In 1926, he became superintendent of the Los Angeles Sanatorium, a free treatment center run by the Jewish Consumptive Relief Association in Duarte, California.

He found work at a picture frame factory, and became sympathetic to the socialist movement because of the harassing methods used by some employers.

[2] In 1920, Golter traveled to Eastern Europe as part of a relief mission, spending 2 years working with victims of the First World War.

[5] In 1932, faced with the Great Depression and a large institutional debt, Golter took on the job of Executive Director with the goal of revitalizing the sanatorium.

[3] Travelling nationwide, he focused on three constituencies and encouraged them to form groups in support of the sanatorium: upper class women ("Auxiliaries"), young people ("Juniors"), and trade unions.

[8] The humanitarian principles underlying the sanatorium were deeply important to Golter, who worked to ensure that it was a democratic, non-sectarian institution.

Our functional program which was dedicated to the saving and prolonging of human life would serve man's physical self, and personal participation in furthering that humanitarian objective would fortify and strengthen his spiritual self.

[6]Golter's book, The City of Hope, published in 1954, combined information about his personal life and the institution, explicitly examining his experience of persecution as a Jew, and the ways in which he felt that influenced his ideals and achievements.