Our Father who art in Los Angeles

I'm sitting in a small guest office room in the administrative suite of the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, CA at the moment. As a member of the Operating Board of this historical Adventist hospital for the past 18 months I have been learning anew why Adventist health care remains "the right arm of the church."

In my past life, I've served as a hospital chaplain, board member, ethics committee member, and visited scores of members over my ministry in hospitals. My mother-in-law is a nurse, my wife has worked in physicians offices, hospitals, at Adventist Health headquarters, and is in health care consulting today. And my children both are employed at Glendale Adventist Medical Center today.

So, I know a bit about Adventist hospitals.

But something simple moved me today. That simple something reminded me why we do this health care thing all around the world as well in a needy area in East Los Angeles.

At Noon I joined the Medical Executive Committee at the White for their meeting. As a board member I was invited at a previous meeting and really wanted to take them up on their offer. The physicians heading each hospital medical department were gathered around a very plain set of tables next to the cafeteria. The President of the Medical Staff opened the meeting. Food was sitting nearby ready to eat. And then, very matter-of-factly and obviously as a natural part of every meeting the President of the Staff said, "Let's begin with prayer."

Now, at church meetings this is quite expected. We're all Seventh-day Adventists. Most of the circles I sit in these days, we're all administrative leaders. So praying is just a normal agenda item.

But today I was looking at the circle that was ready to pray. Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Jewish, and the non-religious together at this table bowed their heads as the prayer began, "Our Father in heaven...." What followed was a beautifully simple and earnest prayer from the chair of the OB-GYN department. My heart was touched. These are men and women who want to help people fine health and they have come to an Adventist Hospital that leads them to pray together as the everyday mission of extending the caring of Jesus is administered to a community that needs us.

I'm getting ready to head to the Operating Board Meeting now. We'll talk about safety, hear budget reports, and yes...start with prayer. Prayer. It's not just for church anymore! It's for everyday life in a hospital that ministers to others in Jesus name. Amen!

White Memorial Hospital

January 14 brought together the members of the Operating Board of the Ellen G. White Memorial Hospital located in the heart of East Los Angeles.

Along with the other board members, I was pleased to be present to honor a pioneer of Adventist hospital work in the Pacific Union--Mr. Frank Duper. Since 1974, Mr. Duper has been a member of this Board as well as serving as President of Adventist Health from 1981 to 1998. It was the passing of an era, really, to see Frank Duper humbly accept the tokens of esteem from the Board as he retired from its service on this day. He shared a heart-felt testimony to the Lord's leading in "The White's" history and left each of us with a sense of the struggles and victories that came through his experience as a praying president.



Our discussions also were framed around the realities written in the January 14, 2009 LA Times which included the following:

• "Hospitals across California and the country are reeling from the effects of the economic downturn and the troubled financial markets.


• Two-thirds of hospitals nationwide report experiencing a decline since July (2008) in elective procedures, which tend to be profit centers...Overall admissions also are down at more than a third of hospitals, reversing a long upward trend.


• With mounting job losses, more people without insurance are going without regular medical care until crises hit. That's adding to emergency room demand. In California, a third of hospitals report experiencing a rise in the number of uninsured patients in emergency rooms since the downturn began."

A related report from the California Hospital Association on January 7, 2009 shows a 73% increase in consumers having difficulty paying their out-of-pocket health care costs, and a 33% increase in uninsured patients visiting hospital emergency rooms.

This is the challenging environment that the church--both in its health care institutions and its local congregations--finds itself as we seek to bring the love and healing of Jesus amid difficult times.