Last week I attended an acting class in North Hollywood and I happened to get a little bit lost on my way there. I turned onto a small side street off Riverside Drive and wound up in what I thought was a parking lot. But when I saw a guard shack with a large sign saying “Gate B” and what looked to be a closed down hospital, I put two and two together and realized it was actually the Scrubs set! My buddy EJ over at The Movieland Directory had told me a while back where the Scrubs set was located, but I had yet to stalk it as I don’t watch the show. But when I found myself mistakenly right at their front entrance, I was pretty darn excited! 🙂
Scrubs is filmed at the former North Hollywood Medical Center, a real hospital that closed its doors about 10 years ago. Like so many other closed down hospitals in LA, it is now used strictly as a filming location. It was also used in the filming of Discovery Health’s Diagnosis X and the movie The One, but ever since Scrubs premiered it has been used exclusively by the show. The hospital has been completely transformed into a studio and even the apartment sets from the show are located inside the hospital building.
It is a slightly eerie place, being that it still very much looks like a real hospital, complete with ambulances parked out front. According to one article I read, Zack Braff said that people sometimes walk inside the hospital asking for medical help. When he tells them, while wearing his Scrubs costume, that they are not in an actual hospital, the people look at him like he’s crazy. LOL Zack also said that filming inside the hospital is great for him as an actor, because it makes everything that much more realistic.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The Scrubs hospital is located at 12699 Riverside Drive in North Hollywood. You can park on Riverside Drive and walk right up to the front of the hospital to take some pictures. Be sure to look at the hospital entrance doors – they have signs that say “Sacred Heart Hospital.” 🙂