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Finding aid for the Pacific Clinics records
0433
0433
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Table of contents
Title: Pacific Clinics records
Collection number: 0433
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
8.0 linear ft.
20 boxes
Date: 1942-1997 (bulk 1960s-1990s)
Abstract: The Pacific Clinics records consists of annual reports, financial statements, correspondence, program and grant proposals,
administrative and organizational records, 1942-1997 (bulk 1960s-1990s), documenting the growth of the clinic's services.
creator:
Pacific Clinics.
Nancy Portiya, Pacific Clinics.
Advance notice required for access. Some folders in this collection are restricted because they contain confidential information,
eg, medication records. All restricted material is so designated.
The use of archival materials for on-site research does not constitute permission from the California Social Welfare Archives
to publish them. Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives, and the researcher is instructed
to obtain permission to quote from or publish manuscripts in the CSWA's collections from the copyright holder.
With its central headquarters located in the San Gabriel Valley, Pacific Clinics was originally founded in 1926 as an outreach
of the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic. This outreach later became the Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic. In 1980 this latter
name was changed to Pasadena Guidance Clinics, to reflect better the expansion in the range of clients whom the Clinics now
served. The Clinics had begun to treat both children and adults in the early 1970s, after originally concentrating its services
on children. The final name change occurred in 1987, when the Pasadena Guidance Clinics became the Pacific Clinics.
This mental health care provider began as a treatment center for children with emotional and mental problems. In 1926 the
Pasadena Community Chest originally funded a social worker offering part-time services from the Los Angeles Child Guidance
Clinic for work in Pasadena. An advisory committee was formed in 1941 to explore the possibilities of more substantial services
for the children of Pasadena. This work led to the establishment in 1942 of a separate mental health clinic--the "Pasadena
Child Guidance Clinic"; 1944 was the year when it actually was incorporated under this name. The staff now included full-
and part-time members, including a psychiatrist and full-time director (Forrest N. Anderson, M.D.). The City of Pasadena graciously
donated a city building on Dayton Street in the city park for the Clinic's use. Additions to the building were made, at the
expense of the city, in 1944 and 1948 because of the Clinic's increasing caseload. From this solid beginning, the Clinic began
its steady growth, aided by such leaders as Esther Heath Simpson, a later director in the decades of the 40s and the 50s;
and Dr. Marion Durfee, medical director from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.
As the Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic grew it changed locations, moving to larger buildings to meet the demands of this growth.
The first capital fund campaign for the construction of a new building was launched in the late 1950s, and a new building
was opened in 1960 on Waverly in Pasadena. Reflecting the broad geographical scope and demand for the Clinic's services, Director
John Mead met this need with the 1970 opening of a branch children's clinic in Monrovia. Expansion in Pasadena continued as
well, with critical additions in the 1980s of the Huntington Hospital buildings on Fair Oaks Avenue, where the administrative
headquarters of Pacific Clinics are now located.
In its most recent organizational form Pacific Clinics stands as the most prominent non-profit mental health care provider
to the San Gabriel Valley, with clinics in seven cities of the San Gabriel Valley. These include Santa Fe Springs, Duarte,
Glendale, Rosemead, and West Covina. The range of services includes the important Asian Pacific Family Center in Rosemead,
which serves the diverse and large Asian population of the San Gabriel Valley. As a result of such expansion, Pacific Clinics'
staff of 325 persons under the direction of Dr. Susan Mandel now serves an area with 2.2 million residents. Thus, Pacific
Clinics stands as not only the largest non-profit mental health care center in the San Gabriel Valley but one of the largest
mental health care providers in the Los Angeles region.
All information in this history comes from material found in the collection.
Much of the material in this collection does not directly concern the present-day Pacific Clinics, but its organizational
predecessors. As a result, this collection has been organized into three series based on these different organizational names:
Pacific Clinics, Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic, and the Pasadena Guidance Clinics.
The Pacific Clinics records consists of annual reports, financial statements, correspondence, program and grant proposals,
administrative and organizational records, including those detailing relations with funding agencies or organizations. Especially
prominent here is the Los Angeles County of Mental Health. Some folders contain material from more than one of the Clinics,
eg, both the Child Guidance Clinic and the Guidance Clinics. Rather than disrupting the original order of the material by
redistributing it into folders based on the different titles of the Clinics, the material has been left undisturbed. The series
name has been assigned on the basis of which Clinic has the largest amount of material in a folder. In this way, the integrity
of the collection is preserved, thereby demonstrating the continuity of the functions and activities of the Clinics, as it
underwent organizational changes.
The bulk dates of the collection come from the late 1960s to mid 1970s, and from the early 1980s to early 1990s. Consequently,
much of the correspondence and other papers directly concern John Mead, the director instrumental in the 1970s in the Clinics'
growth, and the current CEO of Pacific Clinics, Dr. Susan Mandel.
[Box/folder# or item name], Pacific Clinics records, Collection no. 0433, California Social Welfare Archives, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Los Angeles County (Calif.). Dept. of Mental Health. -- Archives
Pacific Clinics. -- Archives
Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic. -- Archives
Pasadena Guidance Clinics. -- Archives
Brochures
Child mental health services--California--Los Angeles County--Archival resources
Contracts
Correspondence
Mental health services--California--Los Angeles County--Archival resources
Reports
School mental health services--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources