St Luke Medical Center (Pasadena, California)

The hospital was purchased by Oronda Health Group in 1994 and saw the hospital receive funding to modernize the facility following Oronda's acquisition by Tenet Healthcare in 1996. However; within a few short years, Tenet would face criticism for its management of the hospital as patients and local residents began to note the declining service within St Luke. Huntington Hospital would undergo multiple renovations during the latter half of the 1990s; drawing in more patients from the area, and seeing more of St. Luke's medical staff transferring out of the aging facilities. By January 2002 Tenet Healthcare announced they would permanently close the facility by the end of the month due to St. Luke not reaching fiscal goals for the company. The hospital would close permanently on January 25, 2002.[3]

Front Facade of St Luke Medical Center in 2022 Boarded over due to vandalism

The year following the closure; Tenet sold the property to Caltech for use as a research facility due to its location at the base of Eaton Canyon. However; the university saw very little of use in the aging building and sold the property in 2007 to a Beverly Hills based real estate company. Due to the original Chapel's location on site, the city of Pasadena declared it a historical landmark; preventing the hospital from initial demolition plans in 2003.[4] In the years following its sale, the property has been a very prominent film location due to its low cost and has featured in such movies as Kill Bill: Volume 1 and La La Land. In 2013 the hospital was briefly considered by the city of Pasadena for reuse again as an urgent care facility, however; the proposal was quickly vetoed as the location was deemed too outdated to meet updated standards.

The Entrance to the Psychiatric Ward at St Luke's Hospital

Following the initial closure in 2002, and the sale from Caltech in 2007; the hospital was left with a large amount of remaining medical equipment and beds. At some point around 2011, Tenet covered most of their branding around the property and disposed of a large amount of the remaining patient records. The hospital would begin to fall victim to vandalism and scrapping at some point in the late 2010s as security up to that point had been very minimal. In 2020; the property's current owners boarded up all of the lower level windows, and installed security lights to repel vandals and the homeless population.

Former Emergency Room Entrance c. 2022