Riverside University Health System - Medical Center

Story

The Riverside University Health System - Medical Center, or RUHS-MC, formerly Riverside County Regional Medical Center, or RCRMC, is a public teaching hospital located at 26520 Cactus Avenue, Moreno Valley, California, United States, operated by the County of Riverside. It is classified as a Level II Adult & Pediatric Trauma Center.Founded in 1893, and originally located in downtown Riverside, California, the hospital has since relocated. The current facility opened on March 31, 1998, but for the greatest part of its history the hospital was located at 9851 Magnolia Avenue in Riverside. While at that location, and operating under the name Riverside General Hospital University Medical Center, two nationally followed patient stories developed.The case of the first patient, Elizabeth Bouvia, in 1983, eventually resulted in a landmark court decision that allows mentally competent adults to refuse forced feeding by patient care facilities, allowing for the possibility of starvation, if the patient cannot otherwise ingest adequate nutrition. The second patient, Gloria Ramirez, in 1994 died in unusual circumstances in which a number of her care-givers were seriously sickened and fainted by what were claimed to be fumes emanating from Ramirez's body.HistoryRiverside County was founded on March 11, 1893. On July 18 of the same year, the newly formed Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to lease 40 rooms of the Riverside Hotel, at 57 Evergreen Street, Riverside, California, to serve as a county hospital. The first patient was admitted on July 26, 1893. The site is now the location of North Park, named for the city's founder, John W. North.