Tufts Medical Center closing its pediatric hospital

BOSTON — A dramatic shift in the hospital landscape in Boston. Tufts Medical Center is closing its pediatric hospital, affecting thousands of patients and staff.

In a statement, Tufts says it plans to convert its 41 Tufts Children’s Hospital pediatric inpatient beds “to much-needed adult ICU and medical/surgical beds, increasing its capacity to care for critically ill adults at its Tufts Medical Center campus” and announced a “collaboration” with Boston’s Children’s Hospital.

“Since 1796, it has been our mission to serve the medical needs of the adults and children in our community with the very best care, and we have done that with extraordinary skill and compassion. Our Medical Center has never been stronger, but now patient needs are changing,” said Michael Tarnoff, President and CEO of Tufts Medical Center. “As we look toward the future, we must make this difficult but crucial decision. I am confident that through this collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital, we will best serve the long-term health needs and well-being of our patients, our families, our employees, our trainees and the communities Wellforce serves.”

Wellforce is the parent organization of Tufts.

Wellforce has signed a letter of intent with Boston Children’s Hospital “to ensure seamless continuity of care for Tufts Children’s Hospital pediatric patients and for children and their families served by Wellforce providers in other communities.”

The changes are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2022.

“Boston Children’s Hospital is committed to improving the health and well-being of all children, across the breadth and depth of pediatric care services we offer,” said Kevin Churchwell, President and CEO of Boston Children’s Hospital.  “When the leadership of Wellforce approached us with this potential collaboration, we recognized the important positive impact it could have on improving not only pediatric health, but adult health as well.  We look forward to collaborating with Tufts Medical Center to provide a full range of care to pediatric patients, including inpatient care that cannot be provided in a community hospital setting.”

Tufts says the closure of the 41 pediatric beds translates to between 1,800 and 2,000 discharges per year that would be transitioned to Children’s Hospital.

“News of the collaboration is being shared now, despite the current COVID-19 surge, because of upcoming recruitment deadlines for resident trainees,” said Tufts in its statement.

In its statement, Tufts says “The number of adult patients in need of highly specialized medical care at Tufts Medical Center has risen dramatically – so much so that the hospital is forced to turn away hundreds of patients each month.  At the same time, projections suggest fewer children will need hospitalization and those who do need inpatient treatment will have more serious health issues than ever before, requiring advanced, highly focused systems of care.”

Tufts says talks are also underway for collaborating in the delivery of pediatric ambulatory specialty services, including satellite physician services, and how to best support Wellforce’s pediatric community hospital network and its thriving network of pediatricians who effectively coordinate care for approximately 70,000 pediatric patients across the region.

Parents with questions can call the Tufts Medical Center pediatric hotline at 866-978-2339.

Tufts has also posted a FAQS for parents and guardians.

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