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Hospital Medicine - BIDMC HMED

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![](https://media.akamai.odsp.cdn.office.net/eastus1-mediap.svc.ms/transform/thumbnail?provider=url&inputFormat=jpg&docid=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.hubblecontent.osi.office.net%2Fm365content%2Fpublish%2F014965bf-9083-433a-9450-7d01fb8ecbd3%2F476589676-05.jpg&w=2560&lqip=JR9%5E%3FfuP8wi%24tIVX "Introduction to HMED")

## Introduction to HMED

Published 1/9/2026

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### History of BIDMC

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To understand the workflow at BIDMC, it helps to know a little of its history.  
  
New England Deaconess Hospital was founded by Methodist deaconesses in 1896. It started as a 14-bed hospital in a local Brownstone building. It moved to the Longwood area in 1907 (pictured here). New England Deaconess became affiliated with Harvard in the 1960s and opened a residency program. It was involved in early HIV research.  
  
Beth Israel Hospital was founded in 1906 by Boston’s Jewish community. It started as a 45-bed hospital in Roxbury. Beth Israel became affiliated with Harvard in the 1920s. It was one of only two hospitals to treat welfare patients during the Great Depression. The hospital moved to the Longwood area in 1928, just a stone’s throw away from New England Deaconess Hospital.  
  
New England Deaconess and Beth Israel merged in 1996. They combined their names into Beth Israel Deaconess and kept both hospital buildings (now East Campus, formerly Beth Israel, and West Campus, formerly New England Deaconess).

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is now a 743-bed academic hospital. BIDMC is part of Beth Israel Lahey Health. It remains a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.

### East and West Campus Workflow

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Because of its unique history, BIDMC has two separate campuses that are separated by two city blocks but function as one hospital. The ER is located on West Campus. Patients are transported via ambulance between the West and East campus as needed after admission, if their bed changes, or for certain procedures.

ER patients are admitted in the ER by the West Campus admitting team regardless of to which campus they are subsequently assigned a bed. To minimize patient movement, we preferentially admit patients to East or West campus if they need a particular service by notifying the admissions facilitators (see [Geography Preferences - East vs West](https://bilh.sharepoint.com/:u:/r/sites/HospitalMedicine/SitePages/Geography-Preferences.aspx?csf=1&web=1&e=XgSCrb)). Consulting services can come to either campus, but primary teams (including hospitalists) are assigned to only one campus.

There is an East Campus admitting team for direct medicine admissions/stepdowns to East Campus. 

Rounders typically do not do admissions.

Nocturnists cover particular campuses/floors and do a combination of cross-coverage and admissions depending on the campus/role.

On East Campus, all medicine inpatients are cared for by the hospitalist direct care service.

On West Campus, medicine inpatients in Klarman and on Rosenberg 6 (CC6), Farr 7, and Farr 11 are under HMED/direct care. Medicine inpatients on other Farr floors under the medicine teaching service, which is staffed by HMED attendings. 

Explore the SharePoint to learn more about the different shifts, roles, and other nuances about BIDMC.