Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The story of Brigham and Women’s hospital, before 1980, is the aggregate history of several significant hospitals: Boston Lying-in Hospital, Free Hospital for Women, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and the Robert B. Brigham Hospital. Each was conceived with a specific medical mission and was built and rebuilt with the financial contributions of individuals and groups. In 1832, the Boston-Lying In Hospital, one of the nation’s first maternity hospitals, opened its doors to women unable to afford in-home medical care. In 1875, the Free Hospital for Women was founded “for poor women affected with diseases peculiar to their sex or in need of surgical aid.” The Peter Bent Brigham Hospital was established in 1911 “for the care of sick persons in indigent circumstances” with a bequest from restaurateur and real estate baron Peter Bent Brigham. The Robert B. Brigham Hospital, founded in 1914 with a bequest from Peter Bent Brigham’s nephew, opened to serve patients with arthritis and other debilitating joint diseases.

In 1966, the Boston Lying-In Hospital and the Free Hospital for Women formally combined missions and operations resulting in the incarnation known as the Boston Hospital for Women. In 1975, it merged with the Peter Bent Brigham and the Robert B. Brigham Hospitals forming the Affiliated Hospitals Center. In 1980, at the time of the opening of a new state-of-the-art facility, the Affiliated Hospitals became known as the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.

Since 1980, the medical staff and researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital have contributed to many milestones in its history including: performing the first heart transplant in New England in 1984 and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize of 1985-awarded to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, an organization co-founded by BWH cardiologist Bernard Lown, MD. In 1993, BWH joined 15 other investigating institutions (called Vanguard Centers) in the Women’s Health Initiative, the largest clinical trial ever undertaken for American women.

In 1994 BWH opened a 12-story facility called the Center for Women and Newborns offering state-of-the-art obstetrical services such as home-like birthing suites, private postpartum and ante partum rooms, and a Newborn Intensive Care Unit with overnight rooms for parents. Also in 1994, BWH joined with Massachusetts General Hospital to form Partners HealthCare System, an integrated health care delivery system, combining patient care with medical education and research. By 1999, BWH’s computerized drug-order entry system had reduced the incidence of medication-related errors, becoming a model for other institutions. Since 2000, BWH has recorded several advancements in lung and heart transplantation and made research breakthroughs, including results that have affected national standards for cholesterol lowering in coronary heart disease. In 2008, BWH opened the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, a facility for cardiovascular care and research supporting an integrated care model in a single location. To date, Brigham and Women’s Hospital continues to provide patient care, biomedical research, and physician education and training in association with Harvard University.

For more information on milestones in the history of Brigham and Women’s Hospital visit the About BWH. Milestones in BWH History page of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Public Affairs web site at http://www.brighamandwomens.org/general/BWHMilestones.aspx?subID=submenu1.

From the guide to the Records, 1900–, (Bulk 1980–2000)., (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Center for the History of Medicine.)