LA County Releases Master Plan to Transform Historic General Hospital Campus Into a Healthy Village
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO May 19 released the Los Angeles County General Hospital or LACGH campus master plan. This represents a comprehensive framework to reimagine the historic 30.8-acre campus into a “Healthy Village” centered on wellness, housing, economic opportunity, open space, and community-serving uses anchored by a revitalized historic General Hospital, which has served the region for nearly a century.
General Hospital, which originally opened in 1934 and is credited as the birthplace of Emergency Medicine, is a 1.2-million-square-foot, 19-story Art Deco landmark that served millions of Angelenos before suffering significant damage during the 1993 Northridge Earthquake. Aging infrastructure and new hospital safety regulations prompted the county to build the LA General Medical Center next door, where medical services transferred in 2008. General Hospital has been largely vacant ever since, with ancillary support services for the LA General Medical Center, various county departments, and several community-based organizations, including the wellness center, occupying only the lower floors.
In 2018, LA County Board of Supervisors Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis authored the unanimously approved board motion directing a feasibility study for the building’s adaptive reuse. In January 2023, the board authorized DEO to advance the campus vision through a public-private partnership with Centennial Partners, a joint venture between Primestor Development and Bayspring Real Estate Partners, as the developer.
The County selected Centennial Partners through a competitive solicitation process based on the team’s commitment to community partnership, equitable development, and long-term investment in underserved communities. The developer approached the master plan as a flexible framework designed to evolve over time and respond to real-time market conditions, community priorities, emerging industries, and public needs over the course of implementation.
The planning process was informed by extensive public engagement through over 100 focus group meetings, 25 townhalls, 3 community-at-large workshops, and 16 community advisory committee meetings.
Key elements envisioned in the draft Master Plan include:
- Affordable, workforce, and mixed-income housing
- Expanded wellness and wrap-around supportive services
- Community-serving retail and neighborhood amenities
- Public plazas, open space, and pedestrian connectivity
- Workforce development and job creation opportunities
- Improved transit access and mobility connections
- Adaptive reuse and preservation of the historic General Hospital building
- Sustainable infrastructure and resilient site design
Implementation is designed to proceed in phases, allowing individual development projects to advance incrementally while maintaining continuity of care at LA General Medical Center, which serves more than one million patients annually, and supporting uninterrupted operations of other county agencies on the campus.
The Master Plan is subject to review and approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and will require full compliance with CEQA.
Details: View the Master Plan at: opportunity.lacounty.gov/general-hospital/
The Los Angeles County Health Survey is Underway – Invited Residents Are Encouraged to Share Health Issues Impacting Their Communities
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, in partnership with RTI International, has launched the 2026 Los Angeles County health survey and is encouraging invited residents to participate. The 2026 survey marks the 10th cycle of the survey and will continue through December 2026. The results are used to plan programs that improve the health and wellbeing of all county residents.
“The health survey gives us an opportunity to hear from local residents about health issues affecting their communities,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “The survey results will help Public Health and our community partners throughout Los Angeles County develop policies and plan programs to improve the health of the 10 million people we serve.”
The web and telephone-based survey will ask about health needs, health conditions, and other related topics that impact residents, their children and their communities. The survey is available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
The survey does not ask about citizenship and legal status, and participation in the survey does not affect any household benefits. All responses are kept strictly confidential and survey information is not shared with any other government agencies.
Invitation letters for the survey are being mailed to randomly selected households throughout Los Angeles County. Residents may be invited to complete an adult survey, a child survey, or both.
To help residents identify official survey materials, an example of the invitation letter can be viewed at Public Health’s Los Angeles County Health Survey website.
Invited residents who complete the survey will be sent a gift card or check starting at $20.
Details: For more information about the survey, visit https://tinyurl.com/LA-County-Health-Survey, call 877-282-4757, or email LACountyHealthSurvey@rti.org.
County Launches Cannabis Social Equity Entrepreneurship Academy
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity or DEO and the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs’ or DCBA office of cannabis management or OCM May 19 announced the launch of the Cannabis Social Equity Entrepreneurship Academy (Entrepreneurship Academy) a no‑cost education and readiness program designed to provide foundational knowledge about cannabis retail entrepreneurship and key business considerations within county’s proposed equitable commercial cannabis framework.
The program builds on the February 2022 motion introduced by board chair and First District Supervisors Hilda L. Solis and Second District Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, directing DCBA to develop an equitable cannabis framework for unincorporated Los Angeles County. While legalization has expanded economic opportunities in parts of California, many residents—particularly those from low-income communities disproportionately affected by past enforcement actions related to anti-cannabis policies—continue to face significant barriers to entry. These include limited access to capital and space, complex regulatory requirements, and a lack of industry-specific expertise, all of which hinder meaningful participation in the legalized market. Absent intentional intervention, these disparities are likely to persist if the County adopts a regulated commercial cannabis framework for unincorporated areas in the future.
The Entrepreneurship Academy is part of DEO’s economic mobility initiative or EMI, which expands the reach of the office of small business with 15 plus partners and the provision of education, training and technical assistance, and access to capital to businesses countywide. Through a six-week curriculum delivered in weekly evening sessions—offered both in person and virtually—participants gain the knowledge and tools needed to launch or grow a cannabis retail or delivery business in LA County. The program covers core business fundamentals essential to starting and operating any business, along with an overview of cannabis regulations, licensing, compliance, and operations. The Entrepreneurship Academy further pairs classroom instruction with one-on-one counseling and mentorship to help each participant refine and advance their individual business goals.
The program is open to LA County residents who are at least 21 years old, interested in potentially starting or operating a retail or delivery cannabis business in the unincorporated areas of the county, and able to commit to the full six-week program. Priority is provided to individuals and family members of individuals who experienced cannabis-related arrests or convictions prior to the legalization of cannabis in 2016.
The first cohort begins on June 2, 2026. A total of four cohorts will run between June 2 and the end of December 2026, collectively expected to serve approximately 100 participants. Interested residents can apply at emi.lacounty.gov/cannabis-academy.
Funding for the Cannabis Social Equity Entrepreneurship Academy is provided through a $300,000 investment from the LA County Justice Care and Opportunity Department’s County’s Care First Community Investment initiative and an additional $11,000 in state grant funding.
Details: emi.lacounty.gov. To learn more about DCBA’s Office of Cannabis Management, visit cannabis.lacounty.gov.