Q. Can you explain the Brigham & Women's Hospital name?

The name is an amalgamation of the names of the four unique hospitals that merged.

In 1966, the Boston Lying-in Hospital merged with the Free Hospital for Women in cooperation with Harvard Medical School.  This merger formed the Boston Hospital for Women (BHW). 

In 1975, BHW merged with the Peter Bent Brigham and the Robert B. Brigham Hospitals. This merger formed the Affiliated Hospitals Center, Inc. (AFCI).

In 1980, a new state-of-the-art facility opened and AFCI was renamed Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Brigham and Women's Hospital is a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School.