Overview
History
The original facility was constructed by the US Army in 1943 as the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation
Hospital for the processing of Army personnel preparing to ship overseas during World War II. In addition
to serving as a military medical facility, the expansive grounds were also used as a detention center for
prisoners of war. At the conclusion of the war, the Army no longer needed the facility, and Los Angeles
County was offered the entire 72-acre property and its collection of more than 40 barracks for the sum of
$48,271. The medical buildings became Los Angeles County Harbor General Hospital, and in 1946 the
hospital was dedicated to serve the indigent and the emergency medical care needs of the county's
exploding postwar population. In 1951, an affiliation between Harbor General Hospital and the newly
founded UCLA School of Medicine was realized, predating by several years the opening of the UCLA
Medical Center on the Westwood campus. Financed by a $15.4 million bond measure overwhelmingly
passed by Los Angeles County voters, construction of a new acute care facility was begun in 1960 and
completed in 1963 as a 553-bed hospital that in 1978 was renamed Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. A
major addition to the building was completed in 1994. Today, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center serves a
catchment area of approximately 2 million citizens and offers a full spectrum of tertiary care in all medical
and surgical specialties.
Harbor-UCLA Department of Medicine
The Department of Medicine at Harbor-UCLA has almost 70 full-time faculty members who hold
appointments on the faculty of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In addition, the
Department's voluntary faculty consists of over 100 actively practicing physicians from the local
community.
The Department of Medicine is responsible for approximately 150 inpatient beds in Harbor-UCLA Medical
Center, including an 8-bed Medical-Respiratory ICU, a 6-bed Coronary Care Unit, 40 beds in
Progressive Care Units, and a Renal Transplant Unit. Ambulatory care is provided in a full range of
general internal medicine clinics and subspecialty clinics housed in the Primary Care Center and other
clinic areas. There are approximately 30 other clinics for internal medicine subspecialty care. The
Department of Medicine has more than 8000 admissions to the inpatient services and over 80,000
outpatient visits annually.
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Critical to the development of the Harbor-UCLA campus as a productive academic center was the
formation and maturation of the campus-based Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed).
The success of the affiliation between Los Angeles County and the UCLA School of Medicine has
depended heavily on the opportunities for academic enrichment offered by the LA BioMed to the medical
center's faculty. From its humble beginnings a half century ago, LA BioMed has become one of the most
prominent independent research institutions in the United States. With an annual budget of $70 million,
the LA BioMed provides the physical and organizational infrastructure for the extensive basic science
and clinical research programs conducted by Harbor-UCLA faculty.
A few of the medical milestones attributable to Harbor-UCLA researchers include:
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center: Today
Despite the challenges imposed by difficult economic circumstances and an increasingly diverse and
indigent patient population in Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA has continued to thrive and even
prosper. This has been due in large part to the abundance and variety of patients, the dedication of the
house staff, and the educational and research expertise of the faculty. The infrastructural support and
degree of self-governance afforded by the medical center administration, the campus-based research
and group practice organizations, and the UCLA School of Medicine have allowed the successful
amalgamation of the public health and academic missions of the institution. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
stands as testimony to the wisdom of a cooperative effort between local government and medical
academia in providing high-quality, cost-effective elective and emergent clinical care in concert with
medical education and research. This model represents important lessons learned that will be applicable
to the ever-increasing challenge of health care delivery to the medically disenfranchised of the United
States.
Living in Torrance
The Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is located in Torrance, California. Torrance is the 6th largest city in
Los Angeles County, and has many cultural and commercial resources. Click here to view the official
website of Torrance, California.
Torrance, and the surrounding communities of Long Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, and
Hermosa Beach provide many safe and unique living opportunities.
History
The original facility was constructed by the US Army in 1943 as the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation
Hospital for the processing of Army personnel preparing to ship overseas during World War II. In addition
to serving as a military medical facility, the expansive grounds were also used as a detention center for
prisoners of war. At the conclusion of the war, the Army no longer needed the facility, and Los Angeles
County was offered the entire 72-acre property and its collection of more than 40 barracks for the sum of
$48,271. The medical buildings became Los Angeles County Harbor General Hospital, and in 1946 the
hospital was dedicated to serve the indigent and the emergency medical care needs of the county's
exploding postwar population. In 1951, an affiliation between Harbor General Hospital and the newly
founded UCLA School of Medicine was realized, predating by several years the opening of the UCLA
Medical Center on the Westwood campus. Financed by a $15.4 million bond measure overwhelmingly
passed by Los Angeles County voters, construction of a new acute care facility was begun in 1960 and
completed in 1963 as a 553-bed hospital that in 1978 was renamed Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. A
major addition to the building was completed in 1994. Today, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center serves a
catchment area of approximately 2 million citizens and offers a full spectrum of tertiary care in all medical
and surgical specialties.
Harbor-UCLA Department of Medicine
The Department of Medicine at Harbor-UCLA has almost 70 full-time faculty members who hold
appointments on the faculty of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In addition, the
Department's voluntary faculty consists of over 100 actively practicing physicians from the local
community.
The Department of Medicine is responsible for approximately 150 inpatient beds in Harbor-UCLA Medical
Center, including an 8-bed Medical-Respiratory ICU, a 6-bed Coronary Care Unit, 40 beds in
Progressive Care Units, and a Renal Transplant Unit. Ambulatory care is provided in a full range of
general internal medicine clinics and subspecialty clinics housed in the Primary Care Center and other
clinic areas. There are approximately 30 other clinics for internal medicine subspecialty care. The
Department of Medicine has more than 8000 admissions to the inpatient services and over 80,000
outpatient visits annually.
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Critical to the development of the Harbor-UCLA campus as a productive academic center was the
formation and maturation of the campus-based Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed).
The success of the affiliation between Los Angeles County and the UCLA School of Medicine has
depended heavily on the opportunities for academic enrichment offered by the LA BioMed to the medical
center's faculty. From its humble beginnings a half century ago, LA BioMed has become one of the most
prominent independent research institutions in the United States. With an annual budget of $70 million,
the LA BioMed provides the physical and organizational infrastructure for the extensive basic science
and clinical research programs conducted by Harbor-UCLA faculty.
A few of the medical milestones attributable to Harbor-UCLA researchers include:
- The first successful delivery of a primate produced by artificial insemination,
- The development of the modern serum cholesterol test,
- The discovery of the molecular structures of human follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormones,
- The procedure for extraction and isolation of human growth hormone as well as its clinical use to
treat hypopituitary dwarfism, - The production of a highly sensitive antibody to thyroid stimulating hormone that enabled creation
of a newborn screening test for congenital hypothyroidism, - The development of a test to detect carriers of Tay-Sachs disease,
- The development of an enzyme replacement therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis I or Hurler
syndrome, - The development and clinical introduction of a povidone-iodine ophthalmic solution to prevent
neonatal infectious conjunctivitis and its resultant blindness, - The identification of nitric oxide as the endogenous mediator of erectile function,
- The development of the nation's first paramedic training program for firefighters.
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center: Today
Despite the challenges imposed by difficult economic circumstances and an increasingly diverse and
indigent patient population in Los Angeles County, Harbor-UCLA has continued to thrive and even
prosper. This has been due in large part to the abundance and variety of patients, the dedication of the
house staff, and the educational and research expertise of the faculty. The infrastructural support and
degree of self-governance afforded by the medical center administration, the campus-based research
and group practice organizations, and the UCLA School of Medicine have allowed the successful
amalgamation of the public health and academic missions of the institution. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
stands as testimony to the wisdom of a cooperative effort between local government and medical
academia in providing high-quality, cost-effective elective and emergent clinical care in concert with
medical education and research. This model represents important lessons learned that will be applicable
to the ever-increasing challenge of health care delivery to the medically disenfranchised of the United
States.
Living in Torrance
The Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is located in Torrance, California. Torrance is the 6th largest city in
Los Angeles County, and has many cultural and commercial resources. Click here to view the official
website of Torrance, California.
Torrance, and the surrounding communities of Long Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, and
Hermosa Beach provide many safe and unique living opportunities.
Department of Medicine
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