The medical school's rebranding will be accompanied by new signage and by a $1.5 million advertising campaign.
Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston will today unveil a new name, dropping "New England" and emphasizing the hospital's ties to Tufts University in Medford.
Tufts Medical Center will use part of the official university logo, and its pediatric affiliate for children will become Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.
The changes reflect a growing symbiosis between the two institutions. The rebranding will be accompanied by new signage to help make the medical school's Chinatown campus appear more cohesive and by a $1.5 million advertising campaign to reintroduce Boston's oldest hospital, founded in 1796.
Ellen Zane, the chief executive of the medical center, said it is unusual for a university to put its name on a hospital that it doesn't own. Zane said she has been working more closely with Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, the dean of the medi cal school. Last month, they went on a joint fund-raising trip to Palm Beach, Fla.
"We are codependent," she said. "Without me, he doesn't have a medical school. Without him, I don't have an academic medical center.
Tufts University School of Medicine has teaching relationships with other hospitals in Boston, including Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, but the former NEMC remains its primary teaching affiliate.
Larry Bacow, the president of Tufts University, said he has sought to emphasize the Tufts name at the hospital since he joined the university in 2001. The hospital and school have not always worked so well together, he said.
"Historically, at most institutions, there's always tension between the head of the academic medical center and the dean of the medical school," Bacow said.
Tensions can grow out of turf wars and budget battles, he said. For instance, if a hospital recruits a new chairman of neurology, questions arise over whether the university should cover some of the associated costs. Or if a university buys a piece of equipment intended to help researchers, how much should the hospital contribute?
"Now, instead of fighting, we're collaborating," said Bacow.
Dr. Marc Bard, a partner at the Bard Group in Needham, which consults with hospitals on strategy, said the truce between Tufts and the medical center is unusual.
"There's nothing unique about the Tufts model," he said. "The only thing that's unique is the execution. They make it work."
Bard said the relationship reflects the medical center's position in the competitive Boston market. In many cities, Tufts Medical Center would be the best-known and most respected teaching hospital. But in Boston, with a cluster of teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School, and other academic medical centers, Tufts must work harder to stand out, he said.
"Their market position has required them to really seek this extra level of integration," said Bard.
Tufts Medical Center's size also puts it in the middle of the pack in the state. Massachusetts General Hospital is licensed for 946 beds, according to state regulators, the most of any medical institution in Massachusetts. UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester is second, licensed for 830, and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is licensed for 816.
Tufts Medical Center is licensed for about 451 beds and has approximately 350 in use.
Tufts will back up the new name with an advertising campaign in which the medical center will emphasize the connection with the university and will highlight some of its unique capabilities. For instance, the hospital performed 22 heart transplants in 2007, the most of any hospital in New England. The ads will run in print publications, in MBTA stations, and on the Internet, radio, and billboards.
Separately, the medical center and the university are creating signs to boost the visibility of the campus, located near the intersection of Washington and Kneeland streets in Chinatown. The campus includes Tufts' School of Dental Medicine and School of Nutrition.
"People don't know what happens in these walls," said Zane. "If they knew what services we provide, it would help them to choose us."
Zane said Tufts Medical Center is still planning to open a clinical satellite in the suburbs. A tentative plan to expand in conjunction with New England Baptist Hospital - another Tufts teaching hospital - was abandoned last year. Instead, the medical center sold two Chinatown buildings for $116 million, leasing back space that it occupies. The financial windfall enabled it to reduce its debt load by more than 50 percent, making it possible to borrow to build a new facility.
The medical center is conducting a strategic review of its expansion plans and plans to select a site this year.
Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
