The billboards depict a doctor, in clown makeup, who looks more likely to yell at kids than cure them.

Not exactly the image administrators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles want associated with them -- even if it's unintentional.

Billboards and bus stop ads have sprouted up all over Los Angeles, advertising "Childrens Hospital," the Adult Swim cable TV show of the same name, not the medical facility on Sunset Boulevard.

Administrators at the hospital have issued a memo to staff members assuring them that the promotions for the show are not part of a hospital advertising campaign gone awry.

The show's clown, which features a doctor in bloody scrubs, is played by the show's creator, Rob Corddry. In its fourth year, the series is seen locally Thursdays at midnight on the Cartoon Network.

Producers of "Childrens Hospital" could not be reached for comment late Monday.

Hospital Vice President DeAnn Marshall's memo notes that "people are questioning whether the ads are part of the ongoing CHLA branding campaign." They're not, she stressed, adding, "If friends, family or other members of the community raise the issue, please assure them we are not affiliated with the show or its advertisements."

Marshall noted that the TV show title does not use an apostrophe in the word "childrens." Two years ago, the real hospital added the punctuation to its name; originally it lacked one because the symbol was missing from the typewriter used when the hospital was incorporated in 1901, she said.

And people in clown costumes and makeup are not allowed in Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

"We do observe a no-clown policy because they can be scary for some kids," Marshall said.

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-- Bob Pool