California Hospital Med Center

Description

OUR MISSION

Catholic Healthcare West and our Sponsoring Congregations are committed to furthering the healing ministry of Jesus We dedicate our resources to

Delivering compassionate highquality affordable health services

Serving and advocating for our sisters and brothers who are poor and disenfranchised and

Partnering with others in the community to improve the quality of life

OUR VISSION

A growing and diversified health care ministry distinguished by excellent quality and committed to expanding access to those in need

OUR VALUES

Catholic Healthcare West is committed to providing highquality affordable health care to the communities we serve Above all else we value

Dignity Respecting the inherent value and worth of each person

Collaboration Working together with people who support common values and vision to achieve shared goals

Justice Advocating for social change and acting in ways that promote respect for all persons and demonstrate compassion for our sisters and brothers who are powerless

Stewardship Cultivating the resources entrusted to us to promote healing and wholeness

excellence Exceeding expectations through teamwork and innovation
CHW is strengthened in service by the membership of Catholic hospitals founded by congregations of religious women and hospitals that are not Catholic founded by local communities or dedicated physicians The same work of healing is central to all we do

For guidance and moral foundation CHWs Catholic hospitals use The Ethical and Religious Directives published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

For guidance and moral foundation CHWs secular hospitals use the CHW Statement of Common Values

History

Our History
Beginnings
California Hospital Medical Center was founded in 1887 by Dr Walter Lindley and two other physicians It was originally a threestory building located at 315 W Sixth Street in Los Angeles On the first floor of the structure were offices of established physicians On the second floor there were several small offices occupied by younger physicians and a dentist Although there were no elevators in the building the third floor contained a small hospital of six to eight beds

Dr Lindley conceived of a hospital owned and operated solely by physicians The physicians in Lindleys building were quotcarriage tradequot and were affiliated with the University of Southern California Medical School Twentyone physicians agreed to acquire property at the corner of 15th and Hope which was a quiet residential street of attractive homes When the property on Hope Street had been acquired the first physicianowned and operated hospital in Los Angeles was erected at 1414 S Hope Street It was the first building in California especially invented for medical purposes a project that Walter Lindley supervised at every stage of its design and construction

Leading the Way
By 1902 CHMC turned into the largest and bestequipped physicianowned hospital west of Chicago and less than 25 years later CHMCs old frame buildings were replaced by a more modern ninestory brick building resulting in another famous quotfirstquot it was the first fireproof hospital in Los Angeles Between 1870 and 1910 hospitals moved from the periphery to the center of medical education and medical practice And the effects of this significant change rippled outward altering the relationship of doctors to hospitals and to one another and shaping the development of the hospital system as a whole

The access that private practitioners gained to hospitals without becoming their employees became one of the distinctive features of medical care in America with consequences not fully appreciated even today In harmony with the growth of the city of Los Angeles along other lines was the innovative development of facilities for caring for the sick California Hospital the pioneer private general hospital owned and operated by physicians blazed the way and established a precedent which had a worldwide following

Today California Hospital is a 316bed acute care hospital that provides services for the dynamic community of downtown Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods