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Home > History

Rancho's History

A Tradition of Excellence

• 2010 - Rancho launches a program to reinvent rehabilitation care
• 2009 - Outpatient visits reached an all-time high of 76,000 visits, a 50% growth in 3 years
• 2008 - The Day Rehabilitation and Wellness Center begins full operation
• 2007 - Implemented a 20-bed acute stroke/neurology unit
• 2006 - The Los Amigos Research & Education Institute celebrates its 50th Anniversary
• 2005 - World renowned physician Jacquelin Perry, MD celebrates 50 years at Rancho
• 2004 - Rancho conducts more than 50,000 outpatient visits
• 2003 - 20^thanniversary of the Rancho Los Amigos Foundation
• 2002 - Rancho’s Language and Culture Resource Center honored for management excellence by CAPH (California Association of Public Hospitals & Health Systems)
• 2001 - The Art of Rancho program, featuring Rancho patients, earns international honors
• 2000 - Inaugural Rancho Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine and Science is published
• 1999 - Rancho is renamed Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center
• 1998 - Once again listed in the top 10 of U.S. News and World Report’s best rehabilitation hospitals
• 1997 - Opening of HOME, a housing facility for patients families and significant others
• 1996 - The Jacquelin Perry Neuro-Trauma Institute and Rehabilitation Center opens, one of the nation’s most advanced rehabilitation patient care buildings
• 1995 - Centralized Admission and Referral Office (CARO) established
• 1994 - Medical Resonance Imaging Center opens Primary Care Clinic for patients with spinal cord and brain injuries
• 1992 - Construction begins on the first phase of the Rancho 2000 Master Plan to build a 150-bed in-patient unit called The Jacquelin Perry Neuro-Trauma Institute and Rehabilitation Center
• 1989 - Estin Comarr Spinal Injury Clinic opens. The Las Floristas Center for Applied Rehabilitation Technology established to evaluate and train the disabled through the use of technological advancements
• 1988 - Rancho celebrates its Centennial – 100 years of excellence!
• 1985 - Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center established
• 1983 - RLA Foundation, Inc. formed to provide additional program support
• 1979 - Rancho receives federal designation as a model system for spinal cord injury care
• 1976 - Liver Service relocated to Rancho from John Wesley Hospital
• 1972 - Rancho becomes officially affiliated with the University of Southern California
• 1971 - Seating Center for wheelchairs and special cushions established
• 1968 - Prosthetics Department created
• 1966 - Children’s Orthopedic Services established
• 1961 - Pathokinesiology Service founded
• 1959 - The first accreditation for Rancho Los Amigos Hospital received from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals
• 1955 - Dr. Vernon L. Nickel, introduces the halo, a method of traction and immobilization for the cervical and upper thoracic spine
• 1953 - Orthopaedic surgical procedures begun, led by Vernon L. Nickel, M.D. Drs. Perry and Nickel perform innovative work in the area of spinal fusions on ventilator dependent patients
• 1952 - The first research lab was set up for chemical, pulmonary and physiological studies
• 1951 - Rancho was designated as a respiratory center for poliomyelitis patients – the beginning of rehabilitation at Rancho
• 1929 - Occupational Therapy started
• 1927 - Physical Therapy started
• 1888 - The first buildings were built and the first indigent residents were transferred from the Los Angeles County hospital to the county Poor Farm