CHA formed in 1996 when two Massachusetts hospitals - Cambridge Hospital and Somerville Hospital - joined together as an integrated system. This combined entity was better able to meet the needs of its patients and fulfill a shared community health mission. In 2001, the system acquired Whidden Hospital in Everett, MA and associated healthcare services in Malden and Revere. This expanded the system’s geographic range and allowed it to continue helping individuals and families in need.

CHA provides a wide range of services with a focus on wellness and prevention. In addition to its strong primary care network, it offers nationally-renowned behavioral health services, specialty care, innovative planned care programs for chronic disease, women’s health and maternity, inpatient care, and a three-site emergency department with 100,000 annual visits. Nearly all clinical services are operated under one unified hospital license.

The system also has well-established personal and population health functions. CHA operates the Public Health Department for the City of Cambridge, has a large community outreach team, and a medical staff that actively collaborates in community projects and advocates around public policy issues. These staff work closely with municipalities and community groups to address broad health issues like breast health, tobacco use, obesity, childhood mental health, and depression.

CHA is currently transforming its system to ensure excellent patient experiences and control healthcare costs. This work is important and meaningful, and will allow us to serve our patients today, and in the future. (Find our more about CHA's Transformation.)

CHA is a safety net provider with a longstanding commitment to vulnerable and diverse patients. A majority of its patients have public subsidized insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, Commonwealth Care) and many traditionally experience barriers to care. In order to serve these individuals and families, CHA has recruited bilingual providers, created a robust interpreter services program, and has fostered numerous linguistic programs like the Haitian Mental Health Team (the 2010 Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver). It also formed an award-winning Volunteer Health Advisor Program that brings together local residents from many cultures to reach out to diverse groups, helping people access care and engage in healthy behaviors. (Learn more about CHA's work In the Community.)

CHA is a teaching hospital with strong clinical, academic, and research programs. As the only hospital in the nation that has formal affiliations with Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Tufts University School of Medicine, it sponsors undergraduate, graduate and continuing medical education efforts. Particularly noteworthy is the Harvard-Cambridge Integrated Clerkship, an alternative experience for third year Harvard Medical students interested in a “continuity of care” curriculum, and CHA sponsored, Harvard affiliated training programs in internal medicine, adult and child psychiatry, psychology, and the Tufts family medicine residency. (Learn more about CHA's Training and Research Programs.)