Historical Timeline - Get an at-a-glance view of major happenings at CHOC over the past 40 years.

1960 to 1970
The Early Years

When plans for a Children’s Hospital of Orange County were in the formative stages, Orange County was experiencing a phenomenal period of growth and prosperity. In 1950, the population was 220,000, but by 1960, the population had grown to 764,000. New housing tracts were spreading out across vacant lots, roads and freeways were rapidly being constructed and expanded, and orange groves were being replaced by manufacturing and industry. Eight new cities incorporated during the 1950s; six more were added in the 1960s. Everyone, it seemed, was attracted by the endless sunshine, beaches, and full employment that Orange County seemed to offer, and for young families, the area appeared to be the ideal place to raise a family.

The decade of the 1960s saw construction of many of the County’s famous landmarks. The University of California at Irvine was dedicated in 1964, the California Angels moved to Anaheim Stadium in 1966, and jets took off for the first time from the newly modernized Orange County Airport. In 1960, the Irvine Company hired William Pereira to develop a master plan for its unused land. In 1968, the C. J. Segerstrom family developed South Coast Plaza on sixty acres of lima bean fields, and in 1968, Fashion Island opened its doors at Newport Center.

What Orange County did not have was a regional medical facility dedicated to caring for the specialized needs of children. The County’s 230,000 children, one third of the population, were cared for in small pediatric wards of local hospitals or, when necessary, sent miles away to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA).
A small group of Orange County pediatricians, including Drs. Sidney Adler, Samuel Camarata, William Friend, Raymond Harris, Edward Russell, and Albert Sheldon, became dedicated to filling the growing need for a children’s hospital in Orange County, and on February 12, 1960, formed a diverse Executive Council of 52 members from all walks of life. On April 2, 1960, this Executive Council, which included such luminaries as Walter Knott and Walt Disney, launched a building fundraising drive with a kick-off dinner featuring the Lennon Sisters as celebrity entertainment.

The Executive Council soon discovered that they wouldn’t qualify for government funding unless the children’s hospital was part of a larger general hospital complex. The Sisters of Saint Joseph already had an application pending before the state for a major expansion of Saint Joseph Hospital in Orange. The Sisters agreed to add an additional wing for children and lease it back to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) to establish and run an independent community children’s hospital. The Sisters also offered the land on which the pediatric facility would be situated on the condition that the Executive Council and the community raise $800,000 for construction and equipment. While CHOC would be physically adjacent to St. Joseph Hospital for the purpose of sharing some services, such as radiology, laboratories, and surgical suites, the two hospitals would remain separate institutions with their own administrative and medical staffs.

Construction bids went out, only to result in a pleasant surprise: the low bid from Gust Newberg Construction for the combined CHOC-St. Joseph project was one million less than expected. Making an insightful decision, CHOC leaders, then under the direction of Robert A. Daily, CHOC’s first permanent Board President, decided to add a third story to the original two-story plan, but to build it only as a “shell” to allow for future expansion when funding became available.

By January 1961, total contributions reached $820,000, qualifying CHOC for $1.8 million in state and federal funding. Permits were obtained for the CHOC-St. Joseph project, at that time the largest project ($6.1 million) in the history of the City of Orange, and groundbreaking ceremonies were held on March 16, 1962. CHOC was officially incorporated as a separate hospital by the state of California on January 30, 1964.

Construction on the hospital moved rapidly, and CHOC opened its doors to the children of Orange County on October 5, 1964. Twelve-year old Kendall “Ken” Spicer became CHOC’s first official patient. Recuperating from surgery to lengthen a congenitally short leg, Ken was widely photographed by the media as his gurney was wheeled into CHOC. He was one of only four patients in the 62 beds on CHOC’s first day, but the facility quickly filled. In CHOC’s first two months of existence, the hospital admitted 300 children, with an average stay of 4.5 days. In the first 60 days of operation alone, there were 532 visits to the emergency room, 82 minor surgeries, 47 major surgeries, and approximately 600 radiology exams. Eight to ten children had to be turned away each day due to limited staff and facilities. By 1967, CHOC staff had treated more than 11,000 children.

When CHOC opened its doors in 1964, a number of specialty clinics were already in place, but others were rapidly added. In 1965, the Special Care Unit opened, followed quickly by the Birth Defects Unit, the Outpatient Clinic, the Speech-Hearing Clinic, the Mental Retardation Diagnostic Clinic, and the Dental Clinic. By 1969, the Outpatient Department alone had 28 specialty clinics up and running. Over the next few decades, CHOC would continue to add other specialized clinics, with each one designed to ensure Orange County children had access to the latest medical technology and the most comprehensive range of patient services.

Less than two months after opening, CHOC leaders began another major fundraising campaign to secure the $450,000 needed to complete the third floor shell and to increase the number of beds from 62 to a goal of 114. After an extensive fundraising drive, the third floor opened on June 3, 1968. The new floor addition, coupled with the earlier opening of CHOC’s Outpatient Clinic, provided immediate relief, but as CHOC moved into the next decade, overcrowding would continue to be an issue.

For CHOC, these formative years laid the groundwork for the community support that has assisted the hospital to this day. In 1964, the Volunteer Worker Bureau, now the Volunteer Program, began compiling a list of potential workers for the hospital’s service areas. Eight months after CHOC’s opening, volunteers had already donated 5,000 hours of service, with 18 volunteers giving over 100 hours each. To date, thousands of volunteers have logged more than 48,000 work hours, providing needed assistance to all hospital departments. Volunteers have ranged in age from early teens to senior citizens. Men, women, and even couples have staffed the gift shop, run errands, read stories, played with children, assisted physical therapy and nursing units, and helped with such routine tasks as filing, photocopying, and answering telephones. A few very special volunteers cuddle newborns in the intensive care unit—the hospital’s most requested volunteer position.

In March 1962, Women’s Guilds began forming around Orange County with the purpose of acquainting the community with the mission of the hospital and raising money to support the work of CHOC. The preliminary meetings were a series of teas under the leadership of Joan Irvine Smith. The women quickly began seeking community contributions for the $2.5 million CHOC construction project. The first guild, the Mother Goose Guild of Fullerton, was formed on May 18, 1962, followed by eight additional guilds even before the hospital was built. Each guild was located in different geographical areas of Orange County. To coordinate activities among the guilds, a Guild Council, consisting of two representatives from each group, was formed in 1964. By 1982, the guilds reached the remarkable $3 million mark in total fundraising, a milestone never before reached by any Orange County women’s hospital support group. Over the next three decades, the Women’s Guilds were to raise more than $18 million dollars for all types of CHOC work. There are now 16 guilds and one teenage group, the Jack and Jill Chocettes, that make up the CHOC guild support group structure. The guild’s 1800 members raise money through a variety of fundraising events, including golf tournaments, dinner dances, road rallies, home tours, art auctions, theme parties, and an annual All Guilds Fashion Show.

In October 1964, the first of CHOC’s Thrift Stores opened, and additional stores were added from 1967 to 1995. Under the direction of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Orange County, the thrift stores, which sell donated clothing, furniture and other household items, as well as new merchandise purchased for resale, are now located throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

Just two months after the hospital’s opening, CHOC Talk, the hospital’s flagship publication, made its debut. Less than a year later, CHOC Talk set the standard for excellence in publishing. The American Hospital Association selected it as the second best hospital publication in the nation. Under the direction of Charles Albee, Community Relations Director and Editor, the first issue debuted as a four-page publication, but the newsletter has grown in considerable length and content as CHOC’s activities, financial operations, and facilities have expanded. CHOC Talk is still enjoyed by a wide audience of hospital supporters, patient families, and those in the medical community. Over the years, the Public Relations department has also produced other newsletters, such as the Medical Staff Bulletin , Bear Bulletin, and KidsHealth, both in print and online formats, as well as numerous brochures, flyers, invitations, activity books, and other printed materials, all designed to communicate with medical personnel and the general public.

During this decade, the Vietnam War was brought closer to CHOC in an unusual way. While serving his tour of duty in Da Nang, Dr. Douglas Henning discovered a frail 20-month-old girl who suffered from a heart defect. Dr. Henning worked with his wife Linda, a registered nurse at CHOC, to arrange for little Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong, nicknamed Suzie, to come to Orange County for life-saving treatment. All medical expenses were donated by CHOC and its doctors. Suzie was the first CHOC patient to be monitored closely by the media, and her four-month struggle was watched closely by members of the local and international press. The public rejoiced when Suzie’s operation was declared a success, and she was able to return home with her mother in March 1969. Dr. Henning returned to become CHOC’s senior resident.

Not to be forgotten during this decade was the creation of CHOC’s most popular patient: CHOCO the Bear. Designed first as a two-dimensional logo by Disney artist Bob Moore in April 1960, CHOCO’s features have changed slightly over the years, but he remains the hospital’s most recognizable symbol. CHOCO’s heart-shaped bandage on his left arm, the closest to his heart, and his sparkling smile have been a continuous comfort to ill and injured children.

 Next: The Challenging Years (1970-1980)