Massachusetts General Hospital (often abbreviated to "Mass General" or just "MGH") is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and biomedical research facility in Boston, Massachusetts.

Founded in 1811, it is owned and operated by Partners HealthCare (which also owns Brigham and Women's Hospital). It is the third oldest general hospital in the United States, and the oldest and largest in New England.

It was at MGH in 1846 that ether was first used in medical practice. The Ether Dome still exists and is one of the oldest operating theatres in existence.

The hospital has 893 beds and admits over 44,000 patients each year. The surgical staff performs over 30,000 operations yearly. The obstetrics service handles over 3,500 births each year. The hospital handles over 1 million outpatients each year at its main campus, as well as its five satellite facilities in Boston at Back Bay, Charlestown, Chelsea, Everett, and Revere. In the fall of 2004, the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care opened. This 440,000 square feet, ten floor facility is the largest and most comprehensive outpatient building in New England. With more than 10,000 employees, the hospital is the largest nongovernment employer in Boston. It is sometimes jokingly described as "The Medical-Industrial Complex."

Massachusetts General Hospital is affiliated with Harvard Medical School and is its original teaching hospital. MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of more than $400 million.

Though it has its own chief of psychiatry, MGH is closely affiliated with nearby McLean Hospital, which is also affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

MGH is considered one of the best hospitals in the world (hence the in-jest nickname, "Man's Greatest Hospital"). It consistently ranks as one of the country's top hospitals in U.S. News and World Report.

MGH is located at 55 Fruit Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The campus is in an area formerly known as the West End, adjacent to the Charles River and Beacon Hill. The closest MBTA stop is Charles/MGH on the Red Line. Ironically, Charles/MGH is the only stop on the main branch of the Red Line that is not handicapped accessible, although renovations are underway.

Trivia

• MGH distributes Shasta soda beverages to its patients. All vending facilities vend Coca-Cola products. There are four main food service areas for the general public. They include the Eat Street Cafe in the lower level of the Ellison Building, the Blossom Street Cafe in the Cox lobby, Coffee Central, and a cafe in the Yawkey outpatient center.
• MGH is referred to as "MBH" or "Man's Best Hospital" in Samuel Shem's satirical novel, The House of God.
• There have been at least three mentions of Massachusetts General Hospital in fictional television series and movies:
  • In the long-running series M*A*S*H, the character Major Charles Emerson Winchester III was said to have previously been the hospital's Head of Thoracic Surgery
  • In the series Arrested Development, Tobias Fünke worked at the hospital as chief resident during his psychiatry training
  • In the series Alias, Arvind Sloan mentions that Sidney's psychiatrist trained at the hospital.
  • In the movie Sleeping with the Enemy, an MGH neurologist gives the characters of Julia Roberts and Patrick Bergen a ride on his sailboat off the coast of Cape Cod.
  • In the movie Malice, the lead character played by Alec Baldwin is an MGH-trained surgeon with a "God complex".

External links

• Hospital website

Hospitals in Massachusetts | Teaching_hospitals | Registered Historic Places in Massachusetts | 1811 establishments

Hospital General de Massachusetts | Massachusetts General Hospital