Transfer a Patient

The BMC Health System Transfer Center can help you transfer a patient to BMC, BMC Brighton, or BMC South.

At the BMC Health System Transfer Center, highly trained registered nurses are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to coordinate inter-facility transfers to our Boston Medical Center main campus, BMC Brighton, and BMC South.

Our transfer center nurses will:

  • Have a conference call with the referring and accepting providers to assess the patient's clinical needs
  • Use real-time system-wide capacity data to match the patient to the right level of care at the right location
  • Provide ongoing updates to the referring providers at pre-designated intervals and upon request
  • Facilitate nursing hand-off prior to transfer of the patient

While the transfer center nurse will work with the referring provider to determine a safe transportation plan for the patient, the referring site will be responsible for booking transportation to the receiving facility after nursing hand-off is complete.

Transfer Process

To start a transfer, please call 855.262.2337 (855.BMC.BEDS) 

  • Press 1 for STEMI, trauma, ECMO, and type A or type B dissection
  • Press 2 for all other transfers
  • Press 3 if you are calling from an MD office, community health center, or clinic, or would like to send a patient to one of our emergency departments

When calling the Transfer Center, please have the following information available:

  • Referring hospital name and phone number, including nursing unit the patient is currently admitted to
  • Referring provider name and contact number
  • Patient name and date of birth
  • Patient BMCHS medical record number (MRN), if known at time of call
  • Anticipated inpatient service or specialty consult needed
  • Anticipated level of care needed
  • Clinical status of patient, including relevant past medical history and history of present illness

BMC Health System Locations for Transportation

Please be sure to specify the receiving facility when arranging for transportation for your patient.

BMC Main Campus

850 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA 02118

Emergency Department
725 Albany St.
Boston, MA 02118

BMC South

235 North Pearl Street
Brockton, MA 02031

BMC Brighton

Emergency Department
255 Washington St.
Brighton, MA 02135

Contacts for Emergent Transportation

To arrange for emergent transport by ground or air, please contact Boston MedFlight at 800.233.8998.

To arrange for emergent pediatric transport, call Children’s Transport at 1.866.771.KIDS.

Stroke Hotline

Please call the stroke hotline directly at 844.262.4282 (844.BMC.4CVA) if a patient meets any of the following criteria:

  • Last known normal ≤ 24 hours
  • CTA demonstrates large vessel occlusion or CT scan with hyperdense artery
  • Unruptured or ruptured brain aneurysm/AVM
  • Subarachnoid hemorrhage or suspicion of aneurysmal SAH
  • Large intracranial hemorrhage with concern for edema

Please have all the information noted above in order to facilitate a transfer.