Eight months after we last checked in, the steel frame of the Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center's $68-million Restorative Care Village is complete.

View from Zonal Avenue looking eastCannonDesign

The project, which began construction in late 2020 at State Street and Zonal Avenue, includes:

  • a one-building 96-bed recuperative care center that will provide interim housing for patients discharged from the hospital, as well as on-site services; and
  • a four-building, 64-bed residential treatment center providing therapy and supportive services for patients who are being discharged from psychiatric care at the hospital.

View from interior of new campusCannonDesign

The County is also planning a second phase of the Restorative Care Village, which will expand the campus onto the former site of the medical center's Women and Children's Hospital.  The expanded facility would include:

  • a Mental Health Outpatient Center providing services for clients living with serious mental illnesses;
  • a Mental Health Urgent Care Center to replace an existing facility on Marengo Street; and
  • a Recovery and Respite Center to provide temporary shelter to persons who are currently inebriated or going through substance withdrawal.

CannonDesign is the architect for the Restorative Care Village, which makes of prefabricated elements.  Renderings depict the finished product as a series of low-rise structures wrapping a landscaped L-shaped courtyard.

Completion is expected in Summer 2021, the County announced earlier this year.

Construction of the LAC + USC Restorative Care VillageUrbanize LA

“There is no question that the investments toward the Restorative Care Village at LAC+USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights are needed now more than ever,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis in an April news release. “This project will have a significant impact in breaking the cycle of mental health illness, substance abuse, unemployment, incarceration, and homelessness – demonstrating our commitment to prioritizing the County’s ‘care first, jail last’ approach. Once completed, the Restorative Care Village will restore dignity to our communities and give our most vulnerable hope for a new beginning.”

In a complementary effort, the County is also pursuing the adaptive reuse of the historic General Hospital Building, which has been vacant since the 1994 Northridge earthquake.  The Board of Supervisors approved a motion last year which directed the County's Sacramento Office to lobby state lawmakers for up to $500 million in funding for the General Hospital Building project and construction of the full Restorative Care Village.