Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham plans to consolidate two inpatient burn units in Boston into a single program housed at the Sumner M. Redstone Burn Center on the Massachusetts General Hospital campus, a health system spokesperson confirmed to Becker’s. The current units are located at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, respectively.
The move aims to strengthen burn care by combining expertise, improving coordination and ensuring sustainable patient volume to maintain certification, the spokesperson said. The health system does not anticipate any layoffs. Nurses on Brigham and Women’s Tower 8 unit — which currently treats burn, trauma and surgical critical care patients — will remain in place as the unit transitions to serve more critical care cases.
Pending state regulatory approval, the unified program is expected to launch in 2026.
“Every burn patient’s journey is unique, and having all our expertise in one place means we can deliver care that’s not only faster but more comprehensive,” Lauren Tripodi, PA-C, a physician assistant at the Redstone center, said in a statement. “This program gives us the ability to coordinate treatments seamlessly and support patients through every stage of recovery.”
However, nurses at Brigham and Women’s, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, oppose the plan. They said the proposed consolidation would relocate a team of highly trained nurses from a nationally respected program and could diminish institutional knowledge.
“Our nurses’ expertise is irreplaceable, and we will not allow corporate decisions to override what is best for patients, staff and our community,” Kelly Morgan, BSN, RN, labor and delivery nurse and chair of the hospital’s MNA local, said in a union statement. “We will fight to ensure this highly specialized care remains available to the patients who rely on the Brigham.”
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has initiated a review of the proposal.
