Massachusetts General Hospital recognized for “outstanding community service’’

By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

The Association of American Medical Colleges awarded Massachusetts General Hospital its 2011 national Spencer Foreman Award for Outstanding Community Service.

“While MGH is well known for its outstanding clinical care and scientific inquiry, its legacy of caring for and about the underserved locally and globally is equally strong,” said Dr. Peter Slavin, president of the hospital, in a written statement.

The hospital opened with 60 beds mainly so the poor would have a place to get treated, and admitted its first patient on Sept. 1, 1821 — a 30-year-old saddler with syphilis. It’s celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. You can read more about Mass. General’s first patients here.

The hospital won the award for the following work, according to the statement:

* Local community - With support from the hospital, the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition has helped decrease heroin overdose calls in the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown by more than 62 percent between 2003 and 2008, according to data from Boston Emergency Medical Services. Also, when a new drug, suboxone, became available to treat opiate addictions, Mass. General Charlestown physicians lobbied Congress to increase the number of patients it could treat from this small community, and now has one of the largest panels of patients on suboxone in the area.

* Global community - The hospital’s Center for Global Health is preparing the health care leaders and educators of tomorrow in close collaboration with in-country partners in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Bangladesh. Mass. General and Harvard Medical School joined their South African colleagues to build the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, the first dedicated medical research institute to be built in an African university.

* Educating community providers of the future – Mass. General has an array of programs to encourage medical students and residents to practice in the community. Nearly one third of all medical residents are trained in a community health center, and all residents have exposure to community settings.

Liz Kowalczyk can be reached at kowalczyk@globe.com.