June 8, 2007

New pathway to MEEI starting mid-July

In preparation for the demolition of the Clinics and Vincent Burnham Kennedy Buildings in the fall, the vacating of the two buildings has begun and will be completed in the next five weeks. The existing connector between the MGH and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) in the Clinics Building on the first floor will be severed in mid-July, and travel between the two hospitals via this route no longer will be possible.

Many offices on the first floor of Clinics already have been relocated as part of the first phase of the emptying of the buildings. Both the Employee Access Center and Harvard Employees Credit Union are now on the first floor of the Bulfinch Building. Volunteer and Interpreter Services have moved to the Gray Basement, Anticoagulation Management Services has relocated to the Professional Office Building, and Emergency Services offices have moved to Emerson Place.

Ambulatory outpatients and MGH and MEEI staff who need to travel between the MGH and MEEI for nonclinical purposes will be asked to use an alternate route outside the hospital's front entrance. The newly constructed MGH/MEEI Bridge between the Founders Building second floor and the MEEI will be available for
specific purposes: inpatient transportation, clinical staff movement to and from the MEEI, code responses and transportation of ambulatory patients in wheelchairs by members of MGH Volunteer Services.

The bridge will not be open for nonclinical purposes such as general foot traffic,
a pathway for ambulatory outpatients or an alternative exit. The doors leading from the Ellison Building second floor to the Founders Building will be closed, with a sign indicating that the door is to be used for clinical purposes only.

MGHers who will use the bridge frequently — such as members of the MGH Code Team, Materials Management, Patient Transport, Police and Security, Volunteer Services, Speech Therapy, Nursing, chief residents and operations coordinators — will be required to undergo training to become oriented with the area, access system and emergency procedures.

More information will be provided in upcoming issues of MGH Hotline. For more information, contact Denise S. Palumbo, RN, MSN, executive director of Radiology and director of Operations for B3C, at (617) 726-1667 or dpalumbo@partners.org.

MGH/MEEI Bridge: The Clinical Connector