Massachusetts General Hospital has raised $1 billion as part of a $1.5 billion fund-raising campaign — despite the tattered economy and turmoil in the hospital industry — putting it on track to set what is believed to be a New England record.
The money will pay for Mass. General’s “Building for the Third Century,’’ a $579 million, 10-story glass and steel tower under construction and scheduled to open next summer. It will increase the number of hospital beds by almost 20 percent, add 19 operating rooms and include a modern, expansive emergency room to replace a dingy, jam-packed facility where patients often wait on gurneys parked in hallways.
The campaign, which the hospital planned to announce today, would surpass Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s record $1.18 billion fund-raising drive, which concluded in September.