Los Angeles Residence

The Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) is one of the largest children's hospitals in the world.  Immediately adjacent to the south is the hospital where Lucas will be born, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (HPMC).  Immediately adjacent to the west is Kaiser Permanente Medical Center Hollywood (KPMCH).  To make it more clear, within two three city blocks are three enormous hospitals.  Honestly, if you need any kind of medical care- it can be done at the corner of Vermont and Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

For some reason, there tends to be a lot of riff raff and scumbags that hang out around giant hospitals in big cities.  I've worked in 5 different hospitals and I've been to dozens more than that.  If you have traveled much, and observed the surroundings around hospitals in major cities you'll know what I mean.  CHLA/HPMC/KPMCH is no different.  They were built in a shady part of Hollywood, or Hollywood became shady where they were built.  Who knows if the chicken or the egg came first.  There are no Hiltons or Marriots or Four Season Hotels near the hospital.  Trust me, we've looked.  However, there are a lot of motel rooms that can be rented by the hour, and many guys outside of the hospitals who will sell you a genuine Rolex watch for $25.

Considering Lucas's condition, and that babies with heterotaxy have a very high death rate during their first year, we needed to stay very close to the hospital during his recovery from open heart surgery.  We shopped around for apartments near the hospitals, but they were mostly crack houses with iron bars on the windows. While discussing the situation with our case manager, she suggested The Ronald McDonald House.  I was a bit surprised because I had always been under the impression that the Ronald McDonald House was a charity organization that provided housing near major hospitals for low income families.  I was 90% right.  But there is more to it than that.  The Ronald McDonald House provides temporary housing for families of children being treated at a nearby hospital regardless of income.  Lodging is offered only to families of extremely sick children, and only by referral from a case manager.

Our case manager, Irene, offered to set us up for a tour.  During the tour, our guide explained that most families of extremely sick children need additional support beyond housing.  Family therapists, clergy, financial assistance, etc. is offered by The Ronald McDonald House.  There are approximately 50 individual apartments units in two separate buildings.  Special apartments are available for children who are immunologically compromised like Lucas.  There is a gym, a courtyard full of toys for children, XBox 360, PS3, Wii all hooked up to giant LCD screens, there are two 300+ gallon fish tanks, a large library, a computer center, several industrial sized kitchens, a playground, and covered parking in a gated garage.  I was very impressed.  The tour guide showed us the kitchen and asked us if we noticed anything odd about the layout.  I said, "well the giant grills and stovetops are in an island shape.  That's kind of odd."  He said "you're right.  They are designed like that so people have to cook while looking at each other.  A lot of people with children who are extremely sick become withdrawn and reclusive.  This forces you to face someone else and realize that you're not alone.  That other people have children with cancer or who are having a lung transplant."  Wow, I was impressed.

We signed up the next day.  That's our new home.  The Ronald McDonald House on Fountain Blvd.  It's literally a 30 second jog to the entrance of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.  We like our new home.