Brigham and Women’s Hospital: Guide to Boston’s Top Facility

Boston’s Longwood Medical Area houses two of the nation’s most celebrated hospitals — Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Both anchor the Mass General Brigham network, carry Harvard affiliations, and dominate U.S. News rankings, yet each leads in different specialties.

Beds: 793 · Teaching Affiliation: Harvard Medical School · Location: Boston, MA · National Ranking: #1 in Obstetrics & Gynecology

Is Brigham Women’s hospital part of Harvard?

Brigham and Women’s Hospital operates as a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, placing it among the most prestigious academic medical centers in the United States. Every physician on staff holds a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School, which means medical students and residents rotate through BWH as part of their clinical training. This dual role — caring for patients while training the next generation of doctors — defines what a teaching hospital does differently from community hospitals.

Teaching hospital status

As a Harvard teaching hospital, BWH participates in the Longwood Medical Area campus, a cluster of affiliated institutions including Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This concentration of specialized care within a single geographic area gives patients direct access to multiple nationally ranked departments without transferring between cities.

Harvard Medical School connection

Both Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are Harvard Medical School affiliates, according to Mass General Brigham’s official newsroom. The affiliation means research breakthroughs developed at either hospital flow directly into clinical practice, giving patients earlier access to treatments that haven’t yet reached most hospitals nationwide.

Is Brigham and Women’s hospital the same as Mass General?

Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital are separate institutions with distinct specialties, though both fall under the same parent organization. Mass General Brigham, the unified health system, owns both hospitals along with several other facilities across the Boston area. Patients often assume the two hospitals compete directly, but they function more like complementary anchors within a single network.

Affiliation differences

MGH, founded in 1811, predates BWH by nearly two centuries. Brigham and Women’s formed in 1994 when two predecessor hospitals — the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and the Boston Lying-In Hospital — merged. Today, MGH focuses heavily on psychiatry, cardiology, and gastroenterology, while BWH leads in obstetrics, diabetes care, and rheumatology. According to Axios Boston, MGH ranked #1 nationally in psychiatry for a second consecutive year in 2025, while BWH held its fourth straight #1 position in OBGYN.

Mass General Brigham network

Five Mass General Brigham hospitals earned national top rankings in 2025: MGH, BWH, McLean Hospital, Mass Eye and Ear, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The network structure allows shared electronic health records, coordinated referral systems, and combined purchasing power — advantages that independent hospitals cannot match. BWH and MGH dominate Boston metro rankings consistently, per Mass General Brigham’s 2023 announcements.

Which hospital is better, Mass General or Brigham and Women’s?

The question assumes a single winner, but U.S. News rankings tell a different story. Each hospital excels in different specialties, and the right choice depends entirely on what condition a patient needs treated. Both institutions appeared on the 2025 U.S. News Best Hospitals Honor Roll, joining 18 other hospitals nationwide in that distinction.

Rankings comparison

Looking at the 2025 U.S. News rankings, MGH led in psychiatry (#1 nationally), cardiology (#8 nationally), gastroenterology (#9), and neurology (#10). BWH led in obstetrics and gynecology (#1 nationally), diabetes care (#3), and rheumatology (#4). The Boston Business Journal reported that both MGH and BWH ranked #1 in Massachusetts for their respective leading specialties.

Specialty strengths

BWH ranked 12th nationally in both cardiovascular care and orthopedics in 2025, according to Axios Boston. The Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, a joint venture between BWH and Dana-Farber, ranked #3 nationally for cancer. MGH’s Mass Eye and Ear affiliate ranked #4 in ophthalmology and #5 in ENT. The specialty-by-specialty breakdown reveals that “better” has no single answer — only “better for this specific condition.”

Financial scale

BWH generated $2.9 billion in net patient revenue, making it the second-highest revenue hospital in Boston, according to Definitive Healthcare. MGH’s corresponding figure places it at the top of the Boston list. These financial metrics reflect patient volume and service scope rather than quality — both hospitals attract patients from across New England and beyond.

What is the #1 hospital in Boston?

Neither Brigham and Women’s nor Massachusetts General holds a simple “best overall” title — U.S. News evaluates hospitals across dozens of specialties rather than producing a single ranking. However, for broad state-level recognition, MGH has ranked highest in Massachusetts for multiple consecutive years, per the Boston Business Journal’s analysis.

Boston hospital rankings

The 2025 U.S. News rankings placed both MGH and BWH on the Honor Roll, which represents the top 1% of hospitals nationally. Beyond the two flagship institutions, the Boston area hosts several other nationally ranked facilities including McLean Hospital (#1 in psychiatry, 2023), Mass Eye and Ear (#4 ophthalmology, #5 ENT), and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (#2 nationally for rehabilitation). Five Mass General Brigham hospitals earned national top rankings in 2025, according to Mass General Brigham’s official release.

Brigham’s position

Brigham and Women’s holds the #1 national position in obstetrics and gynecology — a distinction it has maintained for four consecutive years. Beyond OBGYN, BWH ranks in the top 15 nationally for diabetes care, rheumatology, urology, cardiology, orthopedics, and geriatrics. The hospital’s 793-bed capacity makes it one of the largest specialized facilities in the Northeast.

Where are Brigham and Women’s Hospital locations?

Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s main campus sits at 75 Francis Street in Boston, Massachusetts, within the Longwood Medical Area. The hospital operates several affiliated locations including Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain, which ranked #6 in the Boston Metro Area in 2023. Patients requiring specialized services may be referred to the main campus from any affiliated location.

Main address

The primary address is 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115. This location serves as the main inpatient facility and houses the majority of specialty departments including the obstetrics unit, cancer center, and cardiovascular center. Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, located at 1153 Centre Street, offers community-based care with emergency services and inpatient rehabilitation.

Contact and portal info

Patients can access medical records, appointment scheduling, and billing through the official Brigham and Women’s Hospital website. The patient portal provides 24-hour access to test results, prescription refills, and communication with care teams. For directory assistance and physician referrals, the main hospital switchboard connects patients to specific departments.

“For a fourth consecutive year, BWH earned the top honor in Obstetrics & Gynecology (OBGYN), ranking #1 in the nation.”

— Mass General Brigham, Official Newsroom

“MGH earned the top spot in Psychiatry, ranking #1 for a second consecutive year.”

— Mass General Brigham, Official Newsroom

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