LA County hospital changes name to Los Angeles General Medical Center
BOYLE HEIGHTS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It was a momentous celebration at the renaming ceremony of the Los Angeles County hospital in Boyle Heights once known as LAC+USC Medical Center. Now, it'll be called the Los Angeles General Medical Center, a hospital that has been a part of the community for 145 years.
"It reflects how we are known in our community. We serve a primarily Latino community," said CEO Jorge Orozco. "Our Latino community members known us the general, hospital general."
According to Orozco, another reason for the new name was because patients would sometimes end up at the hospital next door - Keck Hospital of USC - which also has USC in the name.
The Los Angeles General Medical Center has been around since 1878, starting out with just 100 patient beds.
Throughout the years, the campus has grown and now serves thousands of residents across the county. It's made cameos in various movies and shows and plus, at one point in her life, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was a physician assistant at the hospital.
"One of the reasons why I loved working here is because the whole world comes to this hospital, the whole world does," she said. "You see the breath and diversity of Los Angeles. People coming from all sorts of countries."
The medical center is a level one-trauma center and runs the busiest emergency department and trauma center in the largest county in the nation.
It is one of only three burn center units in L.A. It's also a training site for the U.S. Navy and has one of the oldest and largest HIV clinics in the country.
"For me to say Los Angeles General Medical Center it is to say my community, my family," said Juana Mena, a medical center patient. "This is the result of a healthier community. I can say it personally by the number of times they have saved my life."
According to Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, the oldest building on the campus is a part of a housing project to create 500 to 700 units for the unhoused and affordable housing units.
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