Sacred Heart Hospital
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Sacred Heart Hospital is the fictional teaching hospital on American sitcom Scrubs. The set of Sacred Heart is in the former North Hollywood Medical Center (), a real decommissioned hospital on Riverside Drive in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Besides providing the set for Sacred Heart, the hospital also houses many other Scrubs sets (such as J.D. and Turk's and Dr. Cox's apartments and the bar), the offices of many of the Scrubs crew, and post-production facilities (such as the voice-over studio and editing suite).
Sacred Heart is an inner-city hospital. Staff at the hospital are seen opining that it is a very good hospital. Dr. Kelso once said that he thinks that people choose to be treated there because they see Sacred Heart doctors as professionals, but also because he leaks vicious rumors about competing hospitals to the press. J.D. once remarked that "Here at Sacred Heart, you get to work with some of the finest doctors in the country", although seconds later, Dr. Todd Quinlan ran past shouting "Out of my way! I got a doozy of a twosie!" Dr. Cox was once named as the finest physician in the city by a local magazine. The hospital's employees have gained the attention of the press on several other occasions too, most notably when J.D. and Turk resuscitated a local news cameraman and were dubbed as heroes ("My Fifteen Minutes") and when Turk performed a ground-breaking surgery using hypnosis instead of traditional anesthesia ("My Day at the Races").
Sacred Heart is run primarily by Chief of Medicine Dr. Robert "Bob" Kelso. There is also a Chief of Surgery, who seems to take a smaller role and has never been named. The hospital is owned by a corporation run by Whitaker Chambers, whose son once worked at Sacred Heart as a medical student. There are several other notable board members and benefactors, including Jordan Sullivan (who gained the position from her deceased father), Mr. Summers, Mr. Franks, Mrs. Warner, and Mr. Zerbo.
[edit] Location
The locale of Sacred Heart within the fictional world of Scrubs is either a deliberate ambiguity or a well-kept secret that has been by the cast and crew of the show, who go so far as to describe the location as "San DaFrangeles" – a portmanteau of San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles that is meant to encompass a large part of California. It has been indicated that the show's location in the United States was originally supposed to be a complete mystery, but location shots containing the shooting location's Californian environment made the location hard to conceal. "Sacred Heart" is the name for a number of medical institutions in the United States, so the name may have been chosen to add ambiguity. Another likely scenario is that it is a nod by creator Bill Lawrence to his wife and cast member, Christa Miller's school, Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Many fans continue to speculate about where exactly the show might take place, and based on current clues, the show does seem to take place somewhere in the state of California. These clues include:
- During episodes taking place during the winter months, characters are seen wearing winter clothing such as coats, gloves, and scarves, suggesting that the climate is a less temperate one than that found in Florida or Southern California. The average winter temperatures in San Francisco/Oakland are 45-58 °F.
- In Episode 1.4, “My Old Lady,” Carla states that a third of the hospital's patients speak Spanish as a primary language, which may reflect upon the demographics of the location.
- In Episode 1.11, "My Own Personal Jesus," nearby Miller Park is an important plot element. This most likely isn't referring to real life Miller Park of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- In the early episodes of season 3, Elliot took a commuter train to visit her then-boyfriend Sean (played by Scott Foley), who worked as an animal trainer at a SeaWorld theme park. SeaWorld has locations in Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, and, previously Cleveland. The episodes shown in season 3 were filmed at the SeaWorld in San Diego.
- In Episode 3.04, “My Lucky Night,” the front destination panel of the bus that Sean takes reads, "Redding". This may be a reference to Redding, California.
- In Episode 3.09, “My Dirty Secret,” When J.D. says the times that a T.V. show is on he says its on at 10PM Eastern, 9PM Central, and 8PM Mountain. It is strange that he would say every U.S. time except Pacific which is the hospitals suspected area.
- In Episode 4.01, "My Old Friend's New Friend," during the scene where J.D. thinks he's going to get a hug from Dr. Cox, the whiteboard in the background reads, "Bowling night at Kona Lanes." Kona Lanes was a landmark bowling alley in Costa Mesa, California.
- In one of the episodes the camera clearly shows the 'Riverside' streetsign. In the same shot you see the 134 'Ventura' freeway located in the valley. This may indicate the hospital is in fact located in Los Angeles, California.
- In Episode 4.04, “My First Kill,” a conversation between Elliot and Dr. Molly Clock establishes that the time difference between the location of the hospital and Greenland is three hours, as Greenland is largely UTC-3 (though this varies from UTC to UTC-4), this places Sacred Heart in UTC-6, or Central Standard Time. In the same episode, Elliot asks Molly if she wants to go to the Little Tokyo district of the city with her, which could be a reference to Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California.
- In episode 4.08, “My Last Chance,” Molly is leaving in a taxi cab with a California license plate 2FAN321, which conforms to the California license-plate format of a number, followed by three letters, then by three numbers, but when Dr. Cox rides on the ambulance for his community service and he can clearly be seen wearing a N.J. State Department of Health EMT patch.
- In Episode 4.9, “My Malpractical Decision,” Turk gets the cell phone number 1-916-CALL-TURK (Its actually 1-916-CALL-TUR). 916 is the area code for the capital city of California, Sacramento.
- In Episode 4.21, “My Lips Are Sealed,” J.D. sets his clock back three hours to see what it would be like to live in Honolulu, which suggests that the location is either in the Pacific or Mountain time zones, depending on Daylight Saving Time.
- In Episode 4.25, "My Changing Ways," Turk brings J.D. a pizza from Big Mama's & Papa's Pizzeria, which is available only in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
- In Episode 5.03, "My Day at the Races," J.D. mentions swimming in the waters of the salty Pacific, which would logically would indicate a west coast setting, barring the possibility that the location is Hawaii, which, judging from the aforementioned landscape, is unlikely.
- In Episode 5.05, “My New God,” Turk is on his way home to meet Carla and stops by at a Dunkin Donuts Shop. Dunkin Donuts' are rare in California and one of the only ones in Northern California is located at 3311 Power Inn Rd Ste 101, Sacramento. Another (former) location of a Dunkin Donuts shop in Northern California is on the corner of Union and Camden Avenues in the Cambrian Park neighborhood of San Jose.
- In Episode 5.15, “My Extra Mile,” Dr. Cox says that they are giving Tastykakes away. This brand of snack cake is sold mostly around the Philadelphia metropolitan area, however it is also sold in Northern California.
- In Episode 6.04, "My House," Kim is going to Tacoma, Washington by plane, proving Sacred Heart is not in Seattle, since the cities are only 32 miles apart.
- However in Episode 6.04 it is possible that Kim is flying from Spokane, WA to Tacoma, WA. There is an actual Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane WA. Also when searching through google for 'sacred heart medical center' the first link to pop up directly is the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane Washington.
- In multiple episodes scenes on the rooftop depict a clear image of a hospital only four stories high and clearly on a valley floor; quite similar to the Santa Clara Valley (only 17 miles from the beach town of Santa Cruz) giving credence to the impression of Sacred Heart being located in San Jose, California or Los Angeles. The surrounding foothills can be seen in some of these episodes while in others the smog is so thick as to make it clear it is located in Los Angeles, CA.
- In several episodes, palm trees can be seen, ruling out Sacred Heart being in Oregon or Washington.
- In the episode My Road to Nowhere, J.D. takes an overnight road-trip to Tacoma, Washington, implying that it is not near Tacoma.
- Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane WA is approximately 7.5 hours away from Tacoma and depending on what time JD left he could have driven overnight.
[edit] Areas of the Hospital
Sacred Heart is a large hospital, but there are certain featured locations where scenes tend to take place or the characters congregate.
Hospital Admissions: This area at the front of the hospital acts as a waiting room for patients, but also features a Reception Desk manned by Nurses. There is also a gift shop, operated by Lisa. Characters sometimes discuss things at the Reception Desk.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU): A large ward featuring an opened out area with beds, private rooms and a Nurses' desk. The main characters seem to spend most of their time there, as it is where Sacred Heart's most critical patients are kept.
Hallway Nurses' Station: Another Nurses' Station, sometimes manned by Carla or Laverne. Doctors will sometimes also congregate there to talk with Nurses.
Doctor's Lounge: This where the characters hang out, relax, watch television or research diagnoses. There is also a Ms. Pac-Man machine and a coffee dispenser.
Cafeteria: Where the characters hang out and eat their meals. Noted to be a cliquey place, with certain groups within the hospital sometimes eating separately from others. J.D. has sometimes stated that he does not like the food at the cafeteria, but he claims he is "used to it." There have been many different staff members working in the cafeteria, including Troy, Margo and Kenny.
On-Call Room: A room containing beds where doctors who are on-call attempt to sleep. But as J.D. once noted, not a lot of sleeping actually takes place. (A lot of sex does, though.)
The Morgue: Doug "Nervous Guy" Murphy works in the morgue, the only place in the hospital where he can be trusted not to kill anyone.
Coffee Bucks: A new addition to Sacred Heart (season 6, "My Coffee"), this coffee shop is an extention of the building, built in the parking lot. Since it was built, the characters seem to meet here, rather than in the cafeteria. It is the workplace of ex-intern Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio and, for a short time, the Janitor and the Sacred Heart support staff.
Parking Lot: Outside the East Wing entrance of the hospital, this parking lot contains basketball hoops and the new Coffee Bucks, as well as providing a place for staff to park their cars.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episodes • Sacred Heart Hospital | ||||
| Main characters | ||||
| John "J.D." Dorian • Elliot Reid • Christopher Turk • Carla Espinosa • Perry Cox • Bob Kelso • Janitor | ||||
| Supporting characters | ||||
| Jordan Sullivan • Todd "The Todd" Quinlan • Ted Buckland • Keith Dudemeister | ||||
