Title supplied by cataloger. The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul established the first hospital in Los Angeles - the Los Angeles Infirmary, in 1856. It was located in the Sonora Town adobe owned by then-Mayor of Los Angeles, Don Cristo´bal Aguilar. Four years later, in 1860, the hospital relocated to 1416 Naud Street, between Ann (named for Sister Ann) and Sotillo Street (though other data indicates the location was 1414 Naud Street, between N. Main and San Fernando Road). In 1869, Daughters incorporated the Los Angeles Infirmary under their own ownership, the first women in the region to do so. In 1883 they purchased six and a half acres of land at Beaudry Park at a cost of $10,000, and a new hospital building was erected a year later at Beaudry and Sunset, on a hillside overlooking Sonora Town. By 1898, Los Angeles Infirmary had come to be known as Sisters Hospital, but both names were used interchangeably in reference to the same hospital; in 1918, the name was officially changed to St. Vincent's Hospital. In 1924 a new building was erected on 3rd and Alvarado, which was built by John C. Austin and Frederick M. Ashley. For 47 years, the hospital had such a steady growth that they were forced to expand yet again, and groundbreaking for a newer, larger building took place in 1971 - this time, located at 2131 W. 3rd Street. With a "new" hospital came a new name, and in 1974, it changed again, this time becoming St. Vincent Medical Center. Through the years the hospital has had many "firsts": in 1957 the first successful open-heart surgery was performed; in 1960, it was the first to use a surgical microscope to operate on the inner ear; in 1962, the first to offer hemodialysis to kidney failure patients; in 1966, the first artificial heart transplant and human heart transplantation were performed; in 1988, first heart transplant took place at S. Vincent Medical Center; in 1993, pancreatic cell transplant to overcome diabetes was performed; and in 1995, the Liver Transplant Program was founded. Although St. Vincent's is the oldest medical institution in Los Angeles, it has evolved with the years to serve the people of this fine city. In 2006, St. Vincent Medical Center celebrated 150 years of service. Photograph of the Los Angeles Infirmary, as it looked in 1881. This was the second building to house the city's finest hospital, located on Naud Street, opposite the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. This was a three-story American Mansard-style structure with a wrap-around balcony on the second floor, and numerous windows and doors. Two young girls stand next to a large shrub at the front of the hospital, and several adults stand on the balcony.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;15 x 20 cm. Photographic prints
Los Angeles Infirmary St. Vincent Medical Center (Los Angeles, Calif.) Decoration and ornament--Second Empire style Hospital buildings--California--Los Angeles Balconies--California--Los Angeles Hospitals--California--Los Angeles Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
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