Engaging community voices and perspectives in projects
located on and around the LA General Medical Center campus
Demolition of LAC+USC Women's & Children's Hospital
Demolition is now underway at LAC +USC Medical Center's Women's and Children's Hospital, clearing the way for the construction of a new healthcare campus and laying to rest the legacy of the 50-year old building which was the site of many positive and negative stories in its long history.
Supervisor Hilda Solis championed the demolition in order to build the Restorative Care Village, a facility designed to serve the county’s most disenfranchised populations, including individuals living on the street or coming out of county jail or juvenile probation.
“By razing this abandoned structure and replacing it with a state-of-the art psychiatric facility that will serve as a center for innovative clinical research, L.A. County is leading the effort to improve the quality of life of all individuals,” Solis said.
History
The existing Women’s and Children’s Hospital on the LAC+USC Medical Center Campus was built in the 1950s and was decommissioned in 2008. An assessment completed by the Department of Public Works for the proposed repurposing of the Hospital concluded that it is does not meet current building codes and would require extensive retrofitting to be brought into compliance. In addition, the decommissioned hospital has been vandalized and the resources to upgrade and update the Hospital outweighed the benefits of demolition to provide the space for a new building per the approved LAC+USC Medical Center Masterplan.
On September 4, 2018, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the groundwork for the proposed demolition of the now-closed LAC+USC Women’s and Children’s Hospital, which was a state-of-the art medical facility that once served millions of patients. It is essential that this phase of work be completed to ensure the planned project can proceed as scheduled. Upon completion of the complete demolition plan of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the selection of a service contractor to demolish the hospital, Public Works will return to the Board in the fall of 2019, to seek approval from the Board to award a contract to the service contractor and approval the overall project budget and schedule.
Project Description & Timeline
The demolition project includes hazard substance mitigation and demolition of approximately 390,000 square feet of the decommissioned 12 story concrete LAC+USC Women's and Children's Hospital including surrounding vacated structures. An intermediate surface parking will be established until funding for the future construction of the Restorative Village Psychiatric Hospital are secured.
Completed Tasks:
• Hazardous survey
• Topographical survey
• Geological investigation and report
• Selection of demolition contractor
• Mitigation and abatement
Next steps:
• Commemorative Ceremony – April 2020
• Demolition – May 2020
Legacy
No Más Bebés (2015) (transl. No More Babies) is an American documentary film that the story of a little-known but landmark event in reproductive justice, when a small group of 10 Mexican immigrant women sued county doctors, the state, and the U.S. government after they were sterilized without their knowledge while giving birth at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center during the late 1960s and early 1970. The lawsuit was led by a courageous attorney and prompted by the revelations of a whistleblowing doctor.
The Health Innovation Community Partnership has formed a planning committee to host a commemorative ceremony prior to the demolition of the hospital that will honor the legacy of sterilization as well as celebrate the history of those born, healed and trained at the hospital.
