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Key people at Cedars Sinai.
Cedars Sinai is a major nonprofit hospital and health system providing comprehensive medical care, clinical research, and medical education based in Los Angeles, California. The organization operates as one of the largest nonprofit hospital systems in the western United States, anchored by a main medical center complex encompassing 1.6 million square feet of operational space. The modern institution was established through the 1961 merger of two historic Jewish hospitals, which were historically supported by major community fundraising and early land donations of 3.5 acres from Emma and Hyman Levine. Its broader healthcare network includes a medical care foundation and a dedicated clinical research division named after entertainers George Burns and Gracie Allen. Cedars Sinai was originally founded as a single facility with 12 beds in 1902 by Kaspare Cohn and the Bikur Cholim Society.
Key people at Cedars Sinai.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a leading nonprofit academic medical center and hospital in Los Angeles, not a for-profit company or investment firm.[2][6] Founded through the merger of two Jewish hospitals, it provides comprehensive patient care, biomedical research, and education, serving over 1 million people annually with top-10 U.S. News & World Report rankings in cardiology, orthopedics, geriatrics, and other fields.[4][6] It excels in research on diabetes, genetics, cancer, and cardiac arrest, while offering services to thousands of uninsured patients at low or no cost.[4][5]
Cedars-Sinai traces its roots to 1902, when Jewish businessman Kaspare Cohn donated a two-story Victorian house at 1441 Carroll Avenue in Los Angeles' Angeleno Heights neighborhood to establish the Kaspare Cohn Hospital, a 12-bed facility initially offering free care for Jewish patients, particularly those with tuberculosis, under the Hebrew Benevolent Society and led by Dr. Sarah Vasen, one of L.A.'s first female doctors.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Relocated in 1910 to Whittier Boulevard and again in 1930 to Fountain Avenue in Hollywood—where it became Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, named for the biblical cedars used in Solomon's Temple—it grew into a 279-bed modern facility supported by philanthropists like Jack Warner, Joseph Schenck, and Will Rogers.[1][2][5]
Parallelly, the Bikur Cholim Society opened a two-room hospice in 1918 in Boyle Heights, evolving into Bikur Cholim Hospital in 1921, Mount Sinai Home in 1923, and Mount Sinai Hospital by 1926 on Bonnie Beach Place, with a new facility in 1955 on Beverly Boulevard funded by donors like Emma and Hyman Levine.[1][2][3] The pivotal merger of Cedars of Lebanon and Mount Sinai in 1961 formed the Los Angeles Jewish Medical Center (later Cedars-Sinai), driven by population growth and medical advances; construction on the current Beverly Boulevard campus began in 1971–1972 with a $4 million gift from the Max Factor Family Foundation, opening in 1976.[1][2][3][4][5]
Cedars-Sinai plays a key role at the intersection of healthcare and technology innovation, leveraging its research infrastructure to advance biomedical tech trends like genomics, personalized medicine, and AI-driven diagnostics in cancer and cardiac care.[4] Its timing aligns with explosive growth in health tech post-2020, fueled by market forces such as aging populations, rising chronic diseases, and venture capital influx into medtech—positioning it as a hub for clinical trials and tech-hospital partnerships. By influencing the ecosystem through collaborations with startups and tech firms, it accelerates translation of research into real-world applications, shaping L.A.'s emergence as a biotech corridor alongside Silicon Beach.
Cedars-Sinai is poised for expansion in AI-enhanced research and precision medicine, capitalizing on trends like gene editing and wearable health tech to maintain its edge amid rising demand for specialized care. Its nonprofit model and storied philanthropy will likely deepen influence through public-private tech partnerships, potentially pioneering scalable solutions for global health challenges. As it builds on over a century of evolution from a modest donated home, expect sustained leadership in transforming medical progress into accessible outcomes.[2][4][6]
