The Haunted L.A. hospital Linda Vista is going to be converted into a senior living home????

Don't put Grandma in a haunted care home!

 Originally built in 1905 as a hospital for the employees of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, the hospital was demolished and rebuilt in the mid-1920s, but it still contains relics from the railway days. The coved ceilings in wide hallways are meant to look like the inside of a caboose and staff and patient rooms are lined with Sante Fe tile.

Despite the fun trail feel, it is still a very creepy place inside - which is by design, since it's one of the most popular filming locations in Los Angeles. It has been featured in some upbeat programs, like the pilot episode of "ER" or the hospital scenes in "Pearl Harbor." But more often than not, it stands in for a mental institution ("True Blood"), the scene where one serial killer leaves another serial killer a present ("Dexter")  and numerous paranormal documentary shows like "Ghost Stories" and "Ghost Adventures."

Caretaker Francis Kortekaas tells the LA Times that he's experienced several events that he can't explain - like water turning on by itself at a scrub sink that is operated by a leg-lever, or feeling like a small child put a hand in his. "It felt like my daughter's hand," he says.

But starting in June 2012, the hospital's nurses' residences are going to be converted into 23 senior apartments, which are housed in a separate three-story building that is connected to the hospital by a tunnel.

Then in 2013, the upper five floors of the hospital itself will be converted into 74 apartments, all for people over the age of 55 whose annual income is between $16,000 and $25,000.

The 107-year-old Linda Vista Community Hospital may soon earn a new reputation once a proposed $40 million conversion is complete, transforming the abandoned building into a senior living home.

"People tell me it's the most haunted place in L.A.," said Maurice Ramirez, executive vice president of Amcal Multi-Housing Inc., the affordable housing group heading the hospital's conversion. "Because it's been empty for maybe 25 years or so, it becomes the subject of a little urban folklore about ghosts and things."

The hospital's caretaker Francis Kortekaas says he has experienced a few unusual moments over the years since Linda Vista closed shop in 1991, including when a sink seemed to turn itself on and off in front of his eyes, and when he felt a child's hand reach out for his own, even though he was alone at the time.

"It felt like my daughter's hand," he told the paper.

Kortekaas has made some unusual changes to the site, including adding a fake prison cell, to make it more accommodating to potential filmmakers. Over the years, the property has been used by several entertainment productions, including the musicians Duran Duran, and as a set for the TV shows "True Blood" and "ER."

Kortekaas says filming takes place at the hospital for nearly 130 days a year.

Perhaps most terrifying of all, the hospital has also been home to shooting locations for the critically panned films "Pearl Harbor" and the 2005 Adam Sandler remake of "The Longest Yard."

But that dark legacy will have a shot at redemption once the extensive renovations are complete.

 

The hospital closed down about 1990 amid rumors of patient abuse and rumored threats of numerous lawsuits. I say rumors because we have not substantiated any of these tales. According to people who entered this building right after it closed for business, and many years later, it's as if the people working there just "stopped what they were doing and walked out," like a ship being abandoned.

 Ghosts of Linda Vista Hospital

 Darting shadows, cries in the night and unexplained humming were all experienced by those working on the Linda Vista grounds while filming. Many claim to have been touched and pushed by these unseen forces.

Three spirits in particular have been sighted on multiple occasions: a little girl lurks in the surgical room humming; a young woman paces the hallways of the third floor; and the spirit of an orderly still makes his daily rounds. 

 Ghosts that a sensitive picked up

Three "inmates" in hospital gowns, one doctor, and a lady about 35-ish, also in a hospital gown, with shoulder length dark hair. I say inmates for the first three, though they had in fact been patients, psych patients I believe, but they were, and are, forbidden from leaving. There is the ghost of a doctor reported on the premises, but I've not heard a physical description of him, though sensed one: At about 5' 9", he looks to be about 50 years old, salt and pepper hair with matching beard, both with more pepper than salt, and glasses, not worn, but rather on a chain leash and dangling down on a lab coat. Some workers called him Dr. Frank behind his back, but his name was NOT Frank Brown. He was nicknamed Dr. Frank because for a time he had a penchant for saying things like "Let me be frank with you." and "Be frank with me," a lot. He was generally disliked, or more precisely, feared. He touched me on the shoulders at the 5th floor elevator alcove, or more accurately rushed me from behind and drained my energy to the point where my knees buckled and time seemed to slow down to half speed for about 5 seconds. I grayed out. He was shouting "Chaos, chaos! I want order, I want this (place) orderly! I hate chaos! Peace and quite!" or something to that effect.
Dr. "Frank" was a burnout. He'd begun burning out shortly after, or late in his internship or residency, and his career path reflected that, ending up at a dead end such as Linda Vista Hospital. He was there when the hospital started it's downhill plunge, and may have been partly responsible for it. I think he himself was a product of the Midwest, Missouri, I believe. When he decided to become a doctor, he had visions of having a private practice, a few well heeled clients, golf (what else), and he'd be a respected member of society. Toast of the town. Sadly, it did not turn out that way for him. At times he displayed incredible compassion for the sick, and at other times he could be cruel.

The lower of the two psyche ward basements is where most of the activity was on the property, and had we been down there any longer something dramatic likely would have happened. 

There is an imprint of a dead man from hypothermia. He died under the stairs that lead down from the upper basement.