(Adventist Health Care Association). The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s health-care work in the United States, including 60 acute-care hospitals, plus nursing homes, retirement centers, home health agencies, medical offices, walk-in clinics, and many other related activities and diversified businesses.
The first SDA health-care facility opened in 1866 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Founders of the young Seventh-day Adventist denomination saw the need for a health-care work that emphasized physical, mental, and spiritual wholeness. The center stressed prevention as well as scientific treatment of disease.
By the turn of the century, additional SDA health-care facilities were established across the United States and abroad, creating a need for trained medical workers. To meet this need, the church established a training center in Loma Linda, California, in 1905. ( See Loma Linda University .)
Health care changed dramatically with the introduction of vaccines, antibiotics, and other medical advances. Health insurance and Medicare brought even more changes in the health-care delivery system. By the mid-1970s the church had formed five regional organizations to manage its health-care work. A system organization gave the church’s hospitals the corporate strength of a larger organization’s resources and expertise.
A national organization was formed in 1982. The union of five SDA health-care corporations into Adventist Health System/United States (AHS/US) created the largest not-for-profit multiinstitutional health-care system in the country. Donald W. Welch was president of AHS/US from 1982 to 1991.
The system was reorganized in 1991 with regional systems operating independently of a national corporation.
In 1993 the church’s health-care work in the United States was operated by nine regional corporations. These corporations and the hospitals in each follows. (Some have separate entries in the Encyclopedia .)
Adventist Health System/Loma Linda, Inc. (est. 1982), Loma Linda, Calif.: Barstow Community Hospital (50 beds), Barstow, Calif.; Loma Linda Community Hospital (120 beds), Loma Linda, Calif.; Loma Linda University Medical Center (546 beds), Loma Linda, Calif.
Adventist Health System/Sunbelt Health Care Corporation (est. 1973), Orlando, Fla.: Central Texas Medical Center (109 beds), San Marcos, Tex.; East Pasco Medical Center (85 beds), Zephyrhills, Fla.; Florida Hospital (1,462 beds) with campuses in Altamonte Springs, Apopka, East Orlando, Kissimmee, and Orlando, Fla.; Florida Hospital/Waterman (182 beds), Eustis, Fla.; Gordon Hospital (65 beds), Calhoun, Ga.; Highland Hospital (48 beds), Portland, Tenn.; Huguley Memorial Medical Center (185 beds), Fort Worth, Tex.; Jellico Community Hospital (50 beds), Jellico, Tenn.; Lake Placid Medical Center (50 beds), Lake Placid, Fla.; Medical Center Hospital (200 beds), Punta Gorda, Fla.; Memorial Hospital (63 beds), Manchester, Ky.; Metroplex Hospital (78 beds), Killeen, Tex.; Park Ridge Hospital (103 beds), Fletcher, N.C.; Rollins Brook Community Hospital (36 beds), Lampasas, Tex.; Sierra Vista Hospital (34 beds), Truth or Consequences, N.Mex.; Smyrna Hospital (100 beds), Smyrna, Ga.; Takoma Adventist Hospital (115 beds), Greeneville, Tenn.; Tennessee Christian Medical Center (307 beds), Madison, Tenn.; Walker Memorial Medical Center (101 beds), Avon Park, Fla.; Walker Memorial Medical Center/Wauchula (50 beds).
Adventist Health System/West (est. 1980), Roseville, Calif.: Castle Medical Center (160 beds), Kailua, Hawaii; Feather River Hospital (121 beds), Paradise, Calif.; Hanford Community Medical Center (54 beds), Hanford, Calif.; Monument Valley Hospital (20 beds), Monument Valley, Utah; Paradise Valley Hospital (228 beds), National City, Calif.; Portland Adventist Medical Center (302 beds), Portland, Oreg.; St. Helena Hospital and Health Center (188 beds), Deer Park, Calif.; San Joaquin Community Hospital (178 beds), Bakersfield, Calif.; Sonora Community Hospital (143 beds), Sonora, Calif.; Southern California Healthcare Network-Glendale Adventist Medical Center (464 beds), Glendale, Simi Valley Hospital and Health Care Services (215 beds), Simi Valley, and White Memorial Medical Center (377 beds), Los Angeles; Tillamook County General Hospital (49 beds), Tillamook, Oreg.; Ukiah Valley Medical Center (116 beds), Ukiah, Calif.; Walla Walla General Hospital (72 beds), Walla Walla, Wash.
Adventist Healthcare Mid-Atlantic Corporation (est. 1989), Rockville, Md.: Hackettstown Community Hospital (106 beds), Hackettstown, N.J.; Reading Rehabilitation Hospital (90 beds), Reading, Pa.; Shady Grove Adventist Hospital (253 beds), Rockville, Md.; Washington Adventist Hospital (300 beds), Takoma Park, Md.
Atlantic Adventist Healthcare Corporation (est. 1991), Stoneham, Mass.: Fuller Memorial Hospital (82 beds), South Attleboro, Mass.; New England Memorial Hospital (191 beds), Stoneham, Mass.
Hinsdale Health System (est. 1990), Hinsdale, Ill.: Chippewa Valley Hospital (30 beds) and Oak View Care Center (60 beds), Durand, Wisconsin; Glen Oaks Medical Center (186 beds), Glendale Heights, Ill.; Hinsdale Hospital (459 beds), Hinsdale, Ill.
Kettering Adventist Healthcare (est. 1982), Kettering, Ohio: Kettering Memorial Hospital (503 beds), Kettering, Ohio; Sycamore Hospital (191 beds), Miamisburg, Ohio.
Midwest Adventist Health Services Corporation (est. 1990), Shawnee Mission, Kans.: Moberly Regional Medical Center (120 beds), Moberly, Mo.; Shawnee Mission Medical Center (383 beds), Shawnee Mission, Kans.
Rocky Mountain Adventist Healthcare (est. 1990), Denver, Colo.: Avista Hospital (50 beds), Louisville, Colo.; Littleton Hospital (105 beds), Littleton, Colo.; Platte Valley Medical Center (58 beds), Brighton, Colo.; Porter Memorial Hospital (368 beds), Denver, Colo.