STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
El Centro Community Hospital has been awarded a certificate of accreditation by the nationwide Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals, which certified the hospital “meets high standards of patient care, is progress-minded and is constantly striving to improve its services.”
Hospital Administrator William E. Smikahl was notified yesterday by the commission’s Chicago office that the hospital was accredited as of Aug. 14. The certification is valid for three years. The joint commission which grants accreditation certificates after a detailed personal inspection is composed of four national medical and hospital organizations: the American College of Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association.
40 years ago
Veteran film actor Ray Milland and television star Peter Graves arrived in Imperial County Tuesday on their way to Baja California, where the two men begin work today in a new motion picture. The fulllength film, titled “Spree,” is being shot entirely on location 15 miles west of Mexicali. The joint Mexican-American production is expected to be completed “in four to five weeks.”
Graves, the fair-haired leader of the invincible “Mission: Impossible” team, which captivated television audience for several seasons, arrive at Imperial County airport shortly after 1:30 p.m.
Milland did not do as well in his attempt to arrive on the same flight. The 1945 Oscar winner (“Lost Weekend”) missed the flight while waiting to be paged at a Los Angeles International Airport coffee shop.
30 years ago
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday issued notice that Sunbeam Lake Development Co. was in default of its lease on county property after the developers gave supervisors everything they asked for last week.
The action, which gives the developers 30 days to clear its default or vacate the property, followed a closed session during which supervisors talked to two of the three partners in the project.
Tuesday’s action came after the developers presented a letter from a new lender interested in making a $35 million loan on the project; the developers listed property they are selling to raise cash for the project and subcontractors said they wanted to wait to see if the company would meet its offer to pay 20 percent of what was owned by Sept. 15.
20 years ago
Twelve years ago the Sheriff’s Office dive team was behind the times — undertaking operations in some of the most hazardous waters on the continent in equipment that was antiquated at best. These days, the sheriff’s Underwater Search and Recovery Unit are nationally recognized as one of the leaders in its field, in possession of some of the latest equipment and most experienced personnel.
On Wednesday team members got to show the world what they’ve learned in those 12 years.
A crew from “SeaTek,” The Learning Channel show that focuses on scuba diving, was in the Valley filming the unit for an episode to be aired later this year. What drew SeaTek’s producer here was the treacherous nature of what the team must do and the hightech way they do it.
“As far as I have researched, no one else has to dive in these conditions,” Wendy Wolman, the show’s producer, said. “It’s amazing to me that you have people who do this and have to do this.”