From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a 570-bed public
teaching
hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street within the unincorporated Los Angeles County area
of West Carson, California. (The
mail is handled by the post office in Torrance, which is used as the
mailing address.)
Harbor-UCLA is funded by the County of Los Angeles, and serves
as the Level I
Trauma Center for the South Bay area.
- Mission statement
"The mission of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is to provide high
quality, cost-effective, patient-centered care through leadership
in medical practice, education, and research. Services are provided
through an integrated health care system to residents of Los
Angeles County regardless of ability to pay."
History
A medical facility was originally opened on the site in 1943 as
the U.S.
Army's Port of Embarkation Hospital, which was a receiving
point for the wounded returned from the Pacific theater
during World War
II. Situated on a tract of 80 acres
(0.32 km2), it had an administration building and a
large number of barracks wards arranged under the cottage
system.
In February 1946, the county purchased the facility from the Federal
Government in order to decentralize the activities of the Los Angeles County
General Hospital, one of the largest institutions of its kind
in the world, and founded a branch hospital to serve the Harbor
and Long Beach.[1]
The Los Angeles County Harbor General Hospital began its
affiliation with UCLA
School of Medicine in 1951. Construction of the present
eight-story hospital building was completed in 1962 on the easterly
portion of the grounds, at Carson Street and Vermont Avenue,
replacing a number of the wooden barracks and cottages comprising
Harbor General.[2]
Affiliation with the UCLA
School of Dentistry was established in 1972.[3] In
1978, the name of the hospital was changed to Los Angeles County
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in order to draw attention to its
working relationship with the UCLA School of Medicine.[4]
The main building was portrayed as Rampart General
Hospital in the popular TV series Emergency! (1972 to 1979).
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is home of the Los Angeles
Biomedical Research Institute (also known as LA BioMed), which
is one of the largest independent, not-for-profit biomedical
research institutes in the United States. Originally known as
Harbor-UCLA Research and Education Institute (REI), the LA BioMed
has been conducting biomedical research, training young
scientists and providing community services, including childhood immunization, nutrition assistance and
anti-gang violence programs over the past 50 years.
Innovations
Pioneering research in many fields such as reproductive
endocrinology, genetics, infectious diseases, trauma and
respiratory medicine has brought worldwide attention to the
Harbor-UCLA campus. Among the major milestones are:
- In 1984, Harbor-UCLA was the first institution in the world to
achieve successful pregnancies using the technique of ovum
transfer. The research team was directed by Dr. John Buster that
performed history's first embryo transfer from one women to
another resulting in a live birth and led to the announcement on
February 3, 1984.[5]
In the procedure, an embryo
that was just beginning to develop was transferred from one woman
in whom it had been conceived by artificial insemination to
another woman who gave birth to the infant 38 weeks later. The
sperm used in the artificial insemination came from the husband of
the woman who bore the baby.[6][7]
This scientific breakthrough established standards and became an
agent of change for women suffering from the afflictions of
infertility and for women who did not want to pass on genetic
disorders to their children. Donor embryo transfer has given women
a mechanism to become pregnant and give birth to a child that will
contain their husband's genetic makeup. Although donor embryo
transfer as practiced today has evolved from the original
non-surgical method, it now accounts for approximately 5% of in
vitro fertilization recorded births.
This work established the technical foundation and legal-ethical
framework surrounding the clinical use of human oocyte and embryo donation, a mainstream clinical
practice, which has evolved over the past 25 years.[7]
Building upon Dr. Buster's groundbreaking research and since the
initial birth announcement in 1984, well over 47,000 live births
resulting from donor embryo transfer have been and continue to be
recorded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)[8]
in the United States to infertile women, who otherwise would not
have had children by any other existing method.[9]
- The discovery by A.F. Parlow, PhD of the molecular structure of
the human follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing
hormone. Dr. Parlow also developed an antisera which made possible
neonatal screening for hypothyroidism, a common cause of mental
retardation. The Parlow Pituitary Hormone and Antisera Laboratory
produces highly purified pituitary components which are used in
research and therapy around the world. One of the hormones
produced, human growth hormone, is used to prevent severe growth
retardation in thousands of children around the world.
- Internationally renowned genetics research to help treat and
prevent short stature, lead by Dr. David Rimoin. He was responsible
for early work on disorders of growth hormone metabolism, for
expanding the knowledge of dwarfism and developing the $2.2 million
Skeletal Dysplasia Center at Harbor-UCLA.
- Dr. John Michael Criley's cardiac research into improved
cardiac resuscitation techniques and better training of emergency
paramedics, leading to the country's first hospital-based paramedic
training program.
- A major discovery in defining the basic biochemical defect in a
skin disease, known as x-linked ichthyosis. Dr. Larry Shapiro's
discovery that this was a hereditary disease was a significant
breakthrough and led to improved treatment strategies.
- Dr. Michael Kaback's advances in developing and improving
screening for Tay-Sachs disease, an inherited, fatal disorder.
Harbor-UCLA has become the headquarters for the California and
international screening programs for the disease.
- Definitive studies of lung surfactant have resulted in saving
the lives of thousands of premature infants who would have died
because of immature lungs.
- The establishment of the UCLA Center for Vaccine Research. Work
at the center has contributed to the licensure of several new
vaccines and to the establishment of new national recommendations
for childhood immunizations. These new vaccines have protected
millions of newborns, children and adults from diseases such as
meningitis, whooping cough and pneumonia.
- The development of scintimammography to detect breast cancer
without invasive biopsies, is one of the many imaging procedures
developed at Harbor-UCLA.
- A detachable balloon catheter, an artificial elbow, and an
implant for use in maxillofacial surgery, are among the many
devices developed here.
- The receipt of a $1,000,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts to
redesign how patient care is delivered. Harbor-UCLA was one of 20
hospitals nationwide—and the only one on the West Coast—to be
awarded the grant. As a result, culture shifts occurred which
emphasize leadership, community and the development of
interdisciplinary collaboration. The grant also provided seed money
and resources to assist with individual and group development.
See also
References
- ^
Los
Angeles Times, Feb. 20, 1946, "County Moves for Purchase
of Army Hospital," p. 14.
- ^
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11, 1962, "Harbor General to Shed
Barracks," p. CS 1.
- ^
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 16, 1972, "School of Dentistry at
Hospital," p. WS 6.
- ^
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 10, 1978, "Supervisors OK Renaming
Harbor General Hospital," p. CS 5.
- ^ "Infertile Woman Has Baby
Through Embryo Transfer". The New York Times.
1984-02-04. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9404EEDC143BF937A35751C0A962948260. Retrieved
2009-04-14.
- ^ "A Legal, Moral, Social
Nightmare". Time. 1984-09-10. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952517,00.html. Retrieved
2009-04-14.
- ^ a
b
"The New Origins of
Life". Time. 1984-09-10. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952514,00.html. Retrieved
2009-04-14.
- ^ "Assisted Reproductive
Technology: Home". Department
of Health and Human Services. http://www.cdc.gov/ART/. Retrieved
2009-04-14.
- ^ "A clinical publication of the
American Society for Reproductive Medicine". http://www.obgmanagement.com/srm.asp?id=5030. Retrieved
2009-04-14.
External
links
Coordinates: 33°49′47″N 118°17′41″W / 33.8298°N
118.2947°W / 33.8298;
-118.2947
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