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MGH Raises Nearly $1 Billion, Aims For $1.5

File under "Boston Hospitals Not Hurting Financially."

Massachusetts General Hospital has just announced "the largest fundraising campaign in its history and the most ambitious capital campaign ever among health care institutions in New England."

The "Campaign for the Third Century of MGH Medicine" is aiming for $1.5 billion, and as of last month had already accumulated $988 million, the hospital said:

The Campaign for the Third Century of MGH Medicine has five priorities: building and enhancing medical facilities; supporting a wide range of clinical disciplines and medical specialties; promoting innovative research; enhancing medical education; and sustaining the hospital’s ability to respond to whatever situation may arise.

The campaign is slated to run through 2013. (And the hospital was founded in 1811, hence the "Third Century once we hit 2011.") The formal announcement of the campaign is scheduled for this evening at an event for donors. The hospital's Website for the campaign is here.

The Boston Globe's Liz Kowalczyk reports here:

The money will pay for Mass. General’s “Building for the Third Century,’’ a $579 million, 10-story glass and steel tower under construction and scheduled to open next summer. It will increase the number of hospital beds by almost 20 percent, add 19 operating rooms and include a modern, expansive emergency room to replace a dingy, jam-packed facility where patients often wait on gurneys parked in hallways.

The Globe story has already prompted a broad range of comments, some praising the hospital and others complaining about how the money is being spent. What do you think?

This program aired on October 15, 2010. The audio for this program is not available.

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Carey Goldberg Editor, CommonHealth
Carey Goldberg is the editor of WBUR's CommonHealth section.

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