Brigham and Women's Hospital

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Partners HealthCare
Geography
Location	75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Organization
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	Harvard Medical School
Services
Emergency department	Level I trauma center
Helipad	FAA LID: MA39
Beds	793
History
Founded	1980
Links
Website	http://www.brighamandwomens.org
Lists	Hospitals in Massachusetts

Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH, "The Brigham") is the largest hospital of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. It is Harvard Medical School's second largest teaching affiliate with 793 beds. With Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two founding members of Partners HealthCare, the largest healthcare provider in Massachusetts.

Overview

BWH is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and an international leader in many areas of adult medicine. Brigham and Women's is a partner in the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks BWH among the top hospitals in the United States evidenced by its inclusion on the Honor Roll of America’s Top Hospitals every year since the list began. In 2012, BWH ranked among the top 10 in seven categories: Cancer, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gynecology, Nephrology, Rheumatology, and Pulmonology. The top 20 list included Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, and Neurology and Neurosurgery.

Core service lines

• Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center: The center brings together a cancer institute and a hospital, creating 13 specialized disease centers that integrate medical, surgical, and radiation treatments with the latest trials.
• Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center:
• Brigham and Women’s Orthopedic and Arthritis Center: BWH has one of the largest orthopedic and arthritis programs in the world. The specialize in research and therapies for bone and joint disease and injury.
• Brigham and Women’s Neurosciences Institute: The BWH Neurosciences Institute offers treatments for all diseases of the nervous system. The institute integrates neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry and neuroradiology, with advanced research and clinical trials.
• Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health: With one of the largest obstetric and gynecology programs in the country, BWH specializes in high-risk obstetric care, newborn intensive care, infertility services, complex gynecologic surgery, and gender-specific care.

Quality and safety

In the early 1990s, BWH pioneered Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) to prevent medication errors. BWH has received patient safety awards for its electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) and bar-coding system, which places barcodes on patients’ medications, name bands and nurses’ badges. A nurse scans all three barcodes before administering a medication to ensure that each patient receives the correct medication and dosage at the correct time. The orthopedic surgery department focused on patients' satisfaction for those who received knee and hip replacements. Leaders in the department included John Wright, Mary Anne Kenyon, and Carolyn Beagan, but they gave little attention to holding costs down.-->

Research

In 2009 the BWH Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) received $485 million in research support from all sources. For over a decade, it has been one of the two hospitals receiving the most National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding among independent hospitals in the United States. It employs over 3,300 researchers.

BRI has worked on regenerative medicine, designing nanoparticles to attack different types of cancer, 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.

The 21st century has seen dramatic shifts in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to lung carcinomas, beginning with the discovery of EGFR mutations and their role in directing management with targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Since 2003 this has reshaped the approach at the molecular diagnostic testing center at the Brigham and Women's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

History

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

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

Brigham and Women's represents the 1980 merger of three Harvard-affiliated Boston hospitals:

• Peter Bent Brigham Hospital established in 1913
• Robert Breck Brigham Hospital established in 1914
• Boston Hospital for Women established in 1966 as a merger of:

• Boston Lying-In Hospital established in 1832 as one of America’s first maternity hospitals
• Free Hospital for Women established in 1875

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.

BWH milestones

Allergic and immunologic diseases

• 2011 – Became the only National Institutes of Health funded Center for research into the cause and treatment of aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, a severe and debilitating form of asthma.
• 2010 – Established one of only two Mastocytosis Centers in the US, involving collaborative efforts from Allergy, Hematology, Pathology, Dermatology, and Gastroenterology.
• 2001 – Developed the largest referral center for the diagnosis and management of drug allergy in the US.
• 1997 – Elucidated the biology of the entire cysteinyl leukotriene pathway and its receptors, leading to the first new drug class in decades for the treatment of asthma.

Cardiovascular, cardiac surgery and vascular surgery

• 2012 – Performs the first “valve-in-valve” transcatheter valve in a mitral bioprosthetic using a minimally invasive transatrial approach
• 2012 – Performs New England’s first total artificial heart transplant
• 2011 – Performs 600th heart transplant
• 2005 – Researchers are the first to prove that measuring C-reactive protein (CRP) levels is as important as measuring cholesterol at predicting heart attack
• 2004 – National guidelines on cholesterol changed based on BWH research discoveries
• 2000 – first hospital in New England to use a filter during stenting to prevent heart disease
• 1996 – research concludes cholesterol-lowering medication can save lives in patients following a first heart attack
• 1992 – A gene responsible for a severe, early-onset form of hypertension which runs in families is identified at BWH.
• 1992 – performs the first heart-lung transplant in Massachusetts.
• 1991 – First implant of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in New England
• 1989 – Physicians Heart Study is the first to prove aspirin could prevent a first heart attack (BWH).
• 1989 – researchers are the first to map the gene for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• 1984 – The first heart transplant in New England is performed at BWH.
• 1984 – researchers launch a series of national clinical studies known as the TIMI trials (Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction), which demonstrate that new "clot busting" (thrombolytic) drugs can save heart muscle and improve patients’ chances of surviving a heart attack. The series of 24 trials, eight which are ongoing, has revolutionized the care of heart-attack patients.
• 1962 – DC cardioversion is used for the first time to restore normal rhythm to a heart in atrial fibrillation (Peter Bent Brigham Hospital).
• 1949 – Carl Walter, MD, invents and perfects a way to collect, store, and transfuse blood
• 1944 – First in the world to perform catheterization of the right heart and pulmonary artery
• 1923 – Dr. Elliot Cutler of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital performed the world’s first successful heart valve surgery.

Neurology and neurosurgery

• 1994 – Unveils the world's first Intra-Operative Magnetic Resonance Imaging System for neurosurgery, specifically brain tumor craniotomy
• 1992 – Researchers discover that a protein (amyloid beta) thought to be an early, causative feature of Alzheimer’s disease is also present in healthy individuals, and that patients with Alzheimer’s produce too much of this protein or cannot break it down properly.
• 1931 – Harvey Cushing, MD, performs his 2,000th brain tumor operation.
• 1913 – Harvey Cushing, MD, named the first Surgeon-in-Chief of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital

Orthopedics and arthritis

• 2012 – Together with collaborators from across the world, BWH rheumatologists and geneticists have discovered more than 50 rheumatoid arthritis risk alleles.
• 2012 – Founded the Cardiovascular Disease in Rheumatology multi-specialty clinic that serves patients with systemic rheumatic disease at high risk for cardiovascular disease.
• 2009 – As a collaborative effort between rheumatology and orthopedics, established a multidisciplinary Osteoarthritis Center, which seeks to better understand this degenerative joint disease through basic and clinical research and to streamline patient care.
• 2007 – Incorporation of a multidisciplinary clinic, the Interstitial Lung Disease Center, which combines rheumatology, pulmonary medicine, pathology, radiology and cardiology to diagnose and treat fibrotic and autoimmune lung disorders.
• 2006 – Incorporation of a multidisciplinary center, the Lupus and Antiphospholipid Center, which combines rheumatology, nephrology, dermatology, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology and cardiology to treat systemic lupus erythematosus and the antiphospholipid syndrome.
• 2006 – Established the Center for Skin and Related Musculoskeletal Diseases, where rheumatologist and dermatologists distinguish the causes of arthritis in patients with psoriasis, and provide advanced therapies.
• 2005 – Established the Rheumatoid Arthritis Center to integrate research in epidemiology, autoimmunity and genetics with coordinated clinical care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
• 2002 – Developed key patient registries including the ground breaking longitudinal study of rheumatoid arthritis, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Rheumatoid Arthritis Sequential Study (BRASS), which has grown to over 1300 patients and is at the center of critical studies in genetics, therapeutic outcomes and disease activity.
• 1985 – Pioneering work in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis published in The New England Journal of Medicine that proved the efficacy of low-dose methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. This was the first of many such therapeutic studies with methotrexate and other therapies over the next 25 years.
• 1977 – Development and evolution of the first Multipurpose Arthritis Center continuously funded by the NIH that brings together clinical researchers, biostatistics, epidemiology, clinicians and bench researchers to examine patient-oriented issues in rheumatology (Robert Breck Brigham Hospital) that is still in existence today.
• 1949 – Cortisone, a steroid treatment administered for the first time to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (Robert Breck Brigham Hospital)
• 1914 – The Robert Breck Brigham Hospital, founded with a bequest from Peter Bent Brigham’s nephew, opens to serve patients with arthritis and other debilitating joint diseases.

Radiology

• 2005 – The NIH awards a $5 million grant to the Image-Guided Therapy program and designates the program the National Center for Image Guided Therapy.
• 1994 – A research group, in collaboration with General Electric, introduces the world’s first open-configuration MRI unit designed for surgical procedures. With introduction of the open-configuration MRI, BWH establishes the Image-Guided Therapy program, co-led by Ferenc Jolesz, MD, and Clare Tempany, MD.
• 1922 – Merril C. Sosman, MD, becomes the chief radiologist of the PBBH x-ray department, a position he held for 34 years. During his tenure, Dr. Sosman was an internationally regarded physician, teacher, and author of clinical investigations.
• 1913 – The Peter Bent Brigham Hospital opens with an x-ray facility located on the lower level administrative section of the hospital. During the hospital’s first nine years, none of the physician’s recruited to lead the x-ray department remained in the position longer than 4 years.

Transplantation

• 2011 – Surgical team performs New England’s first bilateral hand transplant
• 2011 – Surgical team, led by Dr. Bohdan Pomahač, performed the first full face transplant in the United States, and third in the world.
• 2009 – Surgical team, led by Dr. Bohdan Pomahač, performed the first partial face transplant in New England, the second in the United States, and the seventh in the world.
• 2004 – Achieves another transplant "first". Hundreds of BWH staff — including doctors, nurses and intensive care staff — come in on their weekend time off to make possible five lung transplants in 36 hours.
• 2000 – Hospital performs the world's first quadruple transplant, harvesting four organs from a single donor — a kidney, two lungs and a heart — and transplanting them to four patients.
• 1995 – Performs the nation’s first triple organ transplant, removing three organs from a single donor — two lungs and a heart — and transplanting them into three patients, giving each a new lease on life.
• 1992 – Performs the first heart-lung transplant in Massachusetts.
• 1984 – The first heart transplant in New England is performed at BWH
• 1954 – The first successful human organ transplant, a kidney transplanted from one identical twin to another, was accomplished at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. Joseph Murray, MD, received the Nobel Prize in 1990 for this work and the subsequent development of immunosuppressive drugs.

Women’s health

• 2007 – New England's first robotic-assisted laparoscopic tubal sterilization reversal is performed at BWH.
• 2006 – Becomes the first hospital in New England to perform a robotic-assisted radical hysterectomy. In 2007, New England's first robotic-assisted laparoscopic tubal sterilization reversal is performed at BWH.
• 1994 – The 12-story Center for Women and Newborns opens. The facility, which in 1999 is named the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health, sets a new standard in obstetrical and newborn care, featuring home-like birthing suites, private postpartum and antepartum rooms that promote family-focused care, and a 46-bed Newborn Intensive Care Unit with overnight rooms for parents.
• 1993 – Is selected by the National Institutes of Health as one of 16 Vanguard Centers nationwide to help lead the Women’s Health Initiative, the largest clinical trial ever undertaken in American women.
• 1976 – Researchers launch the Nurses’ Health Study, enrolling 122,000 women in America’s first study of women’s health. Launched to explore the link between birth control pills and cancer, the ongoing NHS is examining associations between lifestyle factors (diet, smoking, exercise) and disease.
• 1973 – Non-invasive fetal heart monitoring is developed, enabling clinicians to more safely and accurately detect fetal distress during labor (Boston Hospital for Women).
• 1944 – Researchers fertilize a human ovum in a test tube for the first time (Free Hospital for Women).
• 1883 – Antiseptic techniques are introduced to ward off infection following childbirth, dramatically reducing the maternal/child death rate (Boston Lying-In).
• 1875 – The Free Hospital for Women is founded "for poor women affected with diseases peculiar to their sex or in need of surgical aid," according to its mission statement. Each of five beds is sponsored by a different charitable group.
• 1847 – Anesthesia is administered for the first time in childbirth (Boston Lying-In Hospital)
• 1832 – Following fundraising appeals to individuals and various charitable organizations, the Boston Lying-In Hospital, one of the nation’s first maternity hospitals, opens its doors to women unable to afford in-home medical care.

Other important milestones

• 2011 – Unveils the world’s first Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) suite which gives interventional radiologists and surgeons immediate access to a full array of advanced imaging modalities for use during multiple procedures
• 2004 – Becomes the first hospital to implement a complete Electronic Medication Administration System, electronically linking physicians writing prescriptions, pharmacists reviewing orders, and nurses administering them.
• 1999 – Amid national discourse on the need to reduce errors in medicine, BWH researchers report that the hospital’s own computerized drug-order entry system reduces the incidence of serious medication-related errors by 55 percent, setting a new benchmark for the country.
• 1994 – Unveils the world’s first Intra-Operative Magnetic Resonance Imaging System. This invention, which enables clinicians to take images of the body’s interior during surgery, makes it possible to cure patients with brain tumors that previously were considered inoperable.
• 1994 – Joins with Massachusetts General Hospital to form Partners HealthCare System.
• 1991 – Is acknowledged as having received more citations in scientific papers than any other hospital in the world for the period 1986 through 1990.
• 1980 – Brigham and Women’s Hospital opens its doors, welcoming patients to a new, state-of-the-art facility six years after the formal affiliation of three distinguished predecessors, the Boston Hospital for Women, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital.
• 1949 – Dr. Carl Walter invents and perfects a way to collect, store and transfuse blood — developing the world’s first blood bank (Peter Bent Brigham Hospital).
• 1947 – An early form of a kidney dialysis machine is developed at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.
• 1929 – The first polio victim is saved using the newly developed Drinker Respirator (iron lung) at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in collaboration with Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Harvard School of Public Health.
• 1926 – Drs. William P. Murphy, George Whipple and George Minot discover that liver extracts cure pernicious anemia, previously a rapidly fatal illness. In 1934, they share the Nobel Prize for this work (Peter Bent Brigham Hospital).
• 1913 – The Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, established "for the care of sick persons in indigent circumstances" with a bequest from restauranteur and real estate baron Peter Bent Brigham, opens and the first patients are admitted for care.

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External links

• Official Brigham and Women's Hospital website