Heritage Snapshot: Part 248

LOMA LINDA>> In 2009, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, China, signed a memorandum of understanding with Hangzhou Municipal Health Bureau to provide consultation, planning, training, management and medical expertise for the proposed 1,200 bed Xiasha Hospital, also in Hangzhou. It opened about 10 miles away in September 2013. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital’s long-term relationship with Loma Linda University Health was a benefit perceived by the Hangzhou Health Bureau. The new hospital will be managed by Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital for 20 years. As a result of The China project’s success, the model Loma Linda University Health has developed with Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital may be expanded to other hospitals in the People’s Republic of China, and even into other countries. “Loma Linda is always looking for opportunities to serve and make a difference in the health and wholeness of people around the world,” Dr. Gerald R. Winslow, PhD, a vice-president of LLUMC. The model that Loma Linda developed in China opens new possibilities because potential participants can see the successes, and become inspired to become involved. Friendships that have developed over the years have enriched lives and resulted in mutually immeasurable joy and even wisdom as participants have learned from each other as professional health-care colleagues. The relationship of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, China, to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in China has been almost continuous during the life of the project. While the government knows that Loma Linda University represents the Seventh-day Adventist Church and follows its teachings, Loma Linda personnel have sought to be very circumspect in how they carry out their mission at the hospital. They have always tried to follow the rules in China, which forbid expatriate proselytizing or evangelizing. Winslow tells of unexpected results that came from Loma Linda’s collaboration with Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital. On one occasion, appreciation was expressed to an audience of about 400 department heads following his presentation on culture creation at a participating 1,400-bed regional hospital. Comments made by the hospital’s chief executive officer, a radiologist, summed up Winslow’s talk: “You should understand,” he said, “they do this because of their God.” Loma Linda representatives looked at each other in surprise. Winslow hadn’t said that. The CEO did. These remarks were seen as remarkable evidence that the administrator caught the underlying meaning of Loma Linda’s commitment. Later, in that same hospital, its executive team met with the delegation from Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital led by a surgeon, who at the time happened to be the undersecretary of the Communist Party. The man gave quite a speech explaining how Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital had come to a position of preeminence in the People’s Republic of China only because of the generosity of Loma Linda. “We’ve been able to do this because they gave freely to us and the important thing,” he said, “is they came here and they helped us and they never asked for anything back.” These unsolicited comments were seen as a wonderful affirmation of the relationship Loma Linda University Health has developed with The China Project. And then he added, “Because of their generosity we have come to share the same kind of generosity with you.” It was a very touching moment for Loma Linda representatives. In a March 2, 2005 letter, Dr. He Chao, MD, then President of SRRSH, thanked Loma Linda University Medical Center administration for the courtesy and hospitality shown him at that time. “This trip to Loma Linda,” he said,” has strongly increased my confidence in and given me inspiration for further institutional developments as well as the achievement of our strategic plan. We appreciated your high recognition and comments to the achievements we have made. We have every confidence that under your leadership the future China Project will be strengthened even further.” The unique international partnership between Loma Linda University and Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital became evident as Chinese government officials and health-care leaders invited global health experts to celebrate the hospital’s 15th anniversary in Hangzhou, China, on April 28 and 29, 2009. Health-care leaders from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, and the United States listened as Loma Linda University Health was extolled for its pioneering role in helping SRRSH develop from a brand new facility with a young staff — characterized by openness to Western health-care ideas and methods of delivery — into one of the premier hospitals of Asia in just 15 years. It was, as many of the speakers emphasized, nothing less than remarkable. Dr. He, the energetic and visionary president of SRRSH noted, “We have a Chinese saying: ‘When you drink water, think of its source.’ I think our hospital’s achievements could not have happened without the support of Loma Linda University. Here, I want to express my appreciation.” When Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital opened in May 1994, leaders and staff were optimistic that with the involvement and support of Loma Linda University, their new hospital would serve as an educational center and role model for other Chinese hospitals. Today, the 1,200-bed hospital oversees the education and training of thousands of Chinese health professionals, and is considered to be the most advanced hospital in all of China. It is the reason the Hangzhou Municipal Health Bureau asked Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital to help plan and then manage the new 1,200 bed Xiasha Hospital for the first 20 years.