Originally a tuberculosis sanatorium, Barlow Respiratory Hospital is a long-term acute care facility and a regional weaning center in Los Angeles that specializes in weaning chronically critically ill patients from mechanical ventilation and also treats respiratory diseases and related secondary ailments.

The Barlow team of health care professional helps patients previously unable to be liberated or "weaned" from the ventilator at other hospitals.

Patients are guided through a step-by-step method, implemented and monitored by respiratory care practitioners, to recover independent breathing.

[3] Led by board-certified physicians, the Barlow team provides care for chronically critically ill patients.

[5] The multi-phased plan, which began in 2018, includes a major seismic upgrade and brings a long-planned hospital expansion and modernization project to fruition.

Barlow has served as a teaching hospital for medical students at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and as a clinical training site for respiratory therapy, nursing, physical, occupational, speech therapy and clinical nutrition allied health professionals.

The sanatorium was founded on 25 acres (10 ha) of meadowland next to the city-owned Elysian Park on Chavez Ravine Road.

The location seemed ideal because the surrounding configuration of hills provided for clean air and the neighboring Elysian Park seemed to insure against any future development.

Originally tuberculosis patients lived in tent cottages in order to be exposed to free flowing air.

Because of this the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Red Cross built and furnished four four-room cottages for military patients, some of which are still in use today.

This was funded by the Barlow Guild, a large group of ex-patients dedicated to philanthropy, and the Guildhouse opened in April of that year.

After an extensive renovation the Guild House reopened in 2021 as adaptive reuse of a historically significant building to serve as administrative offices and communications hub.

In 2018, the hospital announced a Master Plan to ReBuild Barlow including a seismic reinforcement of the existing historic facility.