Welcome to MGfC
MassGeneral for Children (MGfC) provides a full spectrum of care — from primary care to a broad range of subspecialty pediatric services — for newborns, children, and adolescents.
With more than 300 physicians, 50 medical specialties and 15 surgical services, MGfC has the breadth, depth, expertise, and experience — as well as the state-of-the-art facilities and technologies — to provide exceptional care for patients, including those who are critically ill and/or who have rare disorders. For the convenience of patients and their families, we provide patient-care services at our main campus in Boston, as well as a large number of community locations. For a current list of community locations, please visit: http://www.massgeneral.org/children/about/locations.aspx
MGfC Quick Facts
The oldest provider of pediatric services in Boston, MGfC has provided comprehensive, compassionate care to children since 1821.
MGfC treats more than 170,000 patients annually, including both primary care visits and specialty care visits.
Annually, there are more than 12,000 pediatric emergency visits, 3,000 admissions, and 3,500 births.
Care Through a Lifetime
Because we are a distinct yet integral part of Massachusetts General Hospital, the care we provide may begin even before birth with prenatal diagnosis and pre-delivery treatment planning and extends throughout the patient’s entire life, from infancy through late adulthood. Seamless, continuous care such as this offers patients and families the best of both worlds: “a pediatric hospital within a hospital.”
Facilities Designed for Children and Families
We provide care in facilities that were designed expressly for pediatric patients and their families. At our main campus, outpatients receive care in the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care or the Physicians’ Office Building. Inpatient care is provided in separate pediatric units that were designed specifically to meet the unique needs of children and families — with child-friendly décor, playrooms, and ample space for rooming-in accommodations.
At MGfC, we have many multidisciplinary clinics where families can see multiple providers in one setting and provide complex care from multiple angles. Below are just a few examples:
Lurie Center for Autism (Neurology, GI, Psychology, Developmental Pediatrics, PT, OT)
Klinefelter Syndrome Clinic (Endocrinology, Genetics, Psychiatry, Urology)
Specific Neurology Clinics: Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, Pitt Hopkins Center, 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Neurofibromatosis Center
Surgical Expertise and Innovation
Shriners Hospital
At MGfC, all surgical procedures are performed by board-certified senior surgeons, all of whom have extensive training and experience in treating children of all ages. Our surgeons, many of whom are the acknowledged leaders in their specialties, use minimally invasive and other innovative approaches—some of which they pioneered and/or perfected—to achieve optimal outcomes. As integral members of the care team, our surgeons collaborate with their colleagues in medical specialties, are accessible to referring physicians, and are available for consultations.
Mass Eye and Ear (MEEI)
Nursing Excellence
Reflecting the expertise, dedication, and compassion of our pediatric nurses, MGfC was re-designated as a Magnet facility, which is widely recognized as the gold standard of nursing excellence. Mass General was the first hospital in Massachusetts to receive Magnet status, which is achieved by fewer than five percent of hospitals in the nation.
State-of-the-art Pediatric Facilities
As an example, the Patty Ribakoff Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at MGfC is an advanced and family-focused NICU that boasts the most advanced monitoring and ventilation technology available. Designated a Level III nursery by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it provides the highest level of care for premature and critically ill infants. The NICU has 21 beds and is equipped with advanced cardiovascular, neurological, and respiratory support, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The Special Care Nursery has 17 intermediate-care beds.
Advanced Technologies
Our patients have convenient access to technologies that are not always readily available to pediatric patients; for example, proton beam radiotherapy at our Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center, the only proton beam facility in New England and one of the most experienced in the world for treating children. In fact, all of the advanced technologies and experts available to adult patients at Massachusetts General Hospital are also available to MGfC patients.
proton beam
Focus on Patient Quality of Life
Our Palliative Care Program focuses on providing the best possible quality of life for children throughout the course of a life-threatening or terminal illness with a focus on relieving patients’ symptoms and keeping them as comfortable and pain-free as possible. Social work and chaplaincy services provide emotional, practical, and spiritual support to patients and families in the inpatient and outpatient setting, as well as in their homes. Child Life Specialists, Music Therapists and Therapy Dogs all are part of helping children cope with their stay as well.
What matters to You
MGH has joined an international initiative to ask patients, "What matters to you?" On the pediatric floors, our patients hang a sign above their bed with words or phrases describing their likes, dislikes, and fun facts about themselves. And our residents "Ask. Listen. Do."