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Development Office
BMC is the largest free care provider in Massachusetts. Half of our patients earn less than $17,000 annually. At the same time, U.S.
News and World Report recognizes BMC as one of the nation's best hospitals for heart services, neurology and neurosurgery,
kidney disease, rheumatology, and geriatrics. The AARP ranks BMC #32 among U.S. hospitals. Thus, BMC is both a community
health provider and a top research and teaching institution.
The formation of Boston Medical Center in July 1996 combined the administration and services of two city-owned hospitals,
the 130-year-old Boston City Hospital and the Boston Specialty and Rehabilitation Hospital, with the private, 148-year-old
Boston University Medical Center Hospital. This historic first merger of its kind in the United States unified two
contiguous campuses, enhanced by the presence of the Boston University Schools of Medicine, Public Health and Dentistry.
BMC is the primary teaching affiliate of Boston University School of Medicine, and hosts a combined pediatric residency
program with Childrens Hospital. A 30-member board of trustees provides oversight, financial support and steers BMC's
mission to serve the populace of Boston and its environs, as well as patients from throughout New England and across the
United States.
BMC has 547 licensed beds and provides a comprehensive range of inpatient, clinical and diagnostic services in more than
70 areas of medical specialties and subspecialties. 4,900 employees, including 1,124 physicians, 550 residents, 1,164
nurses, and 35 interpreters in 17 languages available 24-hours a day, serve patients' various needs. BMC has 800,000
patient visits a year and over 25,000 admissions. In 2000, the World Health Organization designated BMC as one of the
first U.S. hospitals meeting its "Baby Friendly" standard of commitment to breastfeeding. The hospital's Level I Trauma
Center, serviced by a heliport, handles 30% of the city's emergency cases.
BMC's viability as a safety net hospital has not faltered. Instead, it has been strengthened:
| • | By Boston HealthNet, which partners
BMC with 15 community health centers and Boston University School of Medicine in a network with more than 1 million
patient visits each year; |
| • | Through a clinical affiliation
with Quincy Medical Center, which enabled that community hospital 10 miles south of Boston to avoid closure and continue
serving a population in need; |
| • | By the efforts of 70 multi-lingual
outreach workers who have enrolled thousands of uninsured people in the BMC HealthNet Plan, a Medicaid managed care plan
administered in partnership with the state Medicaid office and HCFA, and the CareNet Plan for the working poor; and |
| • | Through innovative programs -
such as an on-site food pantry, family advocacy lawyers, free screening programs, and literacy initiatives - that address
non-clinical barriers to good health.
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In July 2001, BMC celebrated its fifth anniversary. Some had said the public-private marriage wouldn't survive. Instead, BMC has thrived while remaining an all-important sanctuary for the working poor and uninsured, delivering over $226 million of free care in fiscal 2001 and operating at a modest gain. Quite a feat for an institution that faced potential closure five years ago! The recruitment of top experts has strengthened BMC's physician ranks. In the year 2000, the hospital's market share had grown to 18.6% of inpatient admissions in its service area. The momentum abounding here is palpable. JCAHO surveyors visiting in 2001 awarded BMC an accreditation score of 91, commenting that they had never seen an institution "so fully living out its mission."
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