A FEW months ago one of our health-care leaders asked for suggestions that could be used to identify our hospitals as truly Seventh-day Adventist institutions. This was a welcome re quest, for I join our committed administrators in desiring to see our hospitals and other health-care units truly representative of the remnant church. There should be some things that are very distinctive, that will impress the visitor that here is not just another hospital here is a Seventh-day Adventist hospital! It is a Christian hospital. It is different. It majors in tender loving care, rendered with professional excellence.
Although I have never been a hospital administrator, my close association with our hospitals in various countries over many years has impressed some things upon my mind that may prove helpful. My readers who are health-care workers, board chairmen, board members, or friends of our institutions will have more suggestions, I am sure.
First, I like to see all Seventh-day Adventist health-care institutions identified as such. A visitor or a passer-by should know when he is close enough to read that here is a hospital, a medical center, or a nursing home that is operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The institution is not only church oriented—it is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is making its service available to the community. Personally, I like to see the full name Seventh-day Adventist appear on the sign in front of the institution. The "Beauty-city" Adventist Hospital is good, but I like to see some place on the sign a statement that includes "Seventh-day Adventist Church." There are other Adventists who are not Seventh-day Adventists. We are justifiably proud of our health-care institutions. Let us not hesitate to proclaim to all who pass by, those who step inside to visit or to patronize our hospitals and medical centers, that here, indeed, is a Seventh-day Adventist institution.
When visitors enter our health-care institutions they should be impressed with its truly Christian atmosphere, as well as its professional and efficient operations. Some hospitals achieve this by strategically placed pictures of Christ healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, cleansing the leper, or some other appropriate pictures. These should be representative works of art and should be so placed as to fit naturally into the lobby decor.
In at least two hospitals I have visited recently I was pleased to see attractively prepared world maps with lighted bulbs locating health-care institutions operated by Seventh-day Adventists in many lands. Appropriate wording ex plains the maps. I noticed that visitors were interested in these displays. All who entered these lobbies knew immediately that they were in a Seventh-day Adventist institution.
Representative Receptionists
Of prime import, in my thinking, is to have representative receptionists meeting the public. Many visitors will judge Seventh-day Adventists by the people whom they first meet in a Seventh-day Adventist setting. It is preferable to have committed Seventh-day Adventists serving in this capacity—members who truly represent the basics of our faith, both in appearance and in attitude. If the receptionists are not Seventh-day Adventists, they should be persons with attractive Christian personalities and demeanor—well acquainted with the standards of our church and willing to uphold these standards.
When I speak of receptionists I have reference to their attitudes and their behavior, as well as their Christian dress and adornment. They should be warm, outgoing Christians. A smile, the assurance of a desire to be helpful—that they are there to serve and not just to fill a job—is of utmost importance. Your institution will be judged to some extent by the person or persons with whom the public comes in contact. Be certain they don't let you down.
If there are chairs, divans, or other seating arrangements in the lobbies, I like to see appropriate well-tended literature racks with carefully selected books and papers for waiting visitors to read. In some lobbies and offices I find popular news journals and other literature, quite acceptable in themselves for secular offices and even acceptable in our Seventh-day Adventist offices, but they should not be the exclusive option of the visitor. We need to have message literature available. Seventh-day Adventists publish some of the most attractive literature in the world. We need not be ashamed of it. Let us make it available to all who enter our healthcare buildings.
Throughout the various departments of your institution may be appropriate reminders that a Seventh-day Adventist hospital is different, that it is an institution operated by Christian personnel on Christian principles.
"I like to have appropriate pictures placed in strategic points in the hospital," the administrator of one of our fine health-care plants explained recently as he showed me through the various departments. "Friends and former patients have donated these pictures you see in different areas."
I was pleased. He had not overdone the picture project, making the institution an art gallery, but he had well-chosen pictures in appropriate places.
In one of our large hospitals where I was spending the weekend recently, I noticed a little card on my first meal tray. It was standing up on the tray, so my first sight revealed a silhouette of Jesus and these lines by Matheson:
"O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be."
On the reverse side of the card I found the following helpful lines: "As a Seventh-day Adventist hospital, the San embraces the healing ministry of Christ, caring for the whole man by ministering to his spiritual, physical, and mental needs. Playing a vital role in meeting these objectives is the chaplaincy department, with the fol lowing abbreviated list of organized services:
"For each of our patients we place an inspirational book Steps to Christ in the drawer of the bedside table. This is your own personal copy for you to read and take home with you. In addition, you will also find a Bible in the same drawer, and other religious and devotional reading material in the lounges throughout the hospital.
"The chaplain is always available for personal counseling and prayer. Either call him directly at extension 466 or ask a nurse to call him for you. He will also be happy to contact your personal pas tor, who is welcome to visit at any time.
"Provided for our patients is a tape recorder and cassettes on religious topics. If you would like these items brought to your room, please call the chaplain's department at extension 466 or ask one of the nurses to make the call for you.
"Morning worship services are held each day at 7:40 A.M. for patients, on the first floor of the hospital building, and special Saturday morning worship services on both the second and third floors.
"We would like to invite you and your family and friends to worship on Saturday morning at the Seventh-day Adventist Tabernacle, located on the corner of Washington and Van Buren Streets. Bible study classes meet between 9:30 and 10:40 A.M., and the worship service between 11 A.M. and noon."
It seems to me these lines sum up very well what we are seeking to convey to our friends and patients who visit our health-care institutions.
I like this little tray card—it reminded me the first thing, Here is a hospital that is different. Here is an institution that is operated by Christians who care. Without being offensive they have offered a spiritual ministry for all who wish some help. I hope many more of our institutions will try the tray cards if they are not already using them.
No doubt, there are many other suggestions that could be made that would be helpful in identifying our fine Seventh-day Adventist health institutions as places where the best in Christian service abounds. Nothing, of course, will take the place of committed Christlike workers in every department to impress patients and visitors with the fact that here is a Seventh-day Adventist institution and that our health-care service is, indeed, different.
