Urban Legends – Linda Vista Community Hospital

Posted on by Arlene LeosPlasencia
Linda Vista Community Hospital

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In Boyle Heights, on the corner of South St Louis and Inez Street, is the old Linda Vista Community Hospital. This building is one of the oldest medical facilities in Los Angeles. Although the hospital initially opened its doors in 1904, many of the urban legends and stories of hauntings are due to the gang violence that occurred in the Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles areas that took place in the ’70s and ’80s. Some say that there were so many people brought in that some patients had to be sent away. In addition, there were not enough medical professionals on staff to care for everyone, resulting in numerous deaths. However, others say that the staff abused patients or left them to die.

Linda Vista Community Hospital

Since its closing in 1991, people have visited the hospital to take a gander at it themselves. Some have returned with claims of footsteps and groanings being heard in the darkness. Others claim that figures could be seen waiting within patient rooms. A more well-known apparition is of a young girl who died on the operating table. It would seem quite natural that a place that has known violence, suffering, and death would be a haunted area.

I have visited the hospital once or twice and have roamed through its halls and tunnels. The first time I visited the hospital, I stood across the street by the park and just gazed up at the looming building. I could swear that I saw a pale figure looking down at me through a window. I can admit that although it was dark out and what I saw was a bit creepy, I was more than curious enough to want to wander in. Unfortunately, my boyfriend at the time didn’t allow me to follow that vein of action.

A few years later, I found myself at the hospital’s doors for a Halloween event known as the Zombie Prom (2011) with my soon-to-be husband. Yes, I took off with a group of people to explore the hospital. It was very dark outside the designated prom area. I can say that the places I saw looked as if the site closed down and everyone just left things out to collect dust. The unused places seemed to be like an old tomb. I can admit that I got a bit lost and found myself underground with many pipes and a long and dark hallway. I heard some hurried footsteps coming toward me. Logic told me that no one would be running like that in the dark, and so I “noped it” right back the way I had gone. I eventually ran into a security guard that led me back to my husband and the party—all in all, a good scary and fun time.

Linda Vista Community Hospital

I later found out that the hospital was used as a filming location for several movies, including but not limited to Room 6, The Linda Vista Project, Axe to Grind, Insidious: Chapter 2, and End of Days. There was also an episode of Ghost Adventures that featured the hospital. Imagine my annoyance at the host for mistaking a part of one neighborhood for another. The Linda Vista Hospital was also used in a game experience called Take This Lollipop. Currently, the Hospital has been made into a senior apartment complex. The word is that residents and staff members can hear sounds of gurneys and footsteps in the halls at night. Unfortunately, it looks like remodeling and new paint won’t stop the supernatural from making its presence known.

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