Floating hospital
Tufts Medical Center's origins date back to 1796 when the Boston Dispensary was established as the first permanent medical facility in New England and one of the first in the United States. [8] Modeled after a similar dispensary in London, the Boston Dispensary's mission was to provide subscription based, free medical care to the city's "worthy poor" in their homes. Early donors included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. [9] [10]
In 1894, the Boston Floating Hospital for Children was established by Rev. Rufus Tobey. The first ship, the Clifford, was lost in a fire on June 1, 1927. [11] After this, the floating hospital relocated to shore and became a permanent part of the Tufts Medical Center campus. [12]
At the time there was little medical help for the many, often fatal, childhood illness that befell infants and small children. Because many people believed in the cleansing and therapeutic qualities of sea air to improve health, Tobey thought that sending the sick children out onto Boston Harbor on a boat and having them be seen by a doctor would be very beneficial. The enterprise was successful from the start and for the next 33 years, two successive ships were home to the hospital for children in Boston Harbor. In 1931, after the second Floating Hospital ship was destroyed in a fire, the hospital was relocated to two successive buildings onshore. [9]
The hospital's name has evolved over the years. The well known name of New England Medical Center was established in 1930 as a result of a union of the Boston Dispensary, the Boston Floating Hospital for Children and the Pratt Diagnostic Clinic. Tufts University School of Medicine joined as an affiliate. In 1968 it was renamed Tufts-New England Medical Center (Tufts-NEMC) to reflect the growing relationship between the hospital and the medical school. The affiliation agreement they adopted still stands. [13] The name was shortened to Tufts Medical Center on March 4, 2008.
Recent
Ellen Zane retired as president and CEO of Tufts Medical Center in 2011. [14] In 2011, a nurses strike was averted after nurses and administrators reached an agreement hours before the strike time. [15] After a five-day walkout that turned into a lockout, on July 17, 2017, nurses returned to Tufts Medical Center, which ended the first nursing strike in Boston in 30 years. According to the Boston Globe, several complaints of sub-standard care submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), were being investigated. [16] It was also the largest nurses' strike in the state's history, with 1,200 nursing staff joining to protest staffing, wages, and retirement plans. [15]
In 2018, the center completed its 500th heart transplant, and since 2000, had performed the most in the New England area. In 2018, Deeb Salem was co-interim CEO at the hospital. [17] In the fall of 2018, Michael Apkon was named CEO of Tufts Medical Center. [18]
Tufts Medical became a leader in heart transplants in 2016, and in October 2024 performed its 800th heart transplant. [19] In December 2022, they announced the relaunch of its liver transplant program which closed in 2007. The program is housed within the Abdominal Transplant Institute, [20] and opened in 2023. [21]
In January 2022, CEO Mike Tarnoff, MD announced that Tufts Medical Center closed the doors of its pediatric hospital after being open for 128 years. [22] [23] [24] The hospital's 41 pediatric beds were converted into adult ICU and medical/surgical beds and pediatric patients were sent to Boston Children's Hospital beginning in July. [24] Tufts nurses protested the closure. [25] [26]
In November 2022, Diana Richardson succeeded Mike Tarnoff as president of Tufts Medical Center, with Tarnoff remaining CEO. [27] In early 2023, Tufts Medicine operated Tufts Medical Center, MelroseWakefield Healthcare, Lowell General, and Tufts Medicine Care at Home. [28]
In 2023, the center had the largest advanced heart failure program in New England. [29] In October 2024, Tufts Medical Center's heart failure and cardiac transplant team performed the hospital's 800th heart transplant, after it saw its first performed in October 1985. [30]
John Herman became president of Tufts Medical Center in Boston in June 2025. [31]
In a 2025 U.S. News & World Report ranking, the center tied with Newton-Wellesley Hospital for 7th best hospital in the state. [32]
After a $4 million donation from the chair of the Tufts Board of Trustees, Tufts in November 2025 said it would create a Women's Health and Menopause Initiative. [33] In September 2025, Bloomberg reported that Tufts Medical Center and other Massachusetts hospital groups would receive a combined $234 million in state funding. [34]
