History of New England Baptist Hospital
New England Baptist Hospital – More Than a Century of Legendary Service
From its humble beginnings in 1893, NEBH has adhered to its singular mission: providing the highest quality and most compassionate patient care possible. That dedication is still reflected today in the faces and work of those who strive daily to provide that care — the men and women of the New England Baptist Hospital team.
We began our work over a century ago, in a single room located in a building adjacent to the Ruggles Street Baptist Church in Roxbury. There, Dr. and Mrs. Francis F. Whittier, along with Dr. H. Warren White and three other dedicated physicians, established a free dispensary to provide medical care for the community’s poor.
In a short time, several other dispensaries had been established in Roxbury and the South End, treating over 2,500 people each year. The increased demand for these medical services led to severe overcrowding and unsatisfactory conditions.
In 1893, Dr. Whittier encouraged Rev. Everett D. Burr, pastor of the Ruggles Street Baptist Church, to present the problem to the Boston Baptist Social Union. His recommendation led to the incorporation of the Boston Baptist Hospital that September.
Located in a house at 47 Bellevue Street in the Longwood section of Brookline — on the site of the former New England Deaconess Hospital — the doors of the newly incorporated Boston Baptist Hospital were first opened to patients in June 1894. Dr. Whittier performed surgery there that same day.
The Hospital quickly outgrew its new location, and the search began for a suitable long-term site. The hospital purchased the Parker Mansion on Parker Hill in Roxbury, and by 1896 relocated to its present site atop Mission Hill.
In 1897, the hospital changed its name to New England Baptist Hospital to reflect its growing constituency. What began as Dr. and Mrs. Whittier’s dream of creating a Baptist hospital in Boston had become a reality.
During a time of deep financial distress, Col. Edward H. Haskell, NEBH’s second President, helped guide the hospital’s course “from an obscure charity to a leading position in the community—from a few rooms in a private house to the vision of a complete and worthy institution fully equipped with every facility for the finest service.”
Born in Gloucester in 1845, Haskell joined the 23rd Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers at age 16 and served through the Civil War. He served as NEBH president from 1898 until his death in 1924.
Leading Care Institution in New England
The groundwork was laid for what has today become one of the leading health care facilities in the world, serving patients of all faiths from New England and beyond.
In the 1920s, Dr. Frank H. Lahey, one of the world’s preeminent surgeons, revolutionized thyroid surgery. Taking the lead from his close friends Will and Charlie Mayo, who founded the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Dr. Lahey recruited experts from all branches of medicine to form the Lahey Clinic.
Because it had no facility of its own, the Lahey Clinic sent a majority of its patients to NEBH. During the years the Lahey Clinic was adjacent to the Baptist, as many as 70% of our hospital’s patients were from the Lahey Clinic. In 1925, Dr. Lahey became surgeon-in-chief at New England Baptist Hospital.
Although the hospital’s affiliation with the Lahey Clinic ended in 1980 when the clinic moved to Burlington, the spirit of compassionate care that Dr. Lahey created continues to live on.
Dr. Otto E. Aufranc was the architect of the hospital’s first orthopedic department in 1968, bringing to his talented team of young physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital.
During his five-decade medical career, Dr. Aufranc contributed to numerous innovations, including working with Dr. Roderick H. Turner to develop of one of the first American replacement hips: the Aufranc-Turner. The prosthesis was further modified in 1980 and the name Scheller added to it, in recognition of input from another Baptist doctor, Dr. Arnold D. Scheller, Jr.
As a lasting tribute to his skills as a surgeon, teacher and scientist, the Aufranc Fellowship was established in 1970. Today, Aufranc fellows with specialty orthopedic training at NEBH practice in hospitals around the world.
In addition to his work developing and improving of the techniques and tools used in hip and knee replacement, Dr. Turner, who was an Aufranc fellow himself, helped build the orthopedic program at NEBH.
He spent his three-decade career at NEBH, working to establish the hospital as a premier musculoskeletal hospital nationally, provide exceptional care for his patients, improve joint replacement surgery, and educate the next generation of joint replacement surgeons.
Dr. Turner established the Roderick H. Turner Fellowship at NEBH to further advance fellowship training.
In the last 20 years, developments in orthopedics have revolutionized patient care — and NEBH’s orthopedic surgeons have been at the forefront of the advancement, performing total joint replacements, major large bone grafts and arthroscopic surgery.
With the highest annual volume of reconstructive orthopedic patients in New England, NEBH is a world-renowned referral center for reconstructive orthopedic procedures.
The formation of the Hospital’s Sports Medicine division in 1986 continued NEBH’s commitment to our patients’ health and well-being. One year later, the Baptist assumed the role of official team hospital of the seventeen-time world champion Boston Celtics.
The New England Baptist Bone & Joint Institute was established in 1995. Under the direction of Dr. Benjamin E. Bierbaum, chairman of orthopedics, the institute specialized in all aspects of musculoskeletal health.
Its mission was three-fold: to provide coordinated, individualized patient care; educate health professionals, patients and the community; and conduct relevant research into the causes and cures for musculoskeletal conditions.
Recognizing the hospital’s unique musculoskeletal reputation, the institute’s functions are now conducted under the New England Baptist Hospital banner.
In an effort to detect cardiac abnormalities in professional, student and recreational athletes, the hospital created the Thomas W. Nessa Center for Sports Cardiology in 1996. This center complements our focus on sports medicine.
In 2004, Dr. Benjamin Bierbaum stepped down after 30 years as chair of the department of orthopedics, turning the reigns over to Dr. John C. Richmond, who served as chair until 2015. David Mattingly, MD currently serves as clinical chair of orthopedics and surgeon in chief.
NEBH continues to be at the cutting edge of innovation. In 2018, the hospital became the first in Massachusetts to incorporate robotic technology into our spine surgeries. Patients in our spine program can now benefit from more accurate procedures and better surgical outcomes.
Since 1958, the single red rose has stood as a flourishing symbol of NEBH’s commitment to providing the highest-quality and most compassionate patient care available.
The custom of welcoming each new inpatient and surgical outpatient to the hospital with a red rose was initiated by the late Carl J.B. Currie, a trustee of the hospital, who established the Carl J.B. & Olive Currie Rose Fund to perpetuate this program.
This red rose of welcome has now become a hallmark of New England Baptist Hospital. Well over a quarter million of these fragrant tokens have been distributed to patients in the past 50 years, currently at a rate of over 300 per week. It is one of the many steps we take to ensure patients have a warm, welcoming experience in our care.
