Mass General Brigham
Mass General Brigham Inc. is a not-for-profit, integrated health system based in Greater Boston. It operates two academic medical centers—Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital—along with specialty and community hospitals, home care, urgent care, and a licensed health plan serving Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The system is a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. In November 2019, Partners announced a five-year strategy and said it would rebrand as Mass General Brigham to present a unified identity across the system.
As of fiscal 2024, MGB reported about US$20.6 billion in operating revenue and a return to positive operating margin after pandemic-era losses. With roughly 82,000 employees, it has been described as the state’s largest private employer. The system has drawn regulatory scrutiny over costs and expansion: in January 2022 the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission ordered MGB to file the state’s first system-wide Performance Improvement Plan, and in December 2024 the HPC said the plan delivered “meaningful” cost-growth reductions.
From 2023, Boston cancer-care alignments shifted: Dana–Farber Cancer Institute announced it would end its adult inpatient oncology affiliation with Brigham and Women’s and build a freestanding adult cancer hospital with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; state regulators approved the project in March 2025. In 2025 MGB undertook multi-wave nonclinical layoffs as part of a restructuring, and residents and fellows who unionized in 2023 ratified a first system-wide contract in May 2025.
History
Origins and formation (1994)
and Brigham and Women's Hospital created a new parent corporation, Partners HealthCare, in 1994 amid industry pressure to coordinate care, negotiate with payers, and control costs.Early expansion and payer integration (1996–2014)
Following formation, Partners expanded across eastern Massachusetts via affiliations with community and specialty hospitals. North Shore Medical Center became the first community member in 1996; Faulkner Hospital merged with Brigham and Women’s in 1998; and Newton-Wellesley Hospital joined in 1999. In 2006, Partners added Martha's Vineyard Hospital and Nantucket Cottage Hospital.Partners also pursued a payer strategy: in 2011–2012 it acquired Neighborhood Health Plan, a Boston-based insurer later rebranded as AllWays Health Partners and, effective January 1, 2023, as Mass General Brigham Health Plan. The system expanded beyond Massachusetts when Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, New Hampshire, joined the Massachusetts General Hospital family in 2017.
During this period, Partners’ market influence drew scrutiny. A 2008 Boston Globe Spotlight report described a 2000 rate arrangement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that affected statewide payment levels. Proposed acquisitions of South Shore and Hallmark Health were abandoned after a Suffolk Superior Court judge rejected a proposed consent judgment and state officials signaled opposition.
Systems integration and footprint changes (2015–2018)
Beginning in 2015, Partners rolled out a unified electronic health record. Contemporary reporting put the initiative at roughly $1.2 billion, with phased go-lives at Brigham and Women’s in May 2015 and at Massachusetts General in April 2016; clinicians reported productivity slowdowns during the transition. In 2016 the system consolidated corporate offices at Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts, a project reported at about $465 million that centralized more than 4,000 administrative employees.On the North Shore, Partners invested in Salem Hospital and closed the Union Hospital campus in Lynn in 2019 as part of a service consolidation. In 2018, state officials approved Partners’ acquisition of Massachusetts Eye and Ear.
Rebranding and alignment (2019–2021)
On November 27, 2019, Partners announced a five-year strategy and said the system would adopt the name Mass General Brigham to present a unified identity across corporate, hospital, and ambulatory entities. Coverage at the time estimated rebranding costs ranging from about $60 million to as much as $100 million, prompting debate over the expense during a period of financial strain for hospitals.COVID-19 response (2020)
During the first pandemic surge, the Commonwealth, City of Boston, and Partners created the Boston Hope 1,000-bed field hospital inside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in April 2020. Later reporting placed the cost of operating Boston Hope at roughly $29.8 million, largely reimbursable with federal support.Regulatory oversight and suburban proposals (2021–2022)
In January 2022, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission required MGB to file the state’s first system-wide Performance Improvement Plan to curb spending growth; in December 2024 the HPC concluded the plan delivered “meaningful” cost-growth reductions. Amid state review and local opposition, MGB withdrew key parts of a proposal to build new ambulatory sites in Woburn and Westborough in April 2022.Cancer-care realignment, labor activity, and restructuring (2023–present)
In September 2023, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute announced plans to end its adult inpatient oncology affiliation with Brigham and Women’s and to build a freestanding adult cancer hospital with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; state regulators approved the project in March 2025.Financially, MGB reported an operating loss in FY2022 amid inflation and staffing pressures, then returned to a positive operating margin on US$20.6 billion in operating revenue in FY2024. In early 2025, the system announced its largest layoffs to date—two waves focused on nonclinical roles—as part of a multi-year restructuring.
Labor activity increased during the same period. More than 2,300 residents and fellows unionized in 2023 and, after roughly 18 months of bargaining, ratified a first contract in May 2025; attending physicians at Salem Hospital voted to unionize in March 2024, and academic primary care physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital voted in 2025 to unionize pending certification.
Organization
Academic medical centers
- Massachusetts General Hospital — academic medical center and principal Harvard teaching hospital; verified Level I Adult & Pediatric Trauma Center and home to Mass General for Children.
- Brigham and Women's Hospital — academic medical center and Harvard teaching hospital; verified Level I Trauma Center with an adult burn program.
Specialty hospitals
- Massachusetts Eye and Ear — specialty teaching hospital for ophthalmology and otolaryngology–head & neck surgery; primary teaching hospital of Harvard Ophthalmology and home to extensive vision and hearing research.
- McLean Hospital — psychiatric hospital and research center in Belmont, Massachusetts; the largest psychiatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
- Spaulding Rehabilitation — regional rehabilitation network; flagship hospital in Charlestown, Boston provides inpatient rehabilitation and is part of a system of inpatient, outpatient, and long-term acute care sites across eastern Massachusetts.
Community hospitals
- Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital — community teaching hospital in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston ; offers medical, surgical, psychiatric, emergency, and diagnostic services.
- Newton-Wellesley Hospital — comprehensive community medical center serving Boston's western suburbs, located in Newton; provides a broad range of inpatient and outpatient services.
- Salem Hospital — the largest health care provider on the North Shore, located in Salem; offers comprehensive medical and surgical care with clinical collaborations with Massachusetts General Hospital.
- Cooley Dickinson Hospital — acute care community hospital in Northampton with associated VNA & Hospice and outpatient practices.
- Wentworth-Douglass Hospital — community hospital in Dover serving the Seacoast region of New Hampshire, with direct links to Massachusetts General Hospital specialty care.
- Martha's Vineyard Hospital — critical access community hospital in Oak Bluffs, serving Martha's Vineyard; provides on-island care and coordinated access to MGH specialists.
- Nantucket Cottage Hospital — island community hospital in Nantucket providing a broad range of services to residents and visitors, affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital.
Other components
- Mass General Brigham Community Physicians — employed ambulatory practices providing primary and specialty care across eastern Massachusetts.
- Mass General Brigham Home Care — system-owned home health services, with regional VNA & Hospice affiliates.
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan — integrated payer formerly known as AllWays Health Partners; rebranded effective January 1, 2023.
- Mass General Brigham Urgent Care — walk-in centers for non-life-threatening illness and injury; treats adults and children ages 3+ and connects patients into the broader MGB network.
- MGH Institute of Health Professions — graduate school for health professions affiliated with the system.
Education and training
Dedicated simulation and skills resources support team training, procedural practice, and assessment. Examples include the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital Learning Laboratory, which reports offering about 800 simulation sessions annually across roughly 70 courses.
Continuing professional development is provided through the system's Office of Continuing Professional Development, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and participates in the American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification program for continuing medical education activities.
Research training opportunities are available through university-affiliated consortia such as Harvard Catalyst and the Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
Programs in nursing and allied health are offered through MGH IHP, which publishes degree requirements in areas such as Nursing, Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, Physician assistant studies, and Communication disorders. Information about recent developments in resident and fellow collective bargaining appears in [|Labor and employment].