The Medical Center, which is a division of the Department of Health Services of the County of Los Angeles, is the largest unit of a system of 6 hospitals situated throughout Los Angeles County. Its buildings are spread over an 84 acre tract approximately 2 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. In addition, the inpatient Psychiatric Services are housed in a portion of the large Metropolitan State Psychiatric Hospital located in nearby Norwalk, California. The Medical Center, like the other hospitals in the Department of Health Services system, is maintained by the taxpayers primarily for the care of the indigent sick and injured, but it will accept anyone who needs emergency medical care or psychiatric service.
All patients are available for teaching.
The Medical Center cares for acute hospital needs of inmates of the County Jail System. It also houses the largest and busiest trauma and burn centers in the county. Approximately 50,000 patients are admitted to the Medical Center, over 600,000 patient visits are made to the Outpatient Clinics and to the Emergency Service, and in excess of 9,000 deliveries occur annually. Autopsies average 300. There are three main Medical Center libraries with a full complement of textbooks, bound journals and current periodicals.