Boston Hospital for Women

Boston Hospital for Women was formed on May 2, 1966 as the result of a merger between two Harvard affiliated teaching hospitals that concentrated on women's health issues. The Boston Lying-in Hospital, established in 1832, was a facility focusing on obstetrics, and the Free Hospital for Women, organized in 1875, was dedicated to gynecological care and research. The merger of the two women's hospitals was one of many steps taken towards the larger goal of consolidating several Harvard teaching hospitals into a single complex.

After the merger, the Boston Lying-in Hospital was referred to as the Lying-in Division, and the Free Hospital for Women was referred to as the Parkway division. In 1975, the Boston Hospital for Women merged with the Peter Bent Brigham and the Robert B. Brigham Hospitals forming the Affiliated Hospitals Center. After the merger of the three hospitals the name Boston Hospital for Women was used to refer to a division of the Affiliated Hospital Center.

In 1980, at the time of the opening of a long-awaited, state-of-the-art facility, the Affiliated Hospitals Center became known as the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.

From the description of Records, 1926-1983 (bulk 1966-1979) (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 416797060

Boston Hospital for Women was formed on May 2, 1966 as the result of a merger between two Harvard affiliated teaching hospitals that concentrated on women’s health issues. The Boston Lying-in Hospital, established in 1832, was a facility focusing on obstetrics, and the Free Hospital for Women, organized in 1875, was dedicated to gynecological care and research. (See http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~med00056 and http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~med00059 for historical notes on these two hospitals.)

The march towards a merger began in the 1950s at the Free Hospital for Women when a desire for broader study of women’s health, rather than just the study of gynecology alone, affected the choices for training of young medical professionals. In 1951, the Boston Lying-in Hospital and the Free Hospital for Women integrated resident appointments to give applicants three years of the combined training needed for certification by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This example of cooperation and others between the two hospitals paralleled a developing urge to consolidate services among several other Harvard teaching hospitals. By 1958 the Free Hospital trustees had approved a plan to pursue joining the Boston Lying-in Hospital, The Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, the Robert Breck Brigham, and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospitals as part of a new “Harvard Medical Center.” In 1960, Lillian Grahn, Free Hospital for Women Administrator, a longtime advocate of combining hospitals, wrote a report detailing the pros and cons of a merger specifically with the Boston Lying-in Hospital. On the basis of this report, the Free Hospital Board of Trustees began feasibility studies.

Concurrently, a project to build a new hospital complex for the future Harvard Medical Center (later known as the Affiliated Hospitals Center) began, but many legal, social, and financial hurdles delayed the construction and consolidation process. In the interim, progress on the merger of the two women’s hospitals was considered a major step forward in the eventual integration of all the Harvard teaching hospitals.

By an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1965, the two women’s hospitals were authorized to merge and Dr. John G. Freymann was appointed general director of the Boston Lying-in Hospital, Coordinator of the Free Hospital for Women, and General Director-designate for the new Boston Hospital for Women which was officially incorporated in 1966. Though located in separate buildings, the Boston Lying-in Hospital was referred to as the Lying-in Division, and the Free Hospital for Women was referred to as the Parkway Division. In 1975, the Boston Hospital for Women merged with the Peter Bent Brigham and the Robert B. Brigham Hospitals forming the Affiliated Hospitals Center. After the merger of the three hospitals the Boston Hospital for Women was referred to as a division of Affiliated Hospital Center.

In 1980, at the time of the opening of the long-awaited, state-of-the-art facility, the Affiliated Hospitals Center became known as the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. The Lying-in division and the Parkway division patients were relocated from the former facilities into the new merged facilities beginning on July 9, 1980, and the obstetrical services and nurseries were moved at the end of February in 1981.

From the guide to the Records, 1926–1983 (bulk 1966–1979), (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine.)