BIDMC’s emergency department staff members are batting a thousand as first aid providers at Fenway Park.

Last month BIDMC scored a home run when the Boston Red Sox announced that they had chosen the medical center as their official hospital and health care provider. On behalf of partners John Henry, Tom Werner and the entire organization, Larry Lucchino, president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox, wrote that the team chose BIDMC as its community partner “not only because of your exceptional reputation for clinical care…but also because our organizations both have rich histories and shared values. We know that families depend on us for leadership and community commitments beyond our baseball and medical missions. I am confident we will prove to be a great team.”

“There was a healthy competition among several medical centers for this honor,” says BIDMC President and CEO Paul Levy. “BIDMC’s close proximity to Fenway Park — as well as our drive to offer the highest quality in what we do — make BIDMC uniquely positioned, both geographically and philosophically, to be the team’s partner.”

The three-year agreement calls for BIDMC clinicians to be preferred medical care providers for the Red Sox front office personnel and their families. The emergency department will also provide first aid for fans at Fenway Park during baseball season.

The partnership also gives exclusive promotional and advertising rights to BIDMC. The medical center will have billboards and signage at Fenway, along with appearances in the program book and the in-game videoboard feature “Mending Your Sox,” which lists the status of players on the disabled list. BIDMC will benefit from other Red Sox publicity as well. The medical center will participate in a wide variety of community activities with the Red Sox Foundation, our community health centers, and more — clearly a win-win situation for all.

BIDMC staff members (many of whom are avid Red Sox fans) were quick to share their enthusiasm and pride over BIDMC’s selection. Kathleen O. Engel, R.N., resource nurse, Farr 3, noted that since childhood, she has always dreamed of singing the national anthem for a home game at Fenway. “I have to say, I got chills up my spine when you reported [that we were the official hospital for the Red Sox],” she wrote to Levy. “It will be an honor to work for an institution that will be well represented at the great Fenway Park.”

Others have their sights set high above Fenway — such as Rita Monahan-Earley, pathology team leader, EM Lab. She asks, “Do you think we could have our logo superimposed on the Citgo sign?”

And west campus PACU nurses Jill Early, R.N., Meredith Jones, R.N., and Pam Kittredge, R.N., note, “As devoted Red Sox fans and loyal BIDMC employees, we would be proud and honored to represent our medical center in any capacity in conjunction with our new partnership with the 2003 World Series Champions…the Boston Red Sox.”

One thing is certain: BIDMC’s partnership with the Red Sox — and the many other good things happening at the medical center these days — are a tribute to every staff member on BIDMC’s winning team.

- Valerie Hope Goldstein


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