Exactly a century after a small seaside hospital first opened its
doors in 1924, health care workers and local leaders gathered today
to celebrate Scripps Health’s 100th anniversary.
The region’s longest-established health system marked the
milestone outside Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla with birthday
cake and remarks by Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van
Gorder, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Scripps La Jolla Chief of
Staff Ayana Boyd King, D.O.
“Today marks 100 years since the opening of Scripps Memorial
Hospital, founded along with Scripps Metabolic Clinic by Ellen
Browning Scripps,” Van Gorder said. “Scripps has grown and changed
to meet the needs of the communities we serve. And while Miss Ellen
may have never imagined how health care would evolve over the
decades, she certainly would recognize our mission as the same as
hers was so many years ago. It’s a mission that has always placed
people at its heart – the people we care for and the people who
provide that care.”
A glimpse at historyEllen Browning Scripps, part of a
legendary American news media family, was recovering from a broken
hip in 1922 when she learned about the need for a modern hospital
in La Jolla. Her philanthropic support made possible Scripps
Memorial Hospital on Prospect Street, which opened Sept. 17, 1924,
as well as the Scripps Metabolic Clinic next door, which opened
Dec. 11, 1924. The metabolic clinic was built to treat patients
with chronic metabolic diseases such as diabetes, anemia and
nephritis, as well as to conduct research to advance patient care.
It was partly inspired by the early 1920s discovery of insulin to
treat diabetes.
Scripps expanded its hospital and clinic facilities on Prospect
Street over the ensuing years, but San Diego’s growing population
created the need for more space. Scripps Memorial Hospital
relocated to its current location on Genesee Avenue in 1964, while
the former metabolic clinic – renamed Scripps Clinic and Research
Foundation – moved to its current spot on the Torrey Pines Mesa in
1977.
Other hospitals later joined the Scripps family, including San
Dieguito Hospital in 1978 (now Scripps Memorial Hospital
Encinitas); Bay Hospital Medical Center in 1986 (now Scripps Mercy
Hospital Chula Vista); Green Hospital in 1991 (now Scripps Green
Hospital); and Mercy Hospital in 1995 (now Scripps Mercy Hospital
San Diego).
The early foundations for Scripps Health were laid not only by
Ellen Browning Scripps, but also by another visionary woman: Mother
Mary Michael Cummings, who in 1890 founded a downtown hospital
called St. Joseph’s Dispensary, which eventually moved to Hillcrest
and evolved to become Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego.
At the forefront of medicineScripps has been at the
forefront of many aspects of patient care, clinical research and
physician education. For example, in the 1980s, Scripps started San
Diego County’s first blood and marrow transplant program; created
the region’s first fellowship program to train doctors in Mohs
surgery and dermatologic oncology; and worked with other hospitals
to create the San Diego County trauma system.
In the 1990s, Scripps-affiliated physicians performed San
Diego’s first successful liver transplant surgery and co-invented
one of the first heart stents, which they later used to help save
the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta when she arrived at Scripps
with a failing heart. In the 2000s, Scripps became the first health
system in the United States to apply genotyping to improve heart
care; launched the county’s first inflammatory breast cancer
clinic; and performed the region’s first knee surgery using
technology that enables the body to repair its own torn anterior
cruciate ligament. And a Scripps-affiliated physician implanted the
world’s first electronic knee prosthesis, which measures forces
inside the knee and provides data to help improve knee implants and
rehabilitation protocols.
Physician training and researchBeyond providing patient
care, Scripps has a long history of offering graduate medical
education (GME) programs that train physicians. Scripps launched
its endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism fellowship training
program in 1956 and its hematology and oncology fellowship in 1961.
Today, Scripps’ residency and fellowship programs cover a wide
range of areas, including family and internal medicine, emergency
and surgical critical care, trauma and more. Last year, hundreds of
medical residents and fellows were enrolled in graduate medical
education programs at Scripps.
Scripps also has deep roots in clinical research.
Scripps-affiliated doctors and patients are participating
in clinical trials that cover an array of new medications and
devices for cardiac conditions, diabetes, cancer and chronic liver
disease, among others. Scripps also is involved in discovery
research, such as investigating the use of stem cells to engineer
lab-grown tissue to repair various common joint injuries.
Researchers also are testing a robotic arm developed in-house for
bioprinting live tissue directly into the body. These discovery
research efforts currently are in development in the lab, but carry
potential to advance patient care in the future.
Community and economic benefitAs a not-for-profit health
care system, Scripps provides a wide range of community benefit
programs to help ensure access to essential health care services.
These include free community health screenings for skin cancer,
diabetes risk, blood pressure and cardiac conditions; free health
education classes for topics ranging from effective parenting to
healthy eating to fall prevention; and free support groups for
neurological, cancer and weight management patients. Scripps also
participates in blood drives, prescription drug take-back drives
and health fairs. And the Scripps Medical Response Team has
provided disaster relief for victims of local wildfires, as well as
hurricanes and earthquakes around the country and world.
The largest proportion of Scripps’ community benefit services –
which totaled $768 million in 2023 – comes from absorbing the
financial cost of providing charity care and under-compensated care
for Medicare and Medi-Cal patients.
Scripps Health also makes a significant impact on the local
economy. With 17,000 employees, Scripps is one of San Diego
County’s largest private employers, providing incomes that help
families cover the cost of housing, transportation, retail spending
and more.
Specialty care facilities at ScrippsIn addition to its
five acute-care hospital campuses and 30 outpatient centers and
clinics, Scripps has added a wide range of specialty care
facilities over the years. These include the Prebys Cardiovascular
Institute at Scripps La Jolla; two free-standing Scripps Cancer
Center facilities; the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute; Scripps
Center for Integrative Medicine; Scripps Encinitas Rehabilitation
Services; Scripps Center for Executive Health; Scripps Center for
Voice and Swallowing; Donald P. and Darlene V. Shiley
Musculoskeletal Center; and several ambulatory surgery centers and
imaging facilities.
Looking ahead“We’ve come a long way over the past 100
years,” Van Gorder said. “I wish I could be here to witness the
next 100 years. I’m sure it will be marvelous to see the amazing
advances in patient care that technology will make possible. But I
know what will never change: at the heart of Scripps’ mission will
always be people – the people we care for, the people who provide
that care and the people who carry on Miss Ellen’s legacy through
their generous philanthropy.”
ABOUT SCRIPPS HEALTH Founded in 1924 by philanthropist
Ellen Browning Scripps, Scripps Health is a nonprofit
integrated health care delivery system based in San Diego, Calif.
Scripps treats more than 600,000 patients annually through the
dedication of 3,000 affiliated physicians and more than 17,000
employees among its five acute-care hospital campuses, home health
care services, 30 outpatient centers and clinics, and hundreds of
affiliated physician offices throughout the region.
Recognized as a leader in disease and injury prevention,
diagnosis and treatment, Scripps is also at the forefront of
clinical research and is the only health system in the region with
two level 1 trauma centers. With highly respected graduate medical
education programs at all five hospital campuses, Scripps is a
longstanding member of the Association of American Medical
Colleges. Scripps has been ranked seven times as one of the
nation’s best health care systems by PINC AI, formerly known as
Merative, IBM Watson Health and Truven Health Analytics. Its
hospitals are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report
among of the nation’s best and Scripps is recognized by the
Advisory Board, Fortune and Working Mother magazine as one of the
best places in the nation to work. More information can be found at
www.scripps.org.
- Architectural drawing of the original Scripps Memorial Hospital
and Scripps Metabolic Clinic
Steve Carpowich
Scripps Health
858-312-0328
carpowich.stephen@scrippshealth.org