Kaiser's On A Roll

This week, the new 7-story wing of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on Sunset Blvd opens, the first major step of the hospital's modernization project. This weekend, I noticed the building will have colored lighting effects illuminating parts of the facade, which shift in color a la the LAX light towers.

The new building is designed to be built as a replacement for the existing Kaiser facilities, which will move in. Long term plans for the hospital have the other buildings towards Edgemont St be demolished and replaced with new structures. Exciting but also a little saddening for me personally, since this is the very place where I was born (the 2nd floor maternity ward, to be exact...), and where my mom worked for 25 years.

According to Ellen Zaman, who heads community affairs of neighboring Children's Hospital LA, to commemorate the opening of the new Kaiser wing, the three major medical centers of East Hollywood, which also includes Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, are trying to get the City of L.A. to designate either an area or an intersection with signage to recognize the hospital presence in the area, but a name hasn't been decided yet.

I've heard the hospitals jokingly referred to in the past as "Bedpan Alley." But I guess myself being the "Hijo de E-Ho" (So I guess that's a title of royalty now?), having been one of the people to come up with the "Hel-Mel" name for Heliotrope and Melrose, has thrown this suggestion for the med center zone:

"Healthcare Square"