TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and Boston-based Mass General Brigham (MGB), two of the nation’s leading health care systems, today announced a successful deepening of their affiliation with the development of new programs and services, including a bone marrow transplant program and CAR-T therapy program, at TGH. The two organizations are also growing their health care services to support Florida’s veterans and service members through Home Base Florida. These efforts complement and strengthen the ongoing exchange of expertise and clinical best practices between the two health systems. Today’s announcement marks three years of collaboration, as MGB has worked closely with TGH to grow its capabilities as a leading destination for medical innovation and training, research, physician recruitment and patient care.Â
TGH’s relationship with MGB is part of the Florida-based system’s overall strategy to transform health care through innovation, building on existing ties with academic and research organizations – including USF Health – improving high quality care and the best possible patient outcomes.
“This collaboration formalizes the long-standing relationship between Tampa General and Mass General Brigham. For years, our leadership, providers, researchers and teams have worked closely to share knowledge, information, findings and outcomes to elevate the level of care we offer,” said John Couris, president and CEO, Tampa General. “As we look ahead, we’re aiming to build a greater presence in the state of Florida, where patients can not only benefit from the exchange of knowledge, but also the best-in-class providers of both networks.”
One of the first joint programs between TGH and MGB was the 2021 establishment of Home Base Florida on TGH’s main campus, serving American veterans and service members. Begun at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), one of MGB’s academic medical centers, in 2009 as a partnership with the Red Sox Foundation, Home Base is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds of war for veterans, service members and their families through world-class clinical care, wellness, education and research. Home Base Florida at TGH currently serves more than 375 veterans and service members per year at no cost to the patient. TGH and MGB plan to expand from health and wellness to also offering mental health services in the future.
“As an integrated health care system with patients at its center, it’s important to align with institutions who share our core values to improve the communities we serve, promote equity and strive to advance the field of medicine to not only improve patient outcomes, but the lives of those we care for,” said Anne Klibanski, MD, president and CEO, Mass General Brigham. “Our affiliation creates a high-quality system of care leveraging the strengths of a national academic system and a statewide academic system to meaningfully impact patient care across all of Florida.”
Over their three years working together, TGH and MGB developed a bone marrow transplant program and cell therapies unit as part of the TGH Cancer Institute. The program serves patients with aggressive blood cancers, such as leukemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and other types of cancer. The program is housed in a brand-new, state-of-the-art unit and managed by best-in-class cancer specialists. Through the program, patients also have access to CAR T-cell therapy, a cancer immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own T cells to fight cancer.
“This affiliation combines the expertise, experience, research and findings from two of the nation’s leading academic health care systems,” said Abe Schwarzberg, MD, executive vice president and chief of Oncology at Tampa General and president of Tampa General Provider Network. “We’ve already seen how our collaboration can benefit the patients we serve, and we’re working to build on this success with more services and locations in Florida.”
“We are excited to expand this relationship with Tampa General Hospital, an outstanding academic medical center with a highly talented leadership team,” said Ron Walls, MD, chief operating officer, Mass General Brigham. “We share a commitment to the highest quality, safest, most expert and compassionate patient care informed by cutting edge research. That is the foundation of this consummate collaboration.”