From the Archives: Los Angeles County General Hospital

This photo of Los Angeles County General Hospital appeared in the Dec. 7, 1955, L.A. Times as part of the Know Your City photography series.

The original caption read:

KNOW YOUR CITY, No. 20 — This is too easy. The city’s largest structure. Situated on a hill. Up around the top floors are a bunch of cutups. … Surely, you can guess. Answer on Pg. 38, Pt. 1.

ANSWER — How could you miss? It’s the General Hospital. On a kind of hazy day. If that pillar in the foreground bothered you, that was the idea. It isn’t a lighthouse. Just a street lamp. …

The Art Deco General Hospital opened in 1934. Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, new hospital safety regulations were enacted. The old General Hospital fell out of compliance of earthquake and fire safety codes.

A new hospital complex was built next door. In 2008, hospital operations were moved to the new complex.

Today, the old General Hospital is part of the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. The old building still meets non-hospital earthquake codes. The Wellness Center opened in 2014 on the first floor.

For more, check out this Oct. 27, 2008, Los Angeles Times Opinion piece by Marc Eckstein: L.A.'s real General Hospital.

This post was originally published on June 23, 2016.

{This post originally stated the County General Hospital opened in 1923. Actually it opened on April 15, 1934.}