LOS ANGELES – After 55 years of operation as Los Angeles County- USC Medical Center, the county’s most distinctive and busiest healthcare facility is getting a new name.
But no one is saying what it is just yet.
The official announcement will be made Wednesday at the hospital’s Boyle Heights campus. The county Board of Supervisors will officially vote Tuesday to change the name, although even the board’s agenda doesn’t say what the new moniker will be.
According to the motion by Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose Fourth District includes the hospital, “the center is now charting a new path forward,” and the county is seeking to rename the facility “to reflect the hospital’s rich history and strong connection to the community accurately while maintaining its commitment to world-class and culturally world-class care.”
In the motion, Solis cited widespread confusion between County-USC and “the nearby Keck Hospital of USC.” She said research had indicated “there is no consistent name or brand” by which the general public or even the patients and staff know the establishment, which was long known simply as General Hospital. Its image is still used in exterior shots for the long-running TV soap opera of that name.
The motion cites a naming process “of multiple surveys, focus groups and listening with patients, staff and community members. It was important to ensure that the name be accessible across different languages.”
The original landmark Art Deco General Hospital structure, opened in 1933, was replaced by more than a billion dollars worth of new construction in 2010, although the old building still houses a wellness center.
County-USC is one of America’s busiest hospitals, annually serving roughly 1 million in-patients and almost 40,000 out-patients. More than 1,000 medical residents are trained per year by doctors from USC’s Keck School of Medicine.