Birmingham General Hospital, California

Birmingham General Hospital was an World War 2 US Army Hospital in Van Nuys, California at the corner of Vanowen Street and Balboa Boulevard. The hospital was built in 1942 and 1943 to care for troops returning home from oversea service. The first patient checked-in on August 24, 1943. The hospital had 1777 beds housed in single story buildings over the 131 acres campus.

Birmingham General Hospital
Birmingham General Hospital, 1945
Location	Van Nuys, California
Coordinates	34°11′32″N 118°30′22″W
Area	131 acres
Built	Open August 24, 1943 (closed 1950)
Architect	US Army
Location of Birmingham General Hospital in California

Birmingham General Hospital Flag Pole, used for a US Medal Ceremony for an injured Vet in 1945

Birmingham General Hospital chapel

Birmingham General Hospital in 1945

Birmingham General Hospital

For a short time when it opened, Birmingham General Hospital was called Van Nuys General Hospital, but was renamed Birmingham General Hospital after Brigadier General Henry Patrick Birmingham (1854-1932), of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The War Department approved the construction of the Hospital on August 24 1943. The land was farm land of the Encino Rancho and the Petit Ranch. The 80 one story buildings were made of brick and some stucco. The hospital also had a chapel, rehabilitation pool, gymnasium fire Station, bomb shelter, kitchen, movie theater, racquetball/handball court, Pacific Electric street car station and a Prisoners of War (POW) wing. A talian Service Unit with 40 Italian POWs from the North African campaign volunteered at the Hospital. The Army hospital worked on general medicine of returning Veterans. There was special care for Vets with central nervous system syphilis, rheumatic fever, quadriplegic and paraplegic and psychiatry problem. Due to the war efforts Penicillin] was being mass-produced by 1944. The Hospital made use of this new wounder drug in helping Vets. The Hospital was also one of the first to use an antibiotic ointment on patients. MAJ Joseph Weinberg used the new antibiotic ointment to help patients with infected compound fractures. The hospital also had a wing for women vets, women that served in WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), Women's Army Corps and Army nurses. For returning Vets, 800 beds were used for debarkation medical work. The first commander of the Hospital was Colonel Alvin C. Miller, from the US Army's Pearl Harbor Army hospital. Chief of the medical rehabilitation was Jack W. Gregory.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Birmingham General Hospital also had a unit to modify cars for those that lost the use of their legs, to drive with hands only. Actress Susan Peters also received a modified Birmingham car after a hunting accident.[9][10][11][12][13]

After the war on 31 March 1946, the Hospital was turned over to the Veterans Administration and renamed Birmingham Veterans Administration Hospital. The veterans' organization Paralyzed Veterans of America was start the Hospital.[14]The VA Hospital closed in 1950, the Vets at Birmingham were moved to the Veterans Administration Long Beach Hospital. In 1952 the Hospital was sold to the Los Angeles City Schools for $1.00. Los Angeles City School opened Birmingham High School - Birmingham Community Charter High School(BCCHS) on 1953, it served grades seven to 12. Mrs. Albert Zoraster, a member of the Havenhurst Elementary School P.T.A, was that one that had the vision of using the old Hospital as a school. Congressman Joseph F. Holt help make the vision in to a reality. The school's Principal Dr. John I. Abbott, quickly turn the Hospital to a school. The chapel became the Drama class room. Some original VA buildings and the pools are still on the High School campus. The land also is used for the current Mulholland Junior High -William Mulholland Middle School.[15][16][17][18]

Part of the land was retained by the US Army and used for Cold War air defense missile battalion headquarters of the 551st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Missile Battalion, and later the 4th Battalion, 65th Artillery, till November of 1968. The headquarters managed the Nike Missile Control Sites in Los Angeles that operated Nike Ajax missiles and Nike Hercules missiless.[19] [20][21][22][23]

Ernest Bors

In 1945 the US Army opened the first Spinal Cord Injury Center at Birmingham General Army Hospital. The Center used the work of Doctor Ernest Bors (1900–1990) who was one of the foremost expert on neurourology in traumatic spinal cord injury. Ernest Bors had developed a holistic multidisciplinary approach for treating spinal cord injury, that is still used in care centers. At Birmingham General Hospital Ernest Bors treated up two 220 Vets. From around the world other Military doctors visit Birmingham General Hospital to learn about this new traumatic spinal cord center.[24][25]

Hollywood

The hospital was located 13 miles North of Hollywood, as such many Hollywood actors and actress came to visit the Vets. Hollywood Radio personalities also visit the hospital. In 1944 the Jack Benny Christmas program was broadcast from the Hospital. Regular visitors were: Ronald Reagan, Anne Jeffreys, Basil Rathbone, Mary Pickford, Linda Darnell, Al Pearce, Charles Laughton, June Haver, Jimmy Stewart, Bagelman Sisters, Clarence Nash, The Charioteers and Bob Hope.[26][27][28][29]

The hospital was used for the 1950 Hollywood movie The Men which was Marlon Brando's first film, where he plays the part of an injured in combat World War 2 Vet.[30]

Birmingham General Hospital was used, with it name, in the 1950 movie Backfire. The movie was inspired by Birmingham General Hospital's Spinal Cord Injury Center. The main actor plays an injured Vet that falls in love with a Birmingham General Hospital nurse.[31][32][33]

Desi Arnaz was stationed at Birmingham General Hospital during the war to entertain the troops there with the United Service Organizations (USO). Arnaz had a bad knee and so was transferred to the US Army Medical Corps. Arnaz also coordinated with the stars that visited the Hospital. Arnaz was discharged on November 16, 1945.[34]

This Is Your Life

The TV show This Is Your Life came about as an idea for a radio show for a vets at the Hospital. The show was created by Ralph Edwards in 1948. The US Army asked Edwards to "do something" for paraplegic soldiers at the Hospital. In This Is Your Life the host would surprised one person by bring on guests from that person's life in front of an audience. The people from the persons life would be colleagues, friends, and family. A Vet down on his luck was picked as the first person on the show Truth or Consequences. The Show was a hit and This Is Your Life was stated as it own show.[35][36]

See also

• California during World War II
• American Theater (1939–1945)
• Desert Training Center
• United States home front during World War II
• Veterans Health Administration
• DeWitt General Hospital

References

1. YouTube, Birmingham General Hospital, Van Nuys CA circa 1943
2. calisphere.org Women vets at Birmingham given presents
3. alisphere.org Patterson Grissom, Paralyzed Vets
4. calisphere.org, Birmingham General Hospital pool
5. Old Birmingham General Hospital
6. Bob Hope at Birmingham General Hospital
7. militarymuseum.org, Birmingham General Hospital
8. digitalcollections, Petit Ranch,
9. aobserved.com, Susan Peters, By Kevin Roderick, December 29, 2013
10. calisphere.org, Citations given to Birmingham Hospital workers
11. calisphere.org, Birmingham Hospital kitchen
12. calisphere.org, Birmingham Hospital X-Ray
13. calisphere.org, Birmingham Hospital, Jack W. Gregory
14. Hearings By United States. Congress. House. Committee on Veterans' Affairs, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 1972, page 60
15. Mulholland Junior High
16. mulhollandms.org Mulholland William Mulholland Middle School, wesite
17. A Short History Of Birmingham High School In The San Fernando Valley, Sunday, August 8, 2010
18. Veterans' Administration Spinal Cord Injury Program: By United States. Congress. House. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Subcommittee on Hospitals and Health Care, 1982, page 41
19. wordpress.com, Birmingham General Hospital
20. kcrw.com, What’s the history of the Nike missile base on Mulholland?, by Jenny Hamel August 01, 2017
21. Nike Ajax missiles report
22. calisphere.org, Congressman Joe Holt
23. calisphere.org, Members of the special Birmingham Hospital Committee
24. The American Paraplegia Society 1954-2004: Our legacy, our future. J Spinal Cord Med. 2004;27(4):287-303.
25. Bors EHJ, Comarr AE. Neurological Urology, Physiology of Micturition, Its Neurological Disorders and Sequelae. Location, Publisher, Date.
26. Youtube, 1944 the Jack Benny Christmas program
27. retro-otr.com, Jack Benny – Christmas Party at Birmingham General Hospital
28. museumsanfernandovalley, Celebrity Insights About Birmingham Hospital In 1944
29. Last Of The Great Birmingham Hospital Photographs, August 12, 2011
30. The Men on IMDb
31. Backfire at the American Film Institute Catalog
32. Backfire on IMDb
33. Backfire at AllMovie
34. Who's Who In Hollywood! By Terry Rowan, Desi Arnaz, page 15
35. "Radio: Sermon on the Air". Time. February 16, 1953. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
36. Mary Desjardins. "This is Your Life". Encyclopedia of Television. Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved 2011-03-06.