Boston Medical Center consolidating ERs

Boston Medical Center is consolidating its two emergency departments, closing a much smaller center on East Newton Street next month in favor of its expanded Menino Pavilion Emergency Department on Albany Street, the hospital said today.

The July 12 move is expected to save the hospital approximately $2.5 million a year. The consolidation affects 28 part-time and full-time nurses, many of whom may be able to fill vacancies elsewhere in the hospital, spokeswoman Ellen Berlin said in an e-mail interview. Non-nursing staff will be absorbed into open positions in the hospital.

Earlier this year the hospital posted its first financial loss in five years.

The Menino Emergency Department, which recently added 11 treatment bays and a new triage room while enlarging its waiting area, had 117,000 visits last year compared with 18,400 at the Newton Pavilion Emergency Department. Boston Medical Center runs the largest 24-hour, Level 1 trauma center in New England.

"This consolidation creates a single point of entry to BMC’s emergency services. It also eliminates redundancies in our system so that care can be provided more safely and efficiently," Dr. Ravin Davidoff, Boston Medical Center chief medical officer, said in a statement.

The hospital's two emergency rooms date back to before the 1997 merger of Boston City Hospital with Boston University Medical Center Hospital.