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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

7951

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
44 Binney Street
Boston, MA 02115

Tel.: 617-632-3000
URL: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Established in 1947, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, simply known as Dana-Farber to Bostonians, began as a children’s cancer center, but today it serves patients of any age or condition. The hospital employs up to 4,000 professionals who cater to the 300,000 patients that visit Dana-Farber each year. With an emphasis on AIDS research, the Dana-Farber Institute is supported financially by the federal government, and is one of twenty hospitals in the country recognized by the National Centers of Health as a Center for AIDS Research. The hospital stresses the importance of cancer protection, prevention, and awareness throughout the Boston and New England area and has been home to ground-breaking cancer research. For example, Dr. Farber, the founding father of the hospital, was the first to put a kidney tumor into remission in the late 1940s. Widespread use of the procedure increased the national rate of cure from 45 to 80 percent.

In 1948, a radio show played from the Children’s Cancer Research Foundation (the current Dana-Farber Institute) from the hospital room of a boy who was suffering from leukemia. After this special, bounties of donations filtered through the hospital in order to buy the boy, named Jimmy, a television so he could watch the Boston Braves baseball team, thus creating the Jimmy Fund. Today, the Dana-Farber Institute and the Jimmy Fund are still closely related. The hospital is also vigorously involved in community outreach, pairing up with nearly 30 public high schools in the area to provide a hands-on experience to many students interested in the field of medicine. As an affiliate of the Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Farber Institute seeks to provide excellent educational opportunities to the future’s most promising medical experts.

Dana-Farber puts patient and family care among its top priorities as a medical institution. This was recognized in a video produced by the American Hospital Association and the Institute for Family-Centered Care entitled “Patient- and Family-Centered Care: Partnerships for Quality and Safety”. The standard for patient and family care at Dana-Farber is established by the Adult and Pediatric Patient and Family Advisory Councils, a unique addition to the hospital’s makeup. This council is where executives and staff meet with patients and families in order to ensure a compassionate environment at the hospital throughout the patient’s stay.

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute can be reached by the MBTA by taking the “D” line to Longwood Avenue, the “E” line to Longwood Medical Area, or the Orange line to Ruggles Station and take the bus.