Site of Contractor’s General Hospital!

Site of Contractor's General Hospital
Landmark #992 Riverside County Visited: November 20, 2011 Plaque?  YES! 🙂
What is it? A plaque marking the birthplace of California’s nonprofit prepaid health insurance program, from which sprung Kaiser Permanente!
What makes it historical? THE GUIDE SAYS: In 1933, Dr. Sidney R. Garfield opened Contractor’s General Hospital six miles west of here. His modest facility successfully delivered health care to Colorado River Aqueduct workers through a prepaid insurance plan. Later, in association with industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, Dr. Garfield applied the lessons he first learned at the hospital to create his enduring legacy: Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit prepaid health care program.

OTHER TIDBITS: Dr. Garfield was a pioneer in the field of preventative “Total Health,” not content simply to treat sickness and injury but also to teach healthy people how to stay healthy! What a novel idea!

How can I Help the Helpers? HERE’S HOW:

  • You can buy health insurance from Kaiser Permanente!
  • Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
Where is this place? LISTED DIRECTIONS:
Next to post office
Ragsdale Rd
Desert Center, CA 92239

ANNOTATIONS:
NOT ANYMORE! Thieves absconded with the plaque in 2013, and the Kaiser Permanent Medical Group installed a new one at Chiriaco Summit, close to the General Patton Museum! Distances provided are to the new site!

62498 Chiriaco Road
Indio, CA 92201

From Los Angeles: ~157mi (253km) — 2.7hrs
From Sacramento: ~540mi (870km) — 9hrs
From San Diego: ~176mi (284km) — 3hrs
From San Francisco: ~537mi (865km) — 9hrs

When should I go? Whenever the mood strikes you!

Click here to see more California historical landmarks!

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