Mass General Brigham Inc. (MGB, formerly Partners HealthCare) is a not-for-profit, integrated health system based in Greater Boston. It operates two academic medical centersâÂÂMassachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's HospitalâÂÂalong with specialty and community hospitals, home care, urgent care, and a licensed health plan serving Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The system is a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. In November 2019, Partners announced a five-year strategy and said it would rebrand as Mass General Brigham to present a unified identity across the system.
As of fiscal 2024, MGB reported about US$20.6 billion in operating revenue and a return to positive operating margin after pandemic-era losses. With roughly 82,000 employees, it has been described as the stateâÂÂs largest private employer. The system has drawn regulatory scrutiny over costs and expansion: in January 2022 the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission ordered MGB to file the stateâÂÂs first system-wide Performance Improvement Plan, and in December 2024 the HPC said the plan delivered âÂÂmeaningfulâ cost-growth reductions.
From 2023, Boston cancer-care alignments shifted: DanaâÂÂFarber Cancer Institute announced it would end its adult inpatient oncology affiliation with Brigham and WomenâÂÂs and build a freestanding adult cancer hospital with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; state regulators approved the project in March 2025. In 2025 MGB undertook multi-wave nonclinical layoffs as part of a restructuring, and residents and fellows who unionized in 2023 ratified a first system-wide contract in May 2025.
Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital created a new parent corporation, Partners HealthCare, in 1994 amid industry pressure to coordinate care, negotiate with payers, and control costs.
Following formation, Partners expanded across eastern Massachusetts via affiliations with community and specialty hospitals. North Shore Medical Center (now Salem Hospital) became the first community member in 1996; Faulkner Hospital merged with Brigham and WomenâÂÂs in 1998; and Newton-Wellesley Hospital joined in 1999. In 2006, Partners added Martha's Vineyard Hospital and Nantucket Cottage Hospital.
Partners also pursued a payer strategy: in 2011âÂÂ2012 it acquired Neighborhood Health Plan, a Boston-based insurer later rebranded as AllWays Health Partners and, effective January 1, 2023, as Mass General Brigham Health Plan. The system expanded beyond Massachusetts when Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, New Hampshire, joined the Massachusetts General Hospital family in 2017.
During this period, Partnersâ market influence drew scrutiny. A 2008 Boston Globe Spotlight report described a 2000 rate arrangement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that affected statewide payment levels. Proposed acquisitions of South Shore and Hallmark Health (2013âÂÂ2015) were abandoned after a Suffolk Superior Court judge rejected a proposed consent judgment and state officials signaled opposition.
Beginning in 2015, Partners rolled out a unified electronic health record (Epic/Partners eCare). Contemporary reporting put the initiative at roughly $1.2 billion, with phased go-lives at Brigham and WomenâÂÂs in May 2015 and at Massachusetts General in April 2016; clinicians reported productivity slowdowns during the transition. In 2016 the system consolidated corporate offices at Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts, a project reported at about $465 million that centralized more than 4,000 administrative employees.
On the North Shore, Partners invested in Salem Hospital and closed the Union Hospital campus in Lynn in 2019 as part of a service consolidation. In 2018, state officials approved Partnersâ acquisition of Massachusetts Eye and Ear.
On November 27, 2019, Partners announced a five-year strategy and said the system would adopt the name Mass General Brigham to present a unified identity across corporate, hospital, and ambulatory entities. Coverage at the time estimated rebranding costs ranging from about $60 million to as much as $100 million, prompting debate over the expense during a period of financial strain for hospitals.
During the first pandemic surge, the Commonwealth, City of Boston, and Partners created the Boston Hope 1,000-bed field hospital inside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in April 2020. Later reporting placed the cost of operating Boston Hope at roughly $29.8 million, largely reimbursable with federal support.
In January 2022, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC) required MGB to file the stateâÂÂs first system-wide Performance Improvement Plan to curb spending growth; in December 2024 the HPC concluded the plan delivered âÂÂmeaningfulâ cost-growth reductions. Amid state review and local opposition, MGB withdrew key parts of a proposal to build new ambulatory sites in Woburn and Westborough in April 2022.
In September 2023, DanaâÂÂFarber Cancer Institute announced plans to end its adult inpatient oncology affiliation with Brigham and WomenâÂÂs and to build a freestanding adult cancer hospital with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; state regulators approved the project in March 2025.
Financially, MGB reported an operating loss in FY2022 amid inflation and staffing pressures, then returned to a positive operating margin on US$20.6 billion in operating revenue in FY2024. In early 2025, the system announced its largest layoffs to dateâÂÂtwo waves focused on nonclinical rolesâÂÂas part of a multi-year restructuring.
Labor activity increased during the same period. More than 2,300 residents and fellows unionized in 2023 and, after roughly 18 months of bargaining, ratified a first contract in May 2025; attending physicians at Salem Hospital voted to unionize in March 2024, and academic primary care physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital voted in 2025 to unionize pending certification.
Mass General Brigham (MGB) is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and maintains an affiliation with the MGH Institute of Health Professions (MGH IHP). Member hospitals (including Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital) sponsor residency and fellowship programs; news coverage in 2025 placed the number of physicians-in-training at roughly 2,600 across the system. HMS medical students complete required and elective clinical rotations at MGB hospitals.
Dedicated simulation and skills resources support team training, procedural practice, and assessment. Examples include the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital Learning Laboratory, which reports offering about 800 simulation sessions annually across roughly 70 courses.
Continuing professional development is provided through the system's Office of Continuing Professional Development, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and participates in the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Maintenance of Certification program for continuing medical education activities.
Research training opportunities are available through university-affiliated consortia such as Harvard Catalyst and the DanaâÂÂFarber/Harvard Cancer Center.
Programs in nursing and allied health are offered through MGH IHP, which publishes degree requirements in areas such as Nursing, Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, Physician assistant studies, and Communication disorders. Information about recent developments in resident and fellow collective bargaining appears in Labor and employment.
Institutions within Mass General Brigham (MGB) have been associated with a number of widely cited advances in medicine and public health, documented in independent secondary sources:
Mass General Brigham is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization governed by a central Board of Trustees and managed by a corporate executive team. The governance structure oversees the strategy and operations of the integrated healthcare system, including its academic medical centers, hospitals, and other entities.
The Board of Trustees holds the ultimate responsibility for the system's strategic direction, financial stability, and quality of patient care. The board is chaired by Scott Sperling, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Thomas H. Lee Partners. The Vice Chairs are John Fish, Chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction, and Jonathan Kraft, President of The Kraft Group. The board's membership includes leaders from diverse fields such as finance, biotechnology, academia, law, and community leadership. Notable members include: Alan Garber, Provost of Harvard University; and Carmichael Roberts, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Material Impact. The system's President and CEO, Anne Klibanski, also serves as an ex officio member of the board.
The day-to-day operations of the system are managed by the executive leadership team, led by President and CEO Anne Klibanski, MD, who assumed the role in 2019. Dr. Klibanski and her team are responsible for implementing the board's strategy, integrating clinical services, advancing research and education, and managing the system's overall performance.
A neuroendocrinologist by training, Klibanski previously served as Mass General Brigham's Chief Academic Officer (2012âÂÂ2019) and earlier as chief of the Neuroendocrine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is the Laurie Carrol Guthart Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and her research has focused on disorders of the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. Klibanski earned a bachelor's degree from Barnard College and an M.D. from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.
In 2025, the compensation of President and CEO Anne Klibanski drew public attention and debate. IRS filings showed Klibanski received $8.4 million in total compensation for 2023, a 40% increase from the prior year; the board chair said the package reflected market benchmarking and performance and noted comparisons to large national health systems. Earlier reporting put Klibanski's 2022 compensation at more than $6 million, up 11.6% from 2021. In March 2025, groups of Mass General Brigham residents and physicians held pickets supporting proposed legislation that would cap hospital CEO pay at no more than 50 times an institution's lowest-paid worker; an MGB spokesperson said executive pay is set using third-party benchmarks for large not-for-profit systems.
Mass General Brigham (MGB) is a non-profit healthcare system with annual revenues that have exceeded $20 billion. Its financial performance is detailed in annual reports for the fiscal year ending on September 30.
Like many U.S. healthcare systems, MGB faced significant financial pressures following the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by labor shortages, high inflation, and constraints on patient discharge capacity. For fiscal year 2022, the system reported an operating loss of $432 million on $16.7 billion in revenue, resulting in a -2.6% operating margin.
Performance improved in fiscal year 2023, with the system narrowing its operating loss to $178 million on revenue of $18.8 billion. This trend continued into fiscal year 2024, when MGB returned to a positive operating margin. On systemwide operating revenue of $20.6 billion, MGB generated an operating income of $120 million (a 0.6% margin). The system attributed this recovery to higher patient acuity, growth in its specialty pharmacy program, and system-wide cost-containment efforts.
Beyond its operating results from patient care, the system's overall net income is heavily influenced by non-operating factors, particularly investment returns. In FY2024, strong investment gains helped produce a total net income of $1.2 billion. This contrasts with years like FY2022, when investment losses contributed to a significant overall net loss of nearly $2 billion.
Independent credit rating agencies have affirmed MGB's financial position. On Apr 25, 2025, Moody's Investors Service affirmed MGB's 'Aa3' bond rating with a stable outlook. Moody's cited the system's strong clinical reputation, prominent market position in the region, and robust research enterprise as key credit strengths, while noting the thin and volatile operating margins as a primary challenge.
As a tax-exempt health system, Mass General Brigham (MGB) reports community benefit activities that include financial assistance, subsidized health services, community health programs, and research and education with community impact. Massachusetts requires non-profit hospitals and HMOs to file annual Community Benefits reports with the Massachusetts Attorney GeneralâÂÂs Office (AGO) in addition to federal IRS Schedule H filings; statewide, hospitals reported roughly $1.0 billion in community benefits for fiscal year (FY) 2024, including $121 million in free and discounted care. MGB hospitals conduct a community health needs assessment (CHNA) at least every three years and develop Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) to prioritize needs such as behavioral health, food insecurity, housing stability, and economic mobility.
MGB's systemwide health equity strategy identifies investments in housing, mental health, economic mobility, and food insecurity, alongside community partnerships and policy advocacy. Individual hospital filings to the City of Boston for FY2024 list program categories and amounts such as support to community health centers, youth development, nutrition security, behavioral health access and workforce, chronic disease prevention (including medically tailored meals), and mobile screening and care.
MGB's licensed insurer, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, files its own Community Benefits report with the AGO and describes partnerships that target chronic disease, behavioral health, and health equity for members statewide.
MGB institutions participate in regional and national collaborations in education, research, and clinical care. The system is a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS); major MGB hospitalsâÂÂincluding Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, McLean Hospital, and Spaulding Rehabilitation HospitalâÂÂare listed HMS affiliates.
Mass General Brigham's expansion and market position have long drawn regulatory and public scrutiny. Reporting in the 2000s highlighted negotiated rate arrangements that raised statewide payment questions, and the system's proposed acquisitions of several community hospitals in the mid-2010s prompted a legal challenge and extensive public comment; in January 2015 a Suffolk Superior Court judge rejected a proposed consent judgment and Partners subsequently halted those acquisition plans. In 2017 the health system resolved a federal inquiry into certain research-lab practices with a $10 million agreement; prosecutors credited self-disclosure and remedial steps taken by the hospital. Following broader concerns about cost growth, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission in January 2022 required Mass General Brigham to file the Commonwealth's first system-wide Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). The PIP and related monitoring focused on constraining spending growth; the HPC's December 2024 evaluation concluded the plan produced meaningful reductions in cost growth over the review period. Proposals to build new ambulatory centers in suburbs (for example, Westborough and Woburn) were withdrawn in 2022 after facing regulatory resistance and local opposition regarding cost and community impact.
In April 2017, Partners HealthCare and Brigham and Women's Hospital agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations that a cardiac stem cell research laboratory obtained federal grants using manipulated or falsified data; prosecutors credited self-disclosure and remedial measures, and the settlement did not include an admission of liability.
In January 2022, Mass General Brigham and certain affiliates agreed to an $18.4 million class-action settlement resolving claims related to website cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies; the settlement provided monetary relief and changes to web practices amid broader national litigation over tracking technologies at health-care sites.
In January 2023, a federal patent-infringement suit alleged that MGB's use of a diagnostic technology violated a third party's intellectual property; MGB disputed the claims. As of 2025, public filings do not indicate a reported final judgment.
Mass General Brigham (MGB) has seen sustained labor activity since 2023 across trainees, physicians, home care staff, and hospital nursing units.
In February 2018, then-Partners HealthCare said it would outsource roughly 100 medical coding and other back-office functions to India as part of a cost-reduction plan; affected employees were laid off and work was transitioned overseas.
In early 2025, MGB initiated the largest layoffs in its history as part of a multi-year restructuring. The first wave began the week of 10 February 2025; a second wave started the week of 10 March 2025. Leaders said the reductions would primarily target nonclinical management and administrative roles and were intended to close a projected budget shortfall over the next two years; additional actions included consolidating similar roles across sites and leaving some vacancies unfilled. Reporting during March indicated that up to roughly 1,500 positions system-wide could be affected out of a workforce of about 82,000.
While executives said bedside roles would be largely spared, coverage documented some patient-facing positions among those eliminated, including hospital chaplains, a counselor who led violence intervention programs, and a tobacco-treatment specialist, prompting public debate about the cuts' impact. Local examples included leadership and administrative reductions at affiliate hospitals such as Nantucket Cottage Hospital.
MGB said impacted employees received separation packages and redeployment support, and that the layoffs would conclude by March 2025; officials also stated that the restructuring was part of a broader plan to streamline operations across the system.
During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the system declined to offer hazard pay, drawing criticism from employee groups. In June 2020, Mass General Brigham announced temporary executive pay cuts (25% for top executives for one year) and broad wage and retirement freezes to avoid layoffs and furloughs; lower-wage employees were exempted. In 2021, the system provided $1,000 bonuses to most employees and said the freezes had been restored.