Tufts Medical Center Explained

Tufts Medical Center
Org/Group:Tufts Medicine
Region:Boston
State:Massachusetts
Country:US
Healthcare:Private
Funding:Non-profit
Type:Teaching
Emergency:I
Affiliation:Tufts University School of Medicine
Beds:415
Founded:1796 (as Boston Dispensary)
Publictransit:MBTA

Tufts Medical Center (until 2008 Tufts-New England Medical Center), a 15-building campus located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a downtown Boston hospital midway between Chinatown and the Boston Theater District.

The hospital is a community-based full service medical center. It is also the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine and the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, where all full-time Tufts physicians hold faculty appointments. Tufts Medical Center is subdivided into a full-service adult hospital and the Tufts Children's Hospital, which closed in 2022[1] (formerly the Boston Floating Hospital for Children).

It is an integrated part of the TuftsMedicine Health System of which in addition to the Tufts Medical Center includes the hospitals Lowell General Hospital,Lawrence Memorial Hospital (Medford, MA) and MelroseWakefield Hospital, home health services, and physician networks.[2] [3] [4]

It is also a major center for bio-medical research. Tufts Medical Center's Interim President is Phil Okala.[5] [6] [7] Tufts Medical Center is located within Boston, but also has satellite locations in the suburbs of Quincy, Chelmsford, Framingham, among others.

History

Tufts Medical Center's origins date back to 1796 when the Boston Dispensary was established as the first permanent medical facility in New England and one of the first in the United States. Modeled after a similar dispensary in London, the Boston Dispensary's mission was to provide subscription based, free medical care to the city's "worthy poor" in their homes. Early donors included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.[8] [9]

In 1894, the Boston Floating Hospital for Children was established by Rev. Rufus Tobey. The first ship, the Clifford, was lost in a fire on June 1, 1927.[10] After this, the floating hospital relocated to shore and became a permanent part of the Tufts Medical Center campus.[11]

At the time there was little medical help for the many, often fatal, childhood illness that befell infants and small children. Because many people believed in the cleansing and therapeutic qualities of sea air to improve health, Tobey thought that sending the sick children out onto Boston Harbor on a boat and having them be seen by a doctor would be very beneficial. The enterprise was successful from the start and for the next 33 years, two successive ships were home to the hospital for children in Boston Harbor. In 1931, after the second Floating Hospital ship was destroyed in a fire, the hospital was relocated to two successive buildings onshore.

The hospital's name has evolved over the years. The well known name of New England Medical Center was established in 1930 as a result of a union of the Boston Dispensary, the Boston Floating Hospital for Children and the Pratt Diagnostic Clinic. Tufts University School of Medicine joined as an affiliate. In 1968 it was renamed Tufts-New England Medical Center (Tufts-NEMC) to reflect the growing relationship between the hospital and the medical school. The affiliation agreement they adopted still stands.[12] The name was shortened to Tufts Medical Center on March 4, 2008.

Tufts Medical became a leader in heart transplants in 2016, and in December 2022 announced the relaunch of its liver transplant program which closed in 2007. The program is housed within the Abdominal Transplant Institute.[13]

In January 2022, Mike Tarnoff, MD announced that Tufts Medical Center closed the doors of its pediatric hospital after being open for 128 years.[14] [15] [16] The hospital's 41 pediatric beds were converted into adult ICU and medical/surgical beds and pediatric patients were sent to Boston Children's Hospital beginning in July. Tufts nurses protested the closure.[17] [18]

Numbers and revenue

In the fiscal year 2021, the hospital revenue was $1,371,166 million.[19]

As of 2021, the hospital had a total of 415 licensed beds: 206 medical/surgical beds, 48 adult intensive care beds, 57 pediatric beds, 50 pediatric and neonatal intensive care beds, 34 post-partum beds, 20 adult psychiatric beds, and 24 infant bassinets.

Research

Tufts MC has a history of achievement in scientific research and clinical advances. Of note was Tufts' research that led to the discovery of drugs that prevent the body's rejection of transplanted organs, coining the term "immunosuppression." Research also brought to light the link between obesity and heart disease. Tufts ranks among the top 5 percent of the nation's institutions that receive federal research funds.[20]

Innovations

Tufts Medical Center and its predecessor institutions are responsible for numerous medical innovations, including

Emergency medicine

The Emergency Department is equipped for the evaluation, resuscitation and stabilization of patients of all ages who present with acute illness or injury. The Tufts Children's Hospital is the home of the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute and is a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center (the oldest pediatric trauma center in the country).[23] The hospital has been verified by the American College of Surgeons as a Level I trauma center since 2012,[23] one of 5 Boston adult trauma centers. Tufts Medical Center is part of the consortium of hospitals which operates Boston MedFlight, and is equipped with a rooftop helipad.[24]

Transportation

Tufts Medical Center is located in Boston's Chinatown, near many highways including Interstates 90 and 93. The Tufts Medical Center MBTA Station is on the MBTA Orange Line and there is a connecting Silver Line stop beneath the overpass connecting the main atrium with Floating Hospital for Children. Also within a short walking distance is Boylston station on the Green Line and South Station, a major transportation hub serving the MBTA Commuter Rail, MBTA Red Line, Greyhound Lines, Amtrak, and several Chinatown buses with links to New York City.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: LeMoult . Craig . 2022-01-20 . Tufts Medical Center plans to close its children's hospital . 2023-02-02 . wgbh.org . en.
  2. Web site: About Tufts Medicine // Lowell General Hospital . 2023-02-02 . www.lowellgeneral.org.
  3. https://www.melrosewakefield.org/ MelroseWakefield Healthcare
  4. Web site: Hallmark Health Joins Wellforce Tufts Medical Center. www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org. en. 2018-04-19.
  5. Web site: McGrath . Cassie . March 29, 2024 . Two top executives depart Tufts Medicine . 2024-03-29 . www.bizjournals.com.
  6. Web site: About Tufts Medical Center | Tufts Medicine . en. 2024-03-20 .
  7. Web site: 6 things to know about Dr. Michael Wagner, CEO of Tufts . 2023-02-02 . www.beckershospitalreview.com. 17 July 2017 .
  8. Revolutionary Care Then and Now: A History of Tufts-New England Medical Center Founded in 1796
  9. Web site: Maron . Barry J. . Tufts Medical Center (Boston, MA) . AHA Journals.
  10. Web site: 12 Things You Didn't Know About The History Of Boston's Floating Hospital For Children . 2023-02-17 . www.wbur.org . 3 October 2014 . en.
  11. Web site: Ducharme . Jamie . 2017-01-19 . TBT: When Tufts Floating Hospital Sailed the Boston Harbor . 2023-02-17 . Boston Magazine . en-US.
  12. [hdl:10427/14829|Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History. Ed. Anne Sauer<!-- Bot generated title -->]
  13. Web site: Phillips . Ariana . 2022-12-06 . Tufts Medical Center relaunches liver transplant program after 15 years . 2023-02-24 . The Tufts Daily . en.
  14. Web site: Dayal McCluskey . Priyanka . Tufts Medical Center will close its pediatric hospital after more than a century of treating sick kids - The Boston Globe . 2023-02-24 . BostonGlobe.com . en-US.
  15. News: Baumgaertner . Emily . 2022-10-11 . As Hospitals Close Children's Units, Where Does That Leave Lachlan? . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-24 . 0362-4331.
  16. Web site: Cristantiello . Ross . 2022-05-08 . What we know about the plans for patients and doctors as Tufts closes its children's hospital . 2023-02-24 . www.boston.com . en-US.
  17. Web site: Sudborough . Susannah . 2022-04-04 . 'We're taking away 41 very essential beds': Nurses protest closure of Tufts Children's Hospital . 2023-02-25 . www.boston.com . en-US.
  18. Web site: Niezgoda . Abbey . 2022-01-27 . Parents and Kids Push Back Against Plan to Close Tufts Children's Hospital . 2023-02-25 . NBC Boston . en-US.
  19. News: Dayal McCluskey . Priyanka . At Tufts Medical Center, pressure to cut costs in a city rich with hospitals . . 2017-07-13 . 2017-07-13 .
  20. Web site: About Tufts Medical Center in Boston, MA. www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org. en.
  21. Web site: Tufts Nutrition . The Unstoppable Frances Stern . 2019 .
  22. http://www.camneelyfoundation.org/neelyhouse/index.php The Neely House, funded by the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care
  23. http://www.facs.org/trauma/verified.html American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma
  24. Web site: Emergency Services in Boston Tufts Medical Center. www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org. en.