Harvard Teaching Hospitals Expand

Several of Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) teaching hospitals have been rapidly expanding in the past few months, opening up new facilities, negotiating mergers with other existing hospitals and planning additional operating spaces in Boston.

According to HMS Dean for Medical Education Malcolm Cox, these efforts will provide better academic and clinical programs for students, and bolster economic growth in Boston.

“Expansions of this type are common features of the current health care system, and...in many cases they provide HMS with opportunities to enhance and diversify its educational and research programs,” he said. “Taken together, the Harvard medical community is also an important engine for economic growth in the greater Boston area.”

Associate Dean for Academic and Clinical Programs Jules L. Dienstag said that the expansion is the result of hospitals’ major efforts to remain modern in providing health care as they increasingly outgrow working space—a trend which has been getting worse for the past 20 years.

“In today’s environment, hospitals have to continuously update their facility in order to keep up with delivering ideal care,” he said. “At MGH [Massachusetts General Hospital], where I work, we have completely outgrown the outpatient space.”

According to Dienstag, patients are increasingly being treated as outpatients as treatment methods become better and more advanced.

“Much of the care delivered in the hospital can be delivered more efficiently in the outpatient area,” he said. “It doesn’t require hospitalization for patients who don’t need it.”

However, the expansion efforts will not increase the number of beds each hospital carries. For that to happen, said Dienstag, a hospital must provide a certificate justifying the need for additional bed space.

“Many people feel that there are too many beds,” said Dienstag. “The number of beds have actually been contracted.”

Children’s Hospital, which was ranked second by U.S. News & World Report, has been pursuing an aggressive policy to reach more patients.

According to Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs Michelle R. Davis, the hospital is establishing a $4.5 million infant intensive care unit in partnership with Beverly Hospital—a community hospital 22 miles north of Boston. Children’s Hospital is also finalizing a $53 million cash purchase of the privately owned Sterling Medical Center, and entering into negotiations with the Floating Hospital for Children, which is a part of the Tufts-New England Medical Center (NEMC).

“These most recent efforts are connected to a clinical services strategy that is really about access to high-quality, affordable care,” she said. “We are at capacity at the Longwood campus, and what is very attractive about NEMC and Sterling is that they have capacity.”

Children’s Hospital has managed to pull out of deficits accrued during the late 1990s—last year, it had a surplus of $28.7 million, and in 2002, $15 million.

“After significant losses, we have been in recovery mode because of our aggressive payoff strategies,” said Davis.

In addition to Children’s Hospital, Partners Healthcare, which was founded by Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), is also creating additional operating space.

Last week, MGH opened up the $219 million Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care. Named after a $25-million gift from the Yawkey Foundation—once headed by the Tom and Jean Yawkey who were also owners of the Boston Red Sox—the center will be the new home for MGH’s children’s hospital, musculoskeletal program, cardiology program and women’s health departments.

“Part of the reason [for Yawkey’s construction] was to bring most of the outpatients to the front of the hospital,” said Kathy Lee, Yawkey Center operations coordinator. “Now, all the practices are in a central location—this makes things much more organized and enhances patient workflow.”

BWH’s expansion plans are pending approval. If all goes as planned, BWH will have a $315 million building that will boast 13 new floors of surgery rooms, outpatient services and 30 additional beds.

“BWH’s operating suites could no longer be renovated—they need more space” said Dienstag. “They now have big MRI imagers in the rooms, so it’s going to look very different.”

—Staff writer Risheng Xu can be reached at xu4@fas.harvard.edu