Affiliated Hospitals Center Plan Would Eliminate 35 Housing Units

Directors of the Affiliated Hospitals Center (AHC)-a planned amalgamation of three Boston hospitals-will announce their latest plans on April 15, calling for the elimination of at least 35 low-income housing units.

The latest plans for the AHC were disclosed last night at a faculty-student meeting at the Medical School, but no tenants were present.

The plan also eliminates a previously included ambulatory center, described last year by the chief physician at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital as one of the most important features of the project.

Three Hospitals

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, the Boston Hospital for Women and Robert Breck Brigham Hospital have been planning to join into the AHC for 15 years. Harvard will use the AHC for teaching facilities.

The project was attacked during the 1969 University Hall occupation when students discovered the new hospital would eliminate 182 low-cost housing units while not providing for sufficient relocation.

Since then, Harvard has promised to subsidize any rent differences for relocated tenants and build low-income units. Harvard has promised to get tenants' approval before building housing for them.

The AHC will no longer house the hospitals in one superstructure, as originally planned. Richard D. Wittrup, executive vice-president of the AHC, said this change, and the elimination of the ambulatory center, are due to lack of funds.

The new buildings will still eliminate at least 35 housing units, and probably more after the exact boundaries of the structures are determined. Con-struction on the hospitals may start by the end of the year although the low-income housing to replace the buildings torn down won't be started until next spring, according to John Sharrat, the builder working with Roxbury tenants on the housing plans.

'Not a Problem'

Henry C. Meadow, associate dean of the Faculty of Medicine for Financial Affairs, said at last night's meeting that providing new accommodations for the tenants will not be a problem. "The normal turnover will create space," he said.

"I know of at least ten families in those apartments who intend to stay, probably more," one tenant who has been working on the housing plans said later last night. "With the present low-income housing shortage, Harvard will need new housing to accommodate the people evicted," she said.

Meadow said that construction on the hospital will probably start on the empty sites first.