it’s about reaching the whole person. Our employees are an integral part of that through our CREATION Health initiatives.” Along with these events, Metroplex offers free fitness and health-related classes and free and income-based immunizations year-round.
A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY Walton and his staff are celebrating a major milestone this year for Metroplex and its lead organization, Adventist Health System, as 2016 marks 150 years of Adventist health care. Walton said the story started in 1866 when a small group of Seventh-day Adventists set out to reform the health care system as they knew it. Many of the common medical treatments at the time would be considered barbaric in today’s society. Doctors forced ill patients to lie in dark, stuffy rooms and made health tonics using ingredients considered harmful today. Walton said the aspiring reformers knew there had to be a better way to care for the sick and opened the first Seventhday Adventist health care institution, The Health Reform Institute in Battle Creek, Mich. Medical Director John Harvey Kellogg led the institute that was later known as the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Under his guidance, the facility grew and even attracted such notable patients as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Amelia Earhart. This was the start of the Adventist Health System, which today serves more than 4.5
The Health Reform Institute was the first health facility built by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1866 in Battle Creek, Mich. It was later renamed Battle Creek Sanitarium.
million patients every year and manages 45 hospitals across the country, including Metroplex. The health care traditions that began in those early days live on today Kellogg at Metroplex and through the Adventist Health System. Both institutions put an emphasis on treating the whole person, rather than an ailment, just as Kellogg did a century and a half
The care provided at the Health Reform Institute in the late 19th century differed from common practices of the day. 40
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ago. Kellogg focused on the importance of exercise, nutrition and diet, leading him to invent Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Today Metroplex has found its own way to promote an array of wellness principles, including nutrition and fitness, through its CREATION Health initiative. For Metroplex’s CEO and president, it’s all about fulfilling a higher calling. “If you read the Bible, Jesus spent a whole lot more time healing people than he did preaching to them,” Walton said. “So for us, part of the (anniversary} celebration is reaffirming for our employees and our community that we are here to make a difference.” Walton said there are some fun anniversary-related activities planned for Metroplex employees. Metroplex will also send a newsletter to the community to make people aware of this special occasion. Walton said as a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, this milestone is of particular importance to him. “We really see (this anniversary) as a blessing from God and a call to be who we are,” he said. “Our mission statement as a system at Metroplex is six simple, but powerful words: extending the healing ministry of Christ.” Continued