Humankindness is always near.

Greater Sacramento’s largest hospital system.

At Dignity Health, we’ve grown alongside you and your family for generations with an unparalleled commitment to the health of our community. As the largest hospital system in Greater Sacramento, you’re never far from award-winning care, delivered by a team who believes in the healing power of humankindness.

• Mercy General Hospital (East Sacramento)

• Mercy Hospital of Folsom (Folsom)

• Mercy San Juan Medical Center (Carmichael)

• Methodist Hospital of Sacramento (South Sacramento)

• Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital (Grass Valley)

• Woodland Memorial Hospital (Woodland) of Broken Dream is a sadder, more desperate place today.

We’re proud to have served as your health partner for decades. And we’re honored to continue supporting you in all the years to come. Learn more about us at DignityHealth.org/Sacramento.

Broadway has always known bums. In 1980, the Volunteers of America Public Inebriate Center was a metal building at the foot of Miller Park. Cops hauled winos there. When they dried out, derelicts wandered down the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Decades before 1980, Broadway was called Y Street. It was the city limits. In 1910, Ed Kripp built a gambling hall and baseball stadium at 11th and Y—Riverside and Broadway. Buffalo Park, eventually named Edmonds Field, rose atop the city’s first garbage dump.

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams was never Easy Street. Nobody can tell me it’s aged well.

R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento. n