The Santa Fe Hospital is still standing in Boyle Heights. It has been featured in many of the Emergency Room episodes and in fact is being by a movie production center. The Santa Fe Memorial Hospital Assn. sold to property to a group that tried running a Hospital and it failed and is now held by this production company.
The railroads were the only medical care available in the early days of the RR's opening up the West. Every employee had to pay dues to the association for which there was basicly free medical care as previously. With the unions seeking better care and care that could be provided at home the other plans that are part of the collective bargining agreements came into being. This was for the better for the employee as they could seek medical care at home instead of going to the Company hospital for procedures. I know of many instances where employees, lets say in Needles had to go to LA for surgery, not a happy state of affairs for the family. Andy