Community Medical Centers has a long history of serving the health-care needs of the people who live in central California. Although Community exists today as an integrated system of facilities and services, our roots extend to the turn of the century and the compassion and vision of one woman – Celia Burnett. In 1897, Burnett opened a boardinghouse for men who had left their families in search of fortune in the West. These travelers often became ill, and Burnett nursed them back to health. As word of Burnett's boardinghouse spread, a group of Fresno physicians joined forces with her to found a private, for-profit hospital – the beginning of the Community Medical Centers legacy.