Huntington Hospital

Description

MISSION At Huntington our mission is to excel at the delivery of health care to our community

VISION To become the finest communitybased regional medical center in Southern California

History

For over 117 years Huntington Hospital has been at the center of the San Gabriel Valley community and is committed to providing the highest quality health care and emergency services to the region Only six years younger than Pasadena itself Huntington Hospital has grown with the community it serves Today we continue to enhance the services and programs that make us the caregiver of choice in the San Gabriel Valley Through depression and boom war and peace in good times and in bad Huntington Hospital has been here for the San Gabriel Valley community every step of the way

A century ago living in Pasadena meant foregoing some of the conveniences of urban life For anyone requiring treatment for serious illness or injury Los Angeles offered the closest uptodate medical facilities For appropriate medical care San Gabriel Valley residents often had to endure a long bumpy ride in a Southern Pacific baggage car

In February of 1892 a group of prominent local citizens decided that their community would best be served by a local medical facility They formed the Pasadena Hospital Association and several years later a nonprofit hospital was opened for service

In 1900 a committee was appointed to raise funds to build and endow a permanent hospital building The committees task was made much simpler when Mrs Caroline Walkley a local resident donated a plot of land on which to build the proposed facility Two years later at a cost of 21000 the 26bed Pasadena Hospital opened on the present site of Huntington Hospital

The Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s closed down many hospitals and other businesses across the country Pasadena Hospital too faced an uncertain future But in 1936 a 2 million gift from the estate of Henry E Huntington allowed the hospital not only to survive but to thrive The funds were used to build a new main building clear all hospital debts and provide service and parking facilities In addition the Huntington Trust was established and today continues to support the hospitals vital work

After World War II new wings provided space for modern maternity and surgical services and gifts from generous donors helped further enhance the hospital in subsequent years In 1958 for example Huntington Hospital built one of the countrys first intensive care units thanks to the generosity of William Wingate who left his entire estate to the hospital Originally believed to be a gift of 500000 the estate was ultimately found to include a stock portfolio worth over 5000000

The years from 1963 to 1973 marked a period of unprecedented growth as Huntington Hospital engaged in more new construction than during any other period of its history The Edward Valentine Building built in 1971 housed stateoftheart cardiac diagnostic and radiology facilities In 1973 erection of the Herbert Hahn Building allowed for the addition of 97 modern hospital beds Also during this decade the emergency department was expanded the 20000volume Health Sciences Library was opened and the first openheart surgery in the west San Gabriel Valley was performed here at Huntington Hospital

The early founders of the 26bed Pasadena Hospital would surely be surprised to see Huntington Hospital today With 636 beds 900 staff physicians and dentists more than 3000 employees and more than 800 inservice volunteers Huntington Hospital provides fullservice stateoftheart medical care and community services to individuals throughout the San Gabriel Valley and beyond In addition advanced research and treatment centers and a teaching affiliation with the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine ensure that Huntington Hospital remains at the forefront of medical diagnosis and treatment

In 1986 Huntington Hospital commenced an important campaign to raise funds for the replacement of older facilities on its campus The process known as the Campaign for Huntington Hospital consisted of three major phases of construction Phase I completed in 1990 involved construction of the first two floors of a fivestory East Tower In the summer of 1997 Phase II construction began following an outpouring of financial support from local organizations and individuals This phase involved adding three further stories to the construction completed in Phase I

The resulting fivestory patient care tower opened in 1998 now provides stateoftheart care in a highly accessible structure that meets medical seismic and safety requirements The tower is known as the Hale East Tower named in honor Carmen and Charles Hale because of their extraordinarily generous gift pledge made in the form of a charitable lead trust This gift will ultimately provide more than 8 million in funding toward the Huntington Cancer Centers comprehensive diagnostic treatment education emotional support and research activities

The third phase of the master facility plan was completed in December 2007 The West Tower is a ground fivestory patient care tower which houses a brand new pharmacy clinical laboratory and beautiful cafeteria in addition 128 private patient rooms Medicalsurgical oncology and telemetrymonitored patients will be cared for in the West Tower as well as those on the direct observation unit DOU

Huntington Hospital is proud of its history of providing advanced accessible and affordable health care to the people of the San Gabriel Valley As our friends and neighbors rely on us for their medical care we too rely on them for support in the form of financial contributions and voluntary service Together we promote a safe and healthy future for our own generation and for the generations to come