Adventist Health Bakersfield
A 254-bed acute-care hospital and medical campus serving Bakersfield and Kern County, California.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Adventist Health Bakersfield is a 254-bed hospital and medical campus in Bakersfield, California, serving patients throughout Kern County. It operates as part of Adventist Health, a nonprofit healthcare system associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The institution provides hospital-based care, emergency services, surgery, maternity and neonatal care, cardiovascular and stroke treatment, cancer services, burn care, diagnostic imaging, and other specialty and outpatient services. The hospital traces its origins to the work of nurses Margaret Quinn and Mary O'Donnell, who arrived in Bakersfield in 1905 and identified a need for another local institution for people who were sick or injured. With personal savings, family support, loans, and assistance from local business figures, they acquired land at 27th and Eye streets. A three-story, 26-patient facility named San Joaquin Hospital was built there, and its first patient was admitted on October 6, 1910. Quinn subsequently helped expand the facility with additional land, surgical capacity, separate men's and women's wards, and a kitchen. Quinn bought out O'Donnell in 1914 and combined business management with nursing supervision and several clinical responsibilities. In 1920, as her health declined, she sold the hospital. It was incorporated and transferred into equal shares held by several physicians. Joseph Smith, MD later acquired the institution, and in 1964 he asked the Seventh-day Adventist Church to manage it. The hospital joined Adventist Health in August 1987 and adopted the name San Joaquin Community Hospital around that period. A major modernization phase began in the 2000s. In May 2007, San Joaquin Community Hospital opened a 130,000-square-foot, five-story patient tower. The project enlarged intensive-care, emergency, operating, maternity, and neonatal capabilities, and included a nine-bed neonatal intensive care unit. Renovation of the existing tower followed, including conversion to private rooms and work intended to meet updated seismic requirements. The expanded campus supported the introduction of higher-acuity specialty services in Kern County. The hospital established a nationally certified stroke center in 2008 and later received successive performance recognitions for stroke care. It also developed a partnership with Grossman Burn Centers, opening an outpatient burn clinic in 2009 and an inpatient burn intensive-care service in 2010. Cardiovascular capabilities expanded through chest-pain accreditation and later heart-attack receiving-center recognition. The organization also broadened its outpatient and diagnostic network. In late 2010, it announced the purchase of Quest Imaging, an outpatient imaging provider offering MRI, CT, nuclear medicine, mammography, and related services. In 2013, the medical campus added the AIS Cancer Center and an outpatient surgery center across from the main hospital. The cancer center incorporated radiation and medical oncology services, including a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator, and maintained an affiliation with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. The institution adopted its present name, Adventist Health Bakersfield, on July 5, 2017. The renaming aligned the Bakersfield campus more visibly with the Adventist Health system while preserving its role as a regional hospital and specialty-care provider. Its identity is centered on community hospital care, integrated specialty services, emergency readiness, and affiliation with the broader Adventist Health network.
History
Adventist Health Bakersfield began as San Joaquin Hospital, founded in Bakersfield in 1910 after nurses Margaret Quinn and Mary O'Donnell recognized that the growing community needed another facility for sick and injured residents. The two women had arrived in Bakersfield in 1905 to work at St. Clair Hospital. They assembled funding through personal savings, a family contribution, and loans supported by local business and civic figures. The resulting three-story building on 27th and Eye streets accommodated 26 patients, with the first admission recorded on October 6, 1910. Quinn played a central role in the hospital's early development. She arranged additional financing, acquired adjoining land, and enlarged the facility with a surgery, separate men's and women's wards, and a kitchen. In 1914 she bought out O'Donnell and assumed a wide range of responsibilities, including business management, nursing supervision, surgical supervision, anesthesia, and laboratory work. Quinn sold the institution in 1920 because of declining health. The hospital was incorporated and sold in equal shares to physicians G.C. Sabichi, N.N. Brown, William P. Scott, George Buchner, and F.A. Hamlin. Joseph Smith, MD later purchased it. In 1964, Smith asked the Seventh-day Adventist Church to manage the hospital. The institution later joined Adventist Health in August 1987 and around that time became known as San Joaquin Community Hospital. The Adventist affiliation provided an organizational home within a larger faith-based healthcare network while the Bakersfield facility continued to function as a community hospital for Kern County. The campus underwent significant expansion in the 2000s. In May 2007, San Joaquin Community Hospital opened a 130,000-square-foot, five-story patient tower. The building expanded intensive-care, emergency, and operating areas, improved patient arrival and loading access, tripled the size of the maternity center, and added a nine-bed neonatal intensive care unit. The original tower was subsequently renovated to provide private rooms and address seismic requirements. The new infrastructure allowed the hospital to add or strengthen specialty programs. In May 2008 it opened the county's first nationally certified stroke center. The program later received a sequence of American Stroke Association performance distinctions, including bronze, silver, gold, and gold-plus recognitions, and in 2013 attained Target: Stroke Honor Roll status for reducing the time between hospital arrival and treatment. The hospital was also recognized as a Primary Stroke Receiving Center. Cardiovascular services developed alongside stroke care. In 2009, the hospital received accreditation as a Nationally Accredited Chest Pain Center. In 2013 it received American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline heart-attack receiving-center accreditation, described in the reference material as the first such hospital recognition in Kern County and the second in California at that time. Burn care became another important specialty. The hospital announced a 2008 partnership with Grossman Burn Centers. The outpatient Aera Burn Clinic opened in June 2009, followed by an inpatient intensive-care unit in September 2010. The service treated many pediatric patients, including children with scald injuries sustained at home. The organization expanded beyond the main inpatient building as well. In late 2010 it announced the purchase of Quest Imaging, an outpatient imaging provider offering magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, nuclear medicine, mammography, and other services. A second downtown imaging center was planned for later development. In May 2013, the hospital opened the AIS Cancer Center and Outpatient Surgery Center across from the main hospital. The cancer facility provided radiation and medical oncology, used a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator with RapidArc technology, and was affiliated with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Sharlet Briggs was named president and chief executive officer of San Joaquin Community Hospital in November 2016. On July 5, 2017, the hospital formally changed its name to Adventist Health Bakersfield. The current brand reflects the facility's place within Adventist Health while retaining its historic role as a major hospital and specialty-care campus in Bakersfield and Kern County.
- 2017
Present name adopted
[1]San Joaquin Community Hospital officially became Adventist Health Bakersfield on July 5.
- 2013
Cancer and outpatient surgery campus expands
[1]The AIS Cancer Center and Outpatient Surgery Center opened across the street from the main hospital.
- 2010
Inpatient burn intensive-care service opens
[1]Grossman Burn Center inpatient intensive-care services opened at the hospital.
- 2009
Burn clinic and chest-pain accreditation
[1]The outpatient Aera Burn Clinic opened, and the hospital received Nationally Accredited Chest Pain Center recognition.
- 2008
Stroke center is established
[1]The hospital opened Kern County's first nationally certified stroke center.
- 2007
New patient tower opens
[1]A 130,000-square-foot, five-story tower expanded emergency, intensive-care, operating, maternity, and neonatal services.
- 1987
Hospital joins Adventist Health
[1]San Joaquin Hospital joined Adventist Health and around the same period added Community to its name.
- 1964
Seventh-day Adventist Church begins managing the hospital
[1]Joseph Smith, MD requested that the Seventh-day Adventist Church manage the hospital.
- 1910
San Joaquin Hospital admits its first patient
[1]A 26-patient hospital built at 27th and Eye streets admitted its first patient on October 6, establishing the institution that later became Adventist Health Bakersfield.
- 1905
Nurses arrive in Bakersfield and identify a community need
[1]Margaret Quinn and Mary O'Donnell arrived to work at St. Clair Hospital and began pursuing the creation of an additional local hospital.
Products and positioning
A regional nonprofit hospital positioned around comprehensive community care, emergency and acute-care capability, and specialized services that reduce the need for Kern County patients to travel to larger metropolitan centers.
Hospital services · 1910
Inpatient hospital care
The main hospital provides acute inpatient care for patients from Bakersfield and Kern County. Its expanded campus includes general patient rooms, intensive-care capacity, emergency services, operating areas, and supporting diagnostic and clinical infrastructure.
Emergency medicine · 2007
Emergency and acute-care services
Emergency and acute-care capabilities were expanded through the 2007 patient tower and related campus modernization. The hospital's emergency infrastructure supports evaluation and treatment of urgent medical and surgical conditions in the Kern County market.
Neurological care · 2008
Stroke Center
Established in 2008, the stroke program was the first nationally certified stroke center identified in the reference material for Kern County. The program emphasizes organized, time-sensitive stroke treatment and subsequently received several American Stroke Association performance recognitions.
Burn care · 2009
Grossman Burn Center at Bakersfield
The Grossman Burn Center partnership added specialized burn services to the campus. The outpatient Aera Burn Clinic opened in 2009, followed by an inpatient burn intensive-care unit in 2010. The program treated both adult and pediatric burn patients.
Cardiovascular care · 2009
Cardiovascular and chest-pain services
The hospital's cardiovascular offering includes chest-pain evaluation and heart-attack receiving capabilities. It received Nationally Accredited Chest Pain Center recognition in 2009 and Mission: Lifeline heart-attack receiving-center accreditation in 2013.
Cancer care · 2013
AIS Cancer Center
Opened in 2013, the AIS Cancer Center provides radiation and medical oncology services. The facility includes a Varian TrueBeam linear accelerator with RapidArc technology and is affiliated with the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Diagnostic imaging · 2002
Quest Imaging
Quest Imaging provides outpatient diagnostic imaging, including MRI, CT, nuclear medicine, mammography, and related services. San Joaquin Community Hospital announced its purchase of the imaging provider in late 2010.
Women's and children's health · 2007
Maternity and neonatal services
The 2007 patient tower tripled the size of the maternity care center and added a nine-bed neonatal intensive care unit, strengthening services for childbirth and seriously ill newborns.
Brand decisions
2017
Brand renamed Adventist Health BakersfieldStrategyBackground
The hospital had operated for decades as San Joaquin Community Hospital within the Adventist Health system.
Action taken
On July 5, 2017, the organization officially changed the hospital's name to Adventist Health Bakersfield.
Aftermath
The new name made the hospital's affiliation with Adventist Health more prominent while retaining its Bakersfield community identity.
2010
Purchase of Quest Imaging announcedM&ABackground
The hospital aimed to expand its outpatient diagnostic and imaging network.
Action taken
San Joaquin Community Hospital announced the purchase of Quest Imaging, an outpatient imaging provider.
Aftermath
The transaction broadened the medical campus's imaging offering and was followed by plans for another comprehensive imaging center.
2008
Launch of certified stroke servicesProduct launchBackground
The expanded patient tower created resources for higher-acuity services previously unavailable locally.
Action taken
The hospital opened a nationally certified stroke center.
Aftermath
The program received successive stroke-care performance awards and later Target: Stroke Honor Roll recognition.
2008
Partnership with Grossman Burn CentersProduct launchBackground
The hospital sought to broaden specialized care available to patients in Bakersfield and Kern County.
Action taken
San Joaquin Community Hospital announced a partnership that brought Grossman Burn Center services to the campus.
Aftermath
An outpatient clinic opened in 2009 and an inpatient burn intensive-care service opened in 2010.
2007
Campus modernization and patient-tower expansionStrategyBackground
The hospital required additional capacity and updated infrastructure for inpatient and specialty services.
Action taken
San Joaquin Community Hospital opened a 130,000-square-foot, five-story patient tower and began renovating the existing tower.
Aftermath
The project expanded emergency, intensive-care, surgical, maternity, and neonatal capacity and supported later specialty programs.
1987
San Joaquin Hospital joins Adventist HealthStrategyBackground
The hospital operated under Seventh-day Adventist management before becoming part of the Adventist Health system.
Action taken
The institution joined Adventist Health and adopted the San Joaquin Community Hospital name around the same period.
Aftermath
The Bakersfield facility developed within a larger nonprofit, faith-based healthcare network.
1964
Adventist Church management beginsStrategyBackground
After Joseph Smith, MD acquired the hospital, he sought management by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Action taken
The church began managing the hospital, establishing the institutional relationship that later connected the facility with Adventist Health.
Aftermath
The hospital subsequently joined Adventist Health in 1987.
Recent events
- 2017
San Joaquin Community Hospital adopts the Adventist Health Bakersfield name[1]
Leadership change
The hospital officially changed its name to Adventist Health Bakersfield, strengthening its visible alignment with the Adventist Health system.
- 2013
AIS Cancer Center and outpatient surgery center open[1]
Product launch
The medical campus expanded across the street from the main hospital with a cancer center, radiation and medical oncology services, and an outpatient surgery center.
- 2010
Quest Imaging becomes part of the hospital's medical campus network[1]
M&A
San Joaquin Community Hospital announced the purchase of Quest Imaging, an outpatient provider of MRI, CT, nuclear medicine, mammography, and related diagnostic services.
- 2008
Hospital establishes a nationally certified stroke center[1]
Other
San Joaquin Community Hospital introduced a nationally certified stroke center, expanding access to organized stroke evaluation and treatment in Kern County.
- 2008
Grossman Burn Center services arrive in Bakersfield[1]
Other
The hospital announced a partnership with Grossman Burn Centers, followed by the opening of an outpatient burn clinic and an inpatient burn intensive-care service.
- 2007
San Joaquin Community Hospital opens a major patient tower[1]
Other
A five-story, 130,000-square-foot patient tower expanded intensive care, emergency, operating, maternity, and neonatal capacity and began a broader modernization of the Bakersfield campus.
Sources1 sources
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