Affiliated Hospitals Center (Boston, Mass.)

A charitable corporation, known as the Affiliated Hospitals Center, Incorporated, was established in 1962 for the purpose of exploring the consolidation of the facilities of several of the Harvard affiliated teaching hospitals in the Longwood Avenue area of Boston, Mass. In 1967 a working agreement was put together by the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and the newly formed Boston Hospital for Women formally supporting a plan for union. Soon after, a centralization of power under an official joint venture agreement gave the presidents of the participating hospitals and the Affiliated Hospitals Center president authority to proceed with the creation of a new, combined medical center.

In 1975, after many setbacks including increasing costs, unavailable land, and permit approvals delayed by community protests, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, the Robert B. Brigham Hospital, and the Boston Hospital for Women formally and legally merged into the Affiliated Hospitals Center, Inc. Each hospital operated as a division of the Affiliated Hospitals Center, Inc. until the staffs, departments, and operations of the three divisions could be combined into a single unit operating with new by-laws. The fully unified institution was complete with the adoption of the new name "Brigham and Women's Hospital" in May of 1980. The name Affiliated Hospitals Center, Inc., ceased to exist legally on September 30, 1980.

A charitable corporation, known as the Affiliated Hospitals Center, Incorporated, was established in 1962 for the purpose of exploring the “consolidation of the facilities of several of the Harvard affiliated teaching hospitals in the Longwood Avenue area; namely, the Boston Lying-in Hospital, The Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Free Hospital for Women, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, the Robert Breck Brigham, and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospitals.” This corporation formally replaced the multi-hospital Planning Committee established in the spring of 1960 which in turn had developed from an ad hoc hospital planning committee that began work in 1958 at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. The ad hoc committee was originally charged with solving some of the PBBH’s financial problems by identifying ways to share the costs of nursing education and laundry management among hospitals in the area. Informal discussions revealed an interest in cooperation on a broader basis among neighboring institutions to improve patient care.

By 1961 plans had been formed to combine the facilities of the separate institutions and construct a new hospital complex. Credit is given to Dean George Packer Berry of the Harvard Medical School for conceiving and initiating the combining of the six hospitals into one. By the time of the establishment of the aforementioned Affiliated Hospitals Center, Incorporated, the word “complex” had become verbal shorthand for the hospitals’ ambitions towards consolidation.

Dr. Robert J. Glaser assumed the full-time presidency of the Affiliated Hospitals Center on July 1, 1963. In 1964 Bertrand Goldberg Associates was selected to create preliminary designs for the new facilities. By 1965, problems involving land acquisition, financing, the negotiations over the ultimate autonomy and identity of the contributing hospitals, and the departure of Dr. Glaser began to slow progress towards the realization of consolidation plans.

On February 14, 1967 a working agreement called “A Plan for a Medical Center” was put together by the Robert B. Brigham, the Peter Bent Brigham, and the newly formed Boston Hospital for Women (the result of a merger between the Boston Lying-in and the Free Hospital for Women in 1966). The three hospitals formally resolved to support the plan for union without waiting for the other potential partners. This was followed by a centralization of power under a new Joint Venture Agreement giving the presidents of the participating hospitals and the Affiliated Hospitals Center president (F. Stanton Deland) authority to proceed with the creation of the new medical center “as fast as possible.”

Although expectations were for joint operations and a completed facility by 1974, many setbacks delayed progress over the next several years. The escalation of building costs raised the project budget from the estimated 50 million dollars to 80 million. Political regimes changed and the expected amounts from government grants fell precipitously. Harvard University was no longer able to make land available for the construction. Regulatory authorities were slow with the necessary approvals due to community protest, chiefly regarding the dislocation of tenants in the construction area and the potential environmental impact of Harvard’s proposed power plant (Medical Area Total Energy Plant, or MATEP) designed to supply energy to the Affiliated Hospitals Center and nearby hospitals.

In spite of the delays, the three hospitals moved forward with plans for amalgamation. On January 1, 1975 the Peter Bent Brigham, the Robert B. Brigham, and the Boston Hospital for Women formally merged into the Affiliated Hospitals Center, Inc., “legally, finally, and irrevocably.” Each hospital then operated as a division of the Affiliated Hospitals Center. Groundbreaking for the long-planned-for facility happened on December 20, 1975. From then until 1980, as the new hospital tower rose and parts of the Peter Bent were re-purposed, the staffs, departments, and operations of the three divisions evolved into a single unit operating under new by-laws. Patients were relocated from the former facilities into the new facilities beginning on July 9, 1980, and the obstetrical services and nurseries were moved to the tower at the end of February in 1981.

Twenty years after conception, the unified institution was finally complete with the adoption of the new name “Brigham and Women’s Hospital” in May of 1980. It was officially dedicated in November that same year. “The name Affiliated Hospitals Center, Inc., ceased to exist legally on September 30, 1980.”