Hospital Looks for a Winning Name : Health: Medical center’s contest is part of an effort to revitalize its image. More than 300 entries, many in jest, were submitted, with trip to Hawaii the grand prize.

A contest to rename Palmdale’s only hospital has produced more than 300 entries, including some that say the center should pay tribute to the area’s distinctive vegetation or its aerospace pioneers.

One entrant, however, believes the hospital should honor a celebrity whose ties to the Antelope Valley are unclear--unless he’s living locally under an assumed name. If that’s the case, should Palmdale become the home of “Elvis Presley Memorial Hospital”?

That suggestion and a few other entries, such as “A Stitch in Time Medical Center,” were apparently submitted in jest. But administrators at Palmdale Hospital Medical Center insist that their efforts to remake the facility and give it a new name are dead serious.

“Palmdale Hospital has basically been in, I guess ‘turmoil’ would be a good way to put it, for the past several years,” said Carol Fryer, its public relations director. “This will be a way of letting the community know we’re committed to the community and want them to have a first-class hospital.”

The hospital, which opened as the 49-bed Swam Memorial Hospital in 1965, grew to become Palmdale General Hospital, then the 123-bed Palmdale Hospital Medical Center. The hospital’s future became uncertain, however, when its last owner, Affiliated Medical Enterprises, went bankrupt.

The Palmdale facility was purchased last year by Paracelsus Healthcare Corp., which also owns nearby Lancaster Community Hospital. Since the purchase, Paracelsus has cut the staffing and converted some double rooms to singles, reducing the number of hospital beds to 97.

But Fryer said the company also has done extensive remodeling and is promoting specialized services such as an alternative birthing center and a mental health program.

In conjunction with this, the hospital announced a contest last month to propose a new name. Employees were eligible to enter, but most suggestions came from the public, Fryer said. The winner will receive a weeklong trip for two to Hawaii.

Among the 341 entries received were several references to the local landscape, including “Joshua Tree Community Hospital” and “Desert Breeze Community Hospital.” The person who proposed “Neil Armstrong Medical Center,” preferred to emphasize the region’s aerospace history.

Today, a seven-member committee from the hospital staff will trim the entries to five finalists. Corporate officials will then make the final choice.

Almost a sure bet to lose is “San Andreas Community Hospital,” a reference to the earthquake fault near Palmdale.

Fryer pointed out that earthquakes “are a fact of life in California. But I don’t think you’d want to highlight it.”