Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) provides critical care for the most urgent health needs of patients in Boston and beyond. Recognizing the hospital’s important role, The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc. has contributed $2.5 million to give low-to-moderate income families greater access to BWH’s specialty care programs, which serve as a lifeline for so many.

This transformational gift gives BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD, discretion to allocate the funding as needed.

“I greatly appreciate Bank of America’s trust in allowing me to direct these funds to areas where they will have the most profound impact on the health and well-being of patients coming to the Brigham for our outstanding specialty care,” Nabel says.

Thirteen of BWH’s specialty programs—including cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonary, and rheumatology—were ranked in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2015 Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals. With demand for these programs growing, Bank of America’s contribution gives BWH an opportunity to bring together many aspects of specialty care to better serve patients: increasing access to patient navigators who help arrange care for patients; speeding the sharing of medical information among specialists; and providing ongoing data analysis to show how care can be improved.

As part of this commitment, Bank of America made a contribution of the same size to Massachusetts General Hospital.

“At Bank of America, we recognize that strong partnerships are fundamental to strengthening communities,” says Kerry Sullivan, president of The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc. “We’re honored to support this unique opportunity to advance a system of coordinated care across specialty programs at two of the country’s leading medical institutions, benefiting the local community as well as those around the world.”

“Improving access to specialty care is a cause near and dear to my heart,” says Nabel. “I am grateful to Bank of America for playing such an extraordinary philanthropic role at the Brigham.”