Barlow Respiratory Hospital facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Barlow Respiratory Hospital |
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Barlow Respiratory Hospital
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 Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
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| Geography | |
| Location | 2000 Stadium Way, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 34°04′34″N 118°14′53″W / 34.076°N 118.248°W |
| History | |
| Founded | 1902 |
The Barlow Respiratory Hospital is a special hospital in Los Angeles, California. It is located near Dodger Stadium in the Elysian Park area. This hospital also has smaller locations in Van Nuys and Whittier, California.
Barlow Respiratory Hospital started as a place to treat people with tuberculosis. Today, it is a long-term care hospital. It helps patients who have been very sick and need help to breathe on their own again. The hospital also treats many other breathing problems and related health issues. About 900 patients come here each year, mostly for help with breathing machines.
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Who Does Barlow Hospital Help?
The hospital helps many different people from all backgrounds. Most patients (80%) come from Los Angeles County. The rest come from nearby areas, other parts of the country, and even other countries. Patients are usually older and have many health problems. They often come to Barlow after being in an intensive care unit (ICU) at another hospital. They need a longer stay before they can go home or to another care place.
What Special Programs Does Barlow Offer?
Barlow Hospital has four main programs to help patients. These programs treat breathing problems and other health issues that often come with them. This way, they can help the whole person.
Helping Patients Breathe on Their Own
Barlow Respiratory Hospital is known for helping many patients get off breathing machines. About 60% of their patients learn to breathe independently. This is one of the highest rates in the country!
The hospital uses a special plan called the Barlow TIPS Ventilator Weaning Protocol. Doctors who specialize in lungs created this plan. It helps patients who couldn't get off breathing machines at other hospitals. A team of health experts guides patients step-by-step. They help them recover their ability to breathe without help.
Caring for Wounds
Many patients at Barlow have been in bed for a long time. This can cause special skin sores called bed wounds. The hospital has a special program to treat these wounds.
Care for Very Sick Patients
Doctors who specialize in many areas lead the care for very sick patients. The Barlow team helps patients with:
- Heart problems
- Brain and nerve conditions
- Infections
- Kidney disease
- Blood disorders
- Complex breathing needs
The team works to solve these health problems. Their goal is to help patients move from the hospital to another type of care or back home.
Rebuilding Barlow Hospital
The hospital is working on a big project called "ReBuild Barlow." This plan started in 2018. It includes making the hospital buildings stronger to protect against earthquakes. It also means making the hospital bigger and more modern. Older parts of the hospital, built between 1902 and 1983, needed these updates. The "ReBuild Barlow" project helps the hospital keep working while a new building is being constructed.
Learning and Training at Barlow
Barlow Hospital is also a teaching hospital. Medical students from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA learn here. It's also a training place for many other health professionals. These include people who help with breathing, nurses, physical therapists, and nutrition experts.
How Did Barlow Hospital Start?
Walter Jarvis Barlow started the Barlow Sanatorium in 1902. He became a doctor in 1892. Dr. Barlow got tuberculosis in 1895. He had to move to a dry, sunny place to get better. So, he moved to Sierra Madre, California.
He bought 25 acres of land next to Elysian Park. This spot was perfect because the hills kept the air clean. The park also meant no new buildings would block the fresh air. The land cost $7,300.
At first, patients lived in tent cottages. This was so they could get lots of fresh air and sunlight. These were very important for recovering from tuberculosis back then. In the early days, patients had strict rules:
- Patients had to spit only into special cups.
- They used cloths as handkerchiefs and burned them daily.
- They couldn't talk about their sicknesses or make noise.
- Lights were out at 9 p.m.
- They had cold plunges every morning and hot baths twice a week.
- Patients were not allowed to throw trash on the ground.
- If doctors thought they were able, patients had to do some work or leave.
- Patients who didn't follow the rules were sent away.
As time went on, new medicines made tuberculosis less dangerous. So, the sanatorium changed its focus. It started treating other long-term breathing problems and related illnesses. In 1990, the hospital site was named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
Important Dates for Barlow Hospital
- 1902 – Dr. Walter Jarvis Barlow, who had tuberculosis himself, started Barlow Sanatorium.
- 1925 – The first hospital building, the Solano Infirmary, burned down. Luckily, no one was hurt. It reopened in 1927.
- 1937 – Dr. Walter Jarvis Barlow passed away at age 69.
- 1938 – Barlow officially partnered with the University of Southern California Medical School. This partnership continues today.
- 1944 – Effective treatments for tuberculosis were first developed. This gave much hope to those suffering from the disease.
- 1960s – Barlow Sanatorium became a hospital for long-term breathing diseases.
- 1970 – Barlow started helping patients get off breathing machines.
- 1990 – The Barlow Respiratory Research Center was created.
- 1997 – The first smaller hospital location opened in Whittier.
- 2001 – The Research Center published important findings about helping patients off breathing machines.
- 2007 – The second smaller hospital location opened in Van Nuys.
- 2015 – A new CEO, Amit Mohan, joined Barlow Respiratory Hospital.
- 2016 – The hospital received the Gold Seal of Approval® for Respiratory Failure from the Joint Commission.
- 2018 – Barlow Hospital announced the "ReBuild Barlow" project to create a new hospital building.
- 2019 – The Barlow Foundation held a special dinner to raise money for the "ReBuild Barlow" project.
- 1989-2018 – Barlow Hospital published many research papers and articles about helping patients off breathing machines.
Buildings at the Hospital Campus
Barlow Respiratory Hospital has a large 25-acre campus. It includes cottages, a library, the main hospital, and a community hall. This layout comes from its past as a tuberculosis sanatorium, where patients often lived for several years.
Cottages on Campus
In the beginning, tuberculosis patients lived in tent cottages to get fresh air. Later, donors helped build permanent cottages. These bungalows are in the California bungalow style. During World War I, many soldiers got tuberculosis and came to Barlow. The Los Angeles Red Cross built four-room cottages for these military patients. Some of these cottages are still used today.
The Library
The library was opened on May 6, 1922. It has stucco walls and a red tile roof and is still used today. The Los Angeles Optimists Club paid for it. It has beautiful stained glass windows. One was given by James Slauson, and another by Mrs. Helena Torrance in memory of her husband, Jared Sidney Torrance. He was a leader on Barlow's Board of Trustees for many years. The library was updated in 1992.
The Guildhouse
The Guildhouse was once where the men who worked at the hospital lived. In 1975, the old building became a gift and plant shop. This was paid for by the Barlow Guild, a group of former patients who loved to help. The Guildhouse closed in 2014. After a big renovation, it reopened in 2021. Now, it holds administrative offices and is a communication center.
The Hospital Building
In 1903, the first hospital building was a permanent cottage. It had 13 rooms, two bathrooms, and beds for 12 patients. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Solano donated money for it, so it was called the Solano Infirmary. In September 1925, the Solano Infirmary burned down. In 1927, Alfred's wife, Mrs. Ella Brooks Solano, paid for a new building. This new building, the Ella Brooks Solano Infirmary, is still the main hospital today. In 2018, the hospital announced plans to make this historic building stronger and build a new hospital inside an existing nearby building.
