Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), incorporated in 1811, is the third oldest voluntary, not-for-profit hospital in the United States and the oldest in New England. It has a bed capacity of approximately 900, and more than 37,000 patients are admitted every year. MGH is the original teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and has been named in the top three hospitals in the United States by US News and World Report for the past several years.
The Emergency Department is chaired by Dr. Alasdair Conn, and all attendings are Harvard Medical School faculty members.
The MGH Emergency Department is a full-service, state-of-the-art facility that provides care for over 75,000 patients annually. About a quarter of ED patients are admitted to the hospital.
The ED contains an Acute Unit of 11 beds, which includes 4 shock-trauma resuscitation rooms, 2 burn resuscitation rooms and 4 cardiac acute care beds. The Major Multipurpose area has 17 bays for acute adult illness. In addition, there is a 4-bed Pediatric Unit and a 10-bed Minor Surgery Unit for walk-in patients. A 7 bed Rapid Diagnostic Unit (RDU) serves patients with single system acute illness. The MGH also has an Acute Psychiatry Service (APS) to serve a diverse population in treating all manner of psychiatric emergencies. The Emergency Radiology Suite is also located within the Emergency Department, incorporating 3 radiology exam rooms, an ultrasound suite, two dedicated multi-detector helical CT scanners and a dedicated ED MRI. All ED radiologic images are handled electronically and can be accessed within the clinical areas by computer. Augmenting the radiology department are two portable bedside ultrasound devices under the control of the Department of Emergency Medicine, routinely used for trauma and acute resuscitations.
The Emergency Department also provides access to the hyperbaric chamber, which is located in the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Several attendings in the MGH ED are certified to provide Hyperbaric Medicine treatment for emergency conditions such as carbon monoxide poisoning and decompression sickness.
A full-weather heliport on the roof of the Blake Building allows two helicopters to access the institution simultaneously. The MGH is a frequent destination for Boston MedFlight, a multi-hospital consortium program providing air and ground critical care transport in New England and beyond, utilizing three helicopters, a CitationJet fixed-wing aircraft, and a ground critical care vehicle.
The MGH is a Level I Trauma Center, a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center and a Level I Burn Center - the only hospital in the United States to hold all three designations simultaneously.
As one of the busiest Level I Trauma Centers in Massachusetts, the MGH provides residents, including those in the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency (HAEMR), with superb experience in managing trauma victims as well as adult and pediatric patients with a myriad of acute conditions. MGH simultaneously serves as an internationally recognized tertiary referral center and as a local city hospital for many Bostonians and North Shore residents.