Quick Facts

Massachusetts Eye and Ear is a member of Mass General Brigham, an integrated health care system, that specializes in high-quality and affordable care and treatment of patients with disorders of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, head and neck.

Internationally acclaimed since its founding in 1824, Mass Eye and Ear employs full-time, board-certified physicians who offer high-quality and affordable specialty care that ranges from the routine to the very complex.

Including its main campus on Charles Street in Boston, Mass Eye and Ear has a network of more than 20 patient care sites throughout Greater Boston, including Cape Cod and Providence.

In 2011, Mass Eye and Ear merged with Schepens Eye Research Institute, creating the largest community of vision and hearing researchers anywhere in the world. Today, our investigators are supported by more than $70 million of total research funding.

Mass Eye and Ear is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and trains future leaders in ophthalmology and otolaryngology head and neck surgery, through residency as well as clinical and research fellowship programs.

Vital Stats*

• Surgical cases: 31,400
• Inpatient discharges: 1,100
• Outpatient visits: 352,000
• Emergency room visits: 29,000
• 21 Operating rooms (main campus and Longwood sites)
• Inpatient beds: 41 

*Numbers reflect the fiscal year 2023

Leadership

• Board of Directors Chairman: Robert Atchinson
• President: CarolAnn Williams
• Chief of Ophthalmology: Joan W. Miller, MD
• Chief of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: Mark Varvares, MD, FACS

Services Only Offered at Mass Eye and Ear

• The Commonwealth's only 24-hour per day emergency room dedicated to treating specialized injuries of the eye, ear, nose, throat, head and neck.
• The Commonwealth's only designated Eye Trauma Center.
• The only Hyperbaric Medicine Service east of Springfield, Mass., that is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week, to treat smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning and "the bends."

National Reputation for Quality

• Mass Eye and Ear ranked #7 in the nation for Otolaryngology (ENT) and #4 in the nation for Ophthalmology (Eye) in the 2023–2024 U.S. News and World Report "Best Hospital" rankings.
• Top Leapfrog Hospital in nation accredited by the Joint Commission.

A Few Research "Firsts"

• Performed the first ever post-FDA approval gene therapy procedure for inherited disease on patient with retinitis pigmentosa
• Pioneered a new method for removing eye tumors through the nose – rather than through invasive craniotomies
• Identified several new genetic risk factors for glaucoma
• Discovery of the first hereditary cancer gene
• Created the first atlas of head and neck cancer, revealing the many different kinds of cells in primary head and neck tumors and how common cancers metastasize
• First diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity
• First treatment for retinitis pigmentosa
• Performance of the first cochlear implant in New England
• Development of two surgical procedures for Ménière’s Disease
• Development of surgery to restore speech, swallowing and normal breathing in patients with paralyzed vocal cords
• Discovery of VEGF molecule as a major trigger for angiogenesis in the eye, a cause of blinding diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy
• Pioneered use of photodynamic therapy to halt vision loss from AMD and restore sight
• Discovery of stem cells in the inner ear, which can be converted to hair cells (used for hearing)
• First to grow new hair cells in the inner ear and restore hearing in mammals