OVERVIEW

CHA’s academic vision statement declares that “Academics is Fundamental to Cambridge Health Alliance.” Just over 50 years ago, Harvard University and the City of Cambridge affiliated in order to radically improve the poor quality of medical care at its public hospital. That design spawned a new era. Academic programming attracted an excellent medical staff and fostered an increasingly empathetic, curious, socially committed and well-trained medical community. It served to improve the health of our local communities, but moreover, to shape medical practice, education and policy for the nation. Our reputation is increasingly well-known and well-earned in our communities, the Massachusetts State House, Washington D.C., and in academic centers around the nation. It would not be an overstatement to say that CHA would not exist today if it were not for its academic affiliations and pursuits.