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<\/a>Newland works with the California State Parks Department, overseeing research and historic preservation projects. He has a passion and talent for sharing local history, and is a La Mesa resident himself, currently in Boulder Heights. Newland has already written other historical books about the area, including \u201cLa Mesa\u201d about the La Mesa centennial, \u201cAround Mt. Helix,\u201d and the text for the photo collection \u201cCleveland National Forest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why Jim was approached about writing the hospital history book is because he has a reputation of being the best qualified person in East County,\u201d said Rick Griffin, representative of the Grossmont Healthcare District. \u201cHe lives and breathes East County history. His knowledge of its history is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newland had access to Grossmont archives, 12 hours of San Diego County Medical Society oral history interviews, and more than 500 photos from the hospital\u2019s collection. A call for memories from La Mesa residents added a personal touch to the narrative research itself.<\/p>\n But even though Newland had dived into East County history before, he found out there were stories surrounding the hospital of which he was unaware. Did you know there was initially a small private hospital called La Mesa Community Hospital that served through the 1920s to 1940s? However, with a population boom and funding difficulties, that hospital couldn\u2019t get its footing.<\/p>\n What did succeed was the creation of a brand new public health district: the Grossmont Hospital District. In the book, readers can hear the details of the concentrated campaign and even see what the district campaign postcards looked like in 1951, petitioning voters, \u201cWe know you will vote yes. We urge you to enlist the members of your family, your neighbors, your friends to vote YES. Than ask each one to enlist five more votes in the \u201cYes\u201d column. We need a hospital now, even more than six months ago.\u201d The postcard was signed by Burton Jones, the first president of the Grossmont Hospital Association.<\/p>\n Jones and the association were right \u2013 East County hizo <\/em>vote yes. On Jan. 8, 1952, voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the district at a final tally of 3,835 to 1,030.<\/p>\n \u201cThis hospital unified East County residents like no other subject,\u201d Newland said, pointing to the first and subsequent elections, \u201cThis is an institution that they want to support.\u201d<\/p>\n The building was up and running in three years, a feat Newland describes as \u201clightning fast.\u201d Almost as soon as the hospital opened, it was at capacity. Grossmont continued to expand and grow in an attempt to meet its district\u2019s needs. It was the first in San Diego to open a hospice house and the first to purchase a tomography scanner (CAT scan) \u2013 a hefty purchase for what was relatively new and unknown technology at the time.<\/p>\n But as Grossmont entered into the 1980s, the cost war for funding began to darken the future of the institution. Newland details the fight for survival Grossmont endured \u2013 and how they managed to come out of it through an unprecedented public-private partnership. In 1991, Grossmont entered a lease for hospital operations with the nonprofit Sharp Healthcare.<\/p>\n \u201cGrossmont\u2019s merger made it stronger, absolutely,\u201d Newland said. \u201cIt\u2019s what helped it survive.\u201d<\/p>\n Not that the merger was met with unanimous delight. \u201cGrossmont Hospital: A Legacy of Community Service\u201d details the lawsuit filed by two East County physicians and the ensuing 10 years of community rumblings and opposition. But the suit was finally settled and the protestors demands either were met or died down.<\/p>\n Grossmont and Sharp remain joined together with no plans to separate. Newland notes that he endeavored to show both sides in the book, and how they came to a final understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unique and groundbreaking public-private partnership, so debated and divisive for many, resulted in a financially stabilized institution that allowed for the continuation of high-quality service all parties desired and fought to accomplish,\u201d Newland wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cGrossmont Hospital: A Legacy of Community Service\u201d can be purchased online at Amazon or arcadiapublishing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>