sinclair.{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170323141340.htm|title=Scientists unveil a giant leap for anti-aging|website=ScienceDaily |access-date=2 April 2018}}

In 2019, BWH opened the Brigham Preventive Genomics Clinic,{{Cite web|url=https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/brigham-and-women-s-launches-preventive-genomics-clinic.html|title=Brigham and Women's launches preventive genomics clinic|website=Beckers Hospital Review|date=20 August 2019 }} becoming one of the first hospitals in the United States{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2019/08/16/cadillac-dna-testing-genomics|title=Concierge DNA Testing: Boston Doctors And Genetic Counselors Consult, But It Will Cost You|website=www.wbur.org|date=16 August 2019 }} to offer DNA sequencing, reporting, and interpretation of disease-associated genes to healthy patients seeking to reduce their risk of future disease.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/top-u-s-medical-centers-roll-out-dna-sequencing-clinics-for-healthy-clients/|title=Top U.S. Medical Centers Roll Out DNA Sequencing Clinics for Healthy Clients|first=Rebecca|last=Robbins,STAT|website=Scientific American}}

See also

References

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