Doctor's Hospital of Santa Ana

A couple of OCThen readers submitted memories of Doctor's Hospital in Santa Ana, on 17th Street. I don't particularly remember this place, but based on my Googling, I think they're talking about the building where Kindred Hospital now sits, in the old Honer Plaza, across from Santa Ana College.

Kindred is now a long term acute care facility. But I do remember there being a county-run clinic nearby, or sharing the same building.

Anonymous said...

I was stationed at El Toro 56-57-58 and shopped at the Market Basket grocery in Tustin. Is it still there? Red Hill Ave in Tustin you could see the base on a clear( El Toro) day. Also does anyone know if the Doctor's Hospital on 17th street in Santa Ana is still there or not? My oldest son was born there in Feb,1958. I took him there on one of my trips and took his picture in front of the hospital. Dr. N. John Thysell was his Dr. Just curious. Loved southern California back then. Went to Newport Beach and Laguna Beach a lot. Lots of good memories

Leslie said...

How well I remember Dr's hospital. All four of my children were born there, and Dr. Thysell was my doctor also.

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Greenbriar Inn and Sanitarium in Garden Grove

An anonymous OCThen reader asks if anyone knows the name of an old mental hospital in Garden Grove...

I grew up in westminster,born in 1959 in Artesia. My mom and dad bought a house in Westminster in 1955 I believe.I just came across this site when I was trrying to find some info on an old mental hospital in Garden Grove.I think it was on Garden Grove Blvd.

Me and my friends used to drive through there after it closed because it was supposed to be haunted,but I cant find anything on it,maybe someone else remembers it.I have many fond memories of Orange Co.I read on here about someone mentioning Farrels Ice Cream parlour I think there was one in Huntington Beach on Beach Blvd. or maybe it was Westminster.I used to go there alot. That was probably in the 70s.

The "old mental hospital" was a sanitarium on Garden Grove Blvd and Nutwood.  It part of a 15 acre resort called Greenbriar Inn.  Greenbriar Inn opened up in 1940 and included a hotel and restaurant.  Greenbriar Inn closed down in 1970.  Later on it was torn down and turned into tract homes.

Many believe the sanitarium to be haunted.

If you have anything to share on this, please click on "Post a Comment" below...

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Santa Ana Community Hospital

OCThen reader Susan Creger submits the following memory of growing up in Santa Ana during the 1950's and 1960s'...

Wow, I am so excited to run across this place. I miss CA so much, and to read about other people's experience growing up there is exciting. I was born in Santa Ana Community Hospital in 1952. I lived on Newhope St and went to Newhope Elementary until the 4th or 5th grade when Heritage Elementary opened it's doors for the first time. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the Junior High I went to in Santa Ana but it was on the corner of Newhope and ? We moved after 1 semester & I went to Smedley Junior High after that. We moved back in my 9th year & I went to La Quinta High School. I miss the CA of my childhood with Orange Groves everywhere. I remember Farrell's Ice Cream parlors. I went there EVERY day when I was pregnant with my first daughter for a Fudge Sundae Royale.

The name of that junior high school on Newhope and ? was probably Fitz Intermediate. And as for Santa Ana Community Hospital, my wife was born there in 1966. I also remember in the mid-1980s, when I worked at Santa Ana Public Library, several of us employees traveled there (after it was converted to a convalescent home) one Christmas Eve and sang carols to the residents there.

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Midwood Community Hospital

I went to work for Midwood Community Hospital from August 1989 to May 1990. Midwood was located in Stanton, on Katella Ave, about a block west of Beach Blvd. It used to be known as Stanton Community Hospital.

I handled billing and collections. Our office was set up in the old Stanton City Hall building, located in front of the hospital.

The hospital was kinda ratty. It was next door to the Sheriff's substation. If you visited another hospital's Emergency Room with an ailment that was not critical, and you didn't have any health care insurance, chances are they sent you to Midwood. Because of that, Midwood eventually closed up its ER.

One of the things that was frequently talked about was the day when 60 Minutes came to Midwood to investigate some fraudulent activity. I didn't get the full details of what happened. But the owner of Midwood didn't run the place very well. Rumor had it that the owner bought the hospital as a gift for his wife. He was also a part owner of Mission Medical Center in Mission Viejo, and apparently had some stake in Fountain Valley Regional Medical Center too.

By the time Spring of 2000 came around, the owner decided to turn the place into a psychiatric hospital. They fired almost everyone. Another biller and I were the only ones handling the Accounts Receivables. We had to abandon the old City Hall building, and set up office in one of the patient rooms.

Rumor had it that the owner managed to convince the Sheriff's substation next door to bring the crazy people they dragged off the street and admit them into the hospital. This was done to demonstrate to other psychiatrists that our rooms were filled with patients. I had the job of trying to collect money from these folks. That was impossible.

I finally quit working there, and moved across the street to a worker's comp clinic to do billing and collections. Since then, the hospital is competely gone.

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