Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center
Moakley Building from Harrison Avenue
Geography
Location	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates	42°20′06″N 71°04′25″W / 42.3349°N 71.0735°W / 42.3349; -71.0735Coordinates: 42°20′06″N 71°04′25″W / 42.3349°N 71.0735°W / 42.3349; -71.0735
Organization
Care system	Private, Medicare, Medicaid
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	Boston University
Services
Emergency department	Level I trauma center
Beds	496
History
Founded	1855
Links
Website	http://www.bmc.org/
Lists	Hospitals in Massachusetts

Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a non-profit 496-bed academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest safety-net hospital and Level I trauma center in New England.

BMC employs more than 1,400 physicians — including 704 residents and fellows — and 1,505 nurses.

BMC was created by the formal merger of Boston City Hospital (BCH) which was the first municipal hospital in the United States and Boston University Medical Center Hospital (BUMCH) in July 1996 which was sponsored at founding by the Methodists and then by Boston University.

Boston University School of Medicine opened its doors November 5, 1873, combining the Female Medical College of Boston with the medical staff of the Massachusetts Homeopathic Hospital. Dr. Israel T. Talbot was the first chairman of the Department of Surgery at BU while also serving as the first Dean of BUSM.

The history of the Department of Surgery at BU dates back to 1946, when Dr. Reginald H. Smithwick was recruited from Massachusetts General Hospital to serve as Surgeon-in-Chief. With him, he brought a team of talented surgeons, including Dr. Jesse Thompson, a pioneer in vascular surgery; Dr. Douglas Farmer, a gastrointestinal surgeon; Dr. Chester Howe, a specialist in surgical infectious disease; and Dr. George Whitelaw, a noted educator and general surgeon. Smithwick served as chairman for nearly 20 years, and was followed by Dr. Richard Egdahl who was recruited from the Medical College of Virginia in 1963. Dr. Egdahl continued to pioneer the clinical research capabilities, and later retired in 1973. In 1997, Dr. Egdahl was named the first Alexander Graham Bell Professor of Entrepreneurial Medicine at BUSM.

Following periods of leadership by Drs. Lester Williams, Peter Mozden, Robert Hobson, Edward Spatz and James Becker, Gerard Doherty assumed the position of Chair of the Department of Surgery in 2012.