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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Linda Vista Hospital

The Linda Vista Community Hospital, located in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, originally opened as the Santa Fe Coastlines Hospital.  Built in 1904 at a cost of $147,000 and opening in 1905, the hospital was used as the main medical facility in the area for employees of the Santa Fe Railroad.

The hospital was designed to be a happy, pleasant place where employees received the best care available.  Mexican workers were segregated, but received the same care as white workers, and outdoor tents for TB patients were heated, furnished, and lighted.  The hospital, under the direction of Dr. N.H. Morrison, also raised its own cows, chickens, and vegetable gardens, so that patients were provided with the freshest milk, eggs, and produce possible.

In 1914, the hospital added a wing for a sum of $22,000, which included a basement laundry room, patient rec room on the first floor, and dorms on the second floor.  Between 1924 and 1925, the hospital once again saw a huge addition and renovation.

By 1937, ownership had left the railroad company, and the hospital was now open to the public under the name Linda Vista Community Hospital.  Shortly after this change, the hospital took a turn for the worse.  The neighborhood began rapidly declining.  By the late 1970s, early 1980s, gangs had taken over this section of East L.A., flooding the hospital with violence and victims of gunshots.  More and more patients were being admitted that did not have insurance.

The hospital continued to lose funding, and patient care was deteriorating at a steady decline.  Good doctors were leaving and going to hospitals with better pay and safety, and by 1988, the hospital began refusing ambulance service.  Ugly, and largely untrue, rumors that staff were abusing and mistreating patients started circulating.

Linda Vista ceased operation as a medical facility for good in 1990-91, and many believed it was because of the high death rate and/or mistreatment of patients which led to the closure.  The hospital was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

However, Hollywood quickly breathed new life into the aging structure.  The hospital became a prime filming location.  Movies such as Pearl Harbor, Boo, Room 6, and End of Days all used the site, and the ER pilot episode was filmed in the basement.

With its usage as a filming location, stories of the hospital's alleged hauntings grew in popularity.  Film crews and overnight security personnel all reported a myriad of strange events.  Screams, cries, moans, and humming were heard.  Darting shadows and flickering lights were observed, even from outside the building.  An eerie, faint green light has been seen, an unidentifiable foul odor is smelled on the third floor, people have been touched or pushed by unseen hands, the elevators tend to malfunction, and warm AND cold spots are felt, especially near the entrance lobby.

There are also actual apparition sightings. A doctor wearing a tie is seen looking out a corner window on the top floor.  A young woman has been observed pacing the third floor hallways, and an orderly is seen throughout, making his rounds.  Some people have even seen the image of a former mental patient in what is described as the "cage room."  However, the most famous ghost is said to be the spirit of a young girl, who possibly was struck by a car.  She is heard giggling, and is often seen out front by the hospital's sign, or in the surgical room.

Because of these sightings, a host of paranormal shows have visited, or are planning visits, including one group that has a photo of a lady in a hospital gown looking out of a window.  Still, there are a large number of nearby residents and former hospital employees that maintain that the structure is NOT haunted.  Since 2006, the site has been on the National Register of Historical Places.  The inside is not currently open to the public.

Update May 2012:  There are plans to begin turning the historic hospital into a senior living facility next month.  Read about the plans HERE!

17 comments:

  1. They cant turn linda vista into senior citizens apartments its a historical site.They are retarded if they do that s###. They should open it up to the public for ghost tours. I hope they dnt destroy linda vista. P.S Ghost Adventures Rocks I luv u nick groff

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    1. they should leave it alone and open it to the community for ghost tours it is a historical place

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    2. I would love to see that happen...and they can even continue using it as a filming location for the movie and television industries.

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    3. Oh yeah because ghost tours are so much more important than finding housing that's affordable for the elderly what are you two years old

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  2. just leave it be.it's kind of a memorial for the thugs of east la.

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  3. Linda vista is being turn to a home for the senior, don't you think that to many people have died already.

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  4. oh for petes sake! haunted! pfft! and to the person that uses the word "retarded" in casual speach? YOU are a truly despicable human being. Hauntings are nothing but the brain's imagination of what they WANT to see based on preconceived notions.Have you EVER heard of anyone seeing ghosts in places that they were never told there were ghosts? If I told you some stupid story about my old house being haunted due to some horrific past,you would see all kinds of crazy things because that is what your MIND wants to see. Get lives!

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    1. Actually, I HAVE experienced things in locations without a past history of reports, but I guess I'm crazy, lol. Personally, what I see as crazy and "life-lacking" is people who waste time out of their schedules to come onto a legends website and tell others how stupid they are for enjoying tales of the supernatural, similar tales of which have been told throughout mankind's written history.

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    2. I experienced seeing and hearing a ghostly figure in a house where I was a guest for a couple of months. Having no prior knowledge of the things my hosts had seen themselves I asked and it was in fact the same figure that they had many encounters with. Real supernatural experiences occur and are completely different than pulling your sleeping bag over your head after a campfire story.

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    3. Thank you for your comment! I honestly don't know how people so easily dismiss generation after generation of recorded history involving things unknown. We might not all agree on exactly what causes such things to happen, and we might never have an answer in our lifetimes, but that doesn't make it any less "real."

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  5. This is a interesting story for those who believe in the "unseen by the naked eye" Call me crazy, but the feeling of being in a sinister, abandoned hospital with a ghost vipe would be fun.... But i would want to be in a group of other people to do this. But the "rumer" about melpractice is disconcerning.................Spoky

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  6. I don't see why people take the time to diss other people's beliefs on a website that it MEANT for that sort of talk. Anyway, I truly believe in life after death due to being close friends with a ghost :) If you have something bad to say about someone when everyone else will go against you either stop going on these websites or just keep your unwanted thoughts to yourself. If you're on a website about hauntings and you don't believe in hauntings in the first place then don't go on the F*****G website in the first place

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    1. It is flabbergasting why people do such things, lol.

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  7. I have read about this place and it sounds incredible! We have a lot of haunted locations in Australia as well. I look forward to visiting this place before it is turned in to apartments! What a waste! :(

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  8. I feel that if it is on the National Historical site it should be repaired and open to the public. Also it would be a great honor to the people that open it up at the hospital for the railroad. They could turn it into a museum. To make the money they could also do haunted tours to make the improvements. As for the guy it does not believe in paranormal experiences that's his choice. There are many unexplained things in our world today and they will get more and more as time goes on. Some people are more sensitive than others.

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  9. One thing that I took away from my historic preservation class was that National Register status doesn't give a location that many protections; the owner can still do pretty much what they want. But I agree; I would love to see this location preserved in a different manner, such as an educational center/museum. They could still keep the interior of the hospital largely as is, and make money through continued movie/television filming and paid ghost hunts.

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