3 Famous TV Shows Filmed in California Hospitals

When it comes to TV shows set in hospitals, you may never stop and think about how they managed to do the filming. When talking about hospitals, you wouldn't expect to suddenly halt operations just so the film crew can use specific areas within the hospital. You need to know about hospitals because they are tough to rent when filming TV shows. 

However, three hospitals around California were able to permit TV show producers to film in their hospitals. While the film crew could have rented a TV set to recreate a hospital scene, filming inside a hospital is more convincing. Check out three well-known TV shows filmed in California hospitals. 

TV Show #1: Grey's Anatomy

A TV show that portrays five trainee surgeons' lives, Grey's Anatomy is by far the most well-known in the U.S. What you need to know about this TV show is that it's still filming up to this year. It has 16 seasons, and there are already rumors about the producers filming season 17 in early 2021.

The film crew filmed the show in a fictional set called "Seattle Grace Hospital" in Seattle. While you may think that the film crew rented a replica hospital studio in Seattle, the film crew shot most scenes such as the patient and ER rooms in Los Angeles. With the help of proper lighting and acoustics, the show pulled off a quality hospital setting. The crew also filmed exterior shots around The VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center Lobby in North Hills, California. 

TV Show #2: Scrubs

First aired on October 2nd, 2001, Scrubs is a medical comedy-drama TV series that revolves around the medical staff's lives at a fictional hospital called the Sacred Heart Hospital. Although the TV show has since stopped filming on March 17th, 2010, many people still watch reruns because of how good the humor and anecdotes are. 

North Hollywood Medical Center, a fully-functioning hospital (built from 1952 to 1998), hosted Scrubs' filming. The hospital catered to many residents in Los Angeles, California. However, after the TV show finished filming all of its seasons, the hospital building was demolished in mid-2011. 

TV Show #3: ER

Another TV show popular in the 1990s was ER, a TV show centered around emergency room doctors situated in a fictional hospital called the County General Hospital, Chicago. The TV show lasted for 15 seasons, which tells you how successful the show was. Like Scrubs and Grey's Anatomy, it was filmed 2,000 miles away from Chicago at Linda Vista Community in Los Angeles, California. 

The hospital building opened in 1905 to cater to railroad employees but had to close down after 86 years due to budgeting problems and a decline in patients going to the hospital. Apart from ER, many famous films used the hospital for filming, including Outbreak and Pearl Harbor. After a while, the Amcal Multi-Housing Inc. turned the building into a senior apartment complex. 

Most of the time, there are tiny details in a hospital that studios cannot recreate, like lead-lined access doors in emergency rooms and other areas containing radiation. Out of the three hospital buildings, the only standing hospital is The Sepulveda VA Medical Center. Most patients who get check-ups or undergo operations will see these lead-lined doors on different surfaces of the room. Film sets usually forget these details because of how it's hidden and challenging to replicate.

If you currently have a construction project in a hospital building, you should get in touch with California Access Doors if you ever need lead-lined access doors! You can also find more information about the product by checking out our website.