The City of Cambridge and Harvard University affiliated in 1966 to radically improve the poor quality of medical care at Cambridge City Hospital at that time, and to provide additional educational experiences for Harvard medical students. New academic programming attracted excellent medical staff and fostered an increasingly empathetic, curious, socially committed and well-trained medical community. Their innovations in education, care design, and policy relevant research improved the health of our local communities and moreover, contributed to shaping medical care and learning for the nation. It would not be an overstatement to say that CHA would not exist today if it were not for its academic affiliations and pursuits.
Academic Vision Statement
Academics is fundamental to Cambridge Health Alliance. Our scholarly environment sustains clinical excellence, fosters discovery and nurtures the next generation of clinicians and leaders to serve our communities. CHA's success in improving the health of our communities and modeling innovations for the nation depends on the robustness of our academics.
CHA's Scholarly Environment
History
- City Council Act 1911: "to authorize the City of Cambridge to incur indebtedness for the erection of a City Hospital…to serve the medically indigent in the community."
- 1918: Cambridge City Hospital is built.
- April 16, 1961: NBC "White Paper #5: Anatomy of a Hospital." Presaging Medicare and Medicaid, this nationally televised white paper describes Cambridge City Hospital as chronically underfunded, understaffed and under-equipped.
- 1966: Harvard affiliation. At the dedication of the Cambridge Hospital’s new building, in 1968, Mayor Walter Sullivan proclaimed, "This is a symbol of unanimity of Cambridge, for here is a building that will house the sick, treat the injured…without regard to color, economic status or political persuasion."
- 1996: CHA chartered as a public authority, enabling expansion of clinical services and academics beyond the municipal boundaries of Cambridge. Somerville Hospital and its affiliated health centers are purchased, followed by the acquisition of Whidden Hospital (Everett) in 2001. New health centers are subsequently constructed in Somerville, Everett, Malden and Revere.
- 2001 to present:
- Affiliation agreements renewed with Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard School of Public Health.
- Tufts Family Medicine Residency Program acquired.
- Institute for Community Health inaugurated.
- Academic Council established.
- Cambridge Integrated Clerkship founded.
- New academic centers inaugurated: the Institute for Community Health, the Center for Health Equity Research, the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion and the Center for Health Equity Education & Advocacy