Health Care

San Luis Obispo is a nationally recognized hub of health care excellence, serving all of the Central Coast with superior regional medical facilities and well trained providers of all types.

The city is home to two major private hospitals, plus urgent care facilities, health maintenance and community health care centers, as well as assisted living communities. In San Luis Obispo, it’s clear that medicine means business. 

Here are some local providers of health care and health-related services:


For a full list of health care providers in the area, click here.

French Hospital Medical Center

French Hospital Medical Center is a 112-bed provider of acute care that offers a wide range of medical and surgical services, including ambulatory services and 24-hour emergency care.

French Hospital Medical Center is renowned for its cardiac services, and was recently named a Blue Distinction Center for Cardiac Care by Blue Shield of California. To date, only 433 facilities nationwide have received this designation.

For more then 60 years, French Hospital Medical Center has provided compassionate, quality health care to the community. Originally founded in 1946 by Dr. Edison French, the hospital continues to deliver compassionate, quality health care.

Today, the San Luis Obispo hospital offers a wide range of services to meet the growing needs of the community. The facility is a not-for-profit hospital that offers 24-hour emergency services, state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and a wide range of health care services.

Find French Hospital Medical Center at 1911 Johnson Ave. in San Luis Obispo or visit them at www.frenchmedicalcenter.org.

Sierra Vista    

Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center is the largest private employer in the City of San Luis Obispo and the second largest private employer in the County. The hospital is a 164-bed, acute-care provider of tertiary services that has been serving the Central Coast of California for the past 50 years.

Since that time the hospital has grown into a leading provider of high-level medical services in San Luis Obispo County and has added many advanced services as the community has grown and today houses the County’s only neurosurgery program, high risk pregnancy program, has the County’s only dedicated Pediatric Unit as well as the only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between Santa Barbara and Salinas.

The Birth Center at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center provides a comprehensive range of obstetric and infant services. The center includes labor-delivery-recovery (LDR) suites and a community-level newborn nursery. The hospital also offers comprehensive, patient-centered, family-oriented care for patients with cardiac disease, neurological disorders, orthopedic surgeries, spinal cord and brain injuries, stroke and arthritis.

As a tertiary referral center, Sierra Vista provides services that most other hospitals don’t and has five services that are exclusive in the county:

  • Neurosurgery
  • High Risk Pregnancy
  • 22-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (the only Level II NICU between Santa Barbara & Salinas)
  • The only dedicated Pediatric Unit in San Luis Obispo County
  • Trauma Services


Sierra Vista recently became the only hospital between Santa Barbara and Monterey to achieve Joint Commission Stroke Center accreditation. The hospital is also fully accredited by The Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.

Find Sierra Vista at 1010 Murray Ave. in San Luis Obispo or visit them at www.sierravistaregional.com.

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