City of Hope National Medical Center - History

History

Los Angeles City of Hope - Duarte (Los Angeles County, California)

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the spread of tuberculosis, also known as "consumption," was a growing concern in the United States and Europe. Owing to advancements in the scientific understanding of its contagious nature, a movement to house and quarantine sufferers became prevalent. Construction of tuberculosis sanatoria, including tent cities, became common in the United States, with many sanatoriums located in the Southwestern United States, where it was believed that the more arid climate would aid sufferers.

In 1913, the Jewish Consumptive Relief Association was chartered in Los Angeles, California, with the intent of raising money to establish a free, non-sectarian sanatorium for persons from throughout the United States diagnosed with tuberculosis. After raising sufficient funds, the association purchased 10 acres of land in Duarte, California, a small town in the more arid San Gabriel Valley, approximately 16 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, and dubbed the property the Los Angeles Sanatorium. Opening January 11, 1914, the sanatorium originally consisted of two tents, one for patients and one for caregivers.

The sanatorium was nicknamed "the city of hope," and grew in size for several decades, continuing to raise funds, construct permanent facilities, hire doctors and treat increasing numbers of patients. Treating tuberculosis remained the sanatorium’s focus until after World War II, when vaccines for tuberculosis gained widespread use in the United States.

With tuberculosis becoming less prominent, in 1946, executive sanatorium director Samuel H. Golter began an initiative to transform the sanatorium into a full medical center, supported by a research institute and post-graduate education. The Los Angeles Sanatorium officially changed its name to City of Hope National Medical Center in 1949. City of Hope's research institute was formally established in 1952. The City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences was eventually chartered in 1993.

From 1953 to 1985, under executive director Ben Horowitz, City of Hope grew further in size and became best known for its cancer research and treatment programs. Horowitz raised City of Hope's annual average operating budget from $600,000 to more than $100 million during his tenure.

In 1981, the National Cancer Institute designated City of Hope a "Clinical Cancer Research Center." In 1983, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation awarded City of Hope a $10 million grant to establish the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope; the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope is now City of Hope's research moniker, and is one of six institutes/centers established by the Beckman Foundation in the United States.

From 1983 to the present, City of Hope continued to grow, expanding its Duarte campus and adding more research and patient care facilities and other structures. City of Hope lists an office building in Monrovia, California, and a development headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, and has opened regional fundraising offices in various cities throughout the United States.