The hospital is the only designated trauma center in northern San Diego County.

The hospital was renamed to Palomar Medical Center in 1987.

[2] It was known as Palomar Medical Center Downtown Escondido and housed psychiatric and rehabilitation wards.

From late 2021 to early 2022, the old hospital campus was slowly demolished and replaced by Palomar Heights in 2025, a mixed use/senior living/apartment complex.

To safely take down the building, heavy asbestos abatement was performed by workers as the building was built in the 1950s and contained asbestos insulation.