B. Lyn Behrens President

Over the past 95 years Loma Linda University has established a reputation for partnering with local and world communities. Loma Linda graduates have traditionally gone where there is a need, seeing it as their special mission and opportunity to serve.

Founded nearly 100 years ago, Loma Linda University and Medical Center have developed from a small educational center and a fledgling hospital into a world-renowned medical center and the largest educational facility owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Since the last General Conference session in 1995, Loma Linda University and Medical Center have continued to grow and develop new partnerships in spite of some challenges.

Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center
Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center (LLUAHSC) was created in 1997, when the constituency of Adventist Health System—Loma Linda met and voted to change both its name and bylaws, making LLUAHSC the corporate member for the university, as well as the medical center.

Enrollment
During the past five years Loma Linda University’s enrollment has continued to increase. During the 1994-1995 academic year 3,012 students enrolled in the university’s six schools. This year, 3,416 students were enrolled. In the past 10 years Loma Linda University has seen an enrollment increase of nearly 1,000 students.

New Programs
Thirteen new programs have been added to the university’s curricula since 1995. Master’s degrees are now offered in clinical ministry, general psychology, experimental psychology, certified nurse practitioner, prosthodontics, geology, health information systems, occupational therapy, nutrition care management, and physician assistant. Doctoral degrees in social policy and social research, and marital and family therapy are now offered. In addition, a new bachelor’s degree in public health is now offered through our School of Public Health. Of course, Loma Linda continues to offer numerous master’s and doctoral degrees through the Schools of Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, and the Graduate School.

Accreditation
In 1998 Loma Linda University received the 10-year maximum accreditation for our programs from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

New Facilities
Loma Linda University and Medical Center have been blessed during the past five years with partnerships with alumni and friends of the institution. New facilities include the Coleman and Chan Shun pavilions and the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center. In addition to hosting many on-campus activities, the Wong Kerlee International Conference Center has provided accommodations for international conferences, including the Annual Council meetings of the General Conference in 1997.

Overseas Heart Surgery Team
Loma Linda continues to partner with the world divisions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In the fall of 1995 the Loma Linda University Overseas Heart Surgery Team under the direction of Joan Coggin, M.D., M.P.H., LLUAHSC vice president for global outreach, traveled to Myanmar. Subsequent trips were made by the team to North Korea in 1996, and to the Penang Adventist Hospital in Malaysia in 1999.

International Outreach
Loma Linda University and Medical Center are active partners with many church entities around the world. University Graduate School faculty members have presented lectures at many of our Adventist institutions of higher education. A cooperative effort between the School of Allied Health Professions and West China University of Medical Sciences to assist in the development of the first school of allied health professions in the People’s Republic of China is now under way.

More than 50 graduates who received Loma Linda degrees from the School of Allied Health Professions respiratory therapy program in Saudi Arabia are now working in various capacities throughout that country.

Faculty members from the School of Dentistry have held continuing education courses in each of the church’s world divisions throughout the past five years.

Working with the General Conference, the School of Nursing has begun the Global Partnerships in Nursing Project, creating a strong interactive network so that Adventist nurses worldwide will share nursing knowledge and expertise. Thus far, School of Nursing faculty members have made site visits and held seminars around the world.

The School of Public Health has just initiated a master’s degree in public health at the University of Eastern Africa—Baraton in western Kenya. Approximately 60 students from across Africa are now enrolled in this program.

School of Medicine faculty have served as consultants in many countries in addition to giving numerous continuing education lectures, and providing short-term medical assistance to numerous Adventist hospitals.

Loma Linda University and Medical Center continue to provide staff and support services for the 400-bed Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China. Sir Run Run Shaw, a Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist, recently asked Loma Linda to partner with him in another hospital in China. This request is now under study.

Faculty members from Loma Linda University headed by G. Gordon Hadley, M.D., dean emeritus of the School of Medicine, and Dr. Coggin, with Michael Ryan of the General Conference Office of Global Mission, and Denzil McNeilus, visited Afghanistan in 1999, surveying specific areas of need for potential assistance in medical teaching. Dr. Hadley has made several trips to Afghanistan since then to initiate a teaching program in pathology and start the development of a clinical laboratory.

Students for International Mission Service (SIMS)
Each year LLU offers students the opportunity to participate in short-term mission service in countries outside the United States. During the past five years, approximately 1,500 students have taken the opportunity to partner with other institutions through this unique program. Each month students travel to El Hongo and Ensenada, located in Baja California, Mexico, to participate in local worship services on Sabbath and to conduct dental and medical clinics on Sunday.

Adventist Health International (AHI)
This new organization, cosponsored by Loma Linda University, was launched to provide consultation, training, management guidance, equipment, and support for struggling mission hospitals and rural health services. Currently Adventist Health International is aiding Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia, and Davis Memorial Clinic and Hospital in Guyana. Seven new countries have officially requested to join AHI, including Cameroon, Haiti, Madagascar, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Infant Heart Transplant Program
No other medical center program has gained more worldwide attention than the infant heart transplant program. Since July of 1995, 47 infants under the age of 6 months (as of April 1, 2000) have been transplanted, making a total of more than 200 since the program began in 1985. Approximately 80 percent of these infants are alive. The oldest of these children will celebrate his fifteenth birthday in November.

Virtual University
Loma Linda is now offering a number of classes through its distance learning program. Regular classes are held via live interactive video conferencing with Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, and with an off-campus occupational therapist assistant program in Fresno, California. Other programs are in the planning stages.

Media Attention
During the past five years, Loma Linda University and Medical Center have appeared in approximately 50,000 separate news stories in the United States and Canada. During the past 10 years it is estimated that Loma Linda has received $1.3 billion (if purchased) worth of newspaper, radio, and television time.

Fund-raising Activities
LLU, LLUMC, LLU Children’s Hospital, and LLU Community Medical Center have received $88,174,035 in various types of gifts during the past quinquennium.

LLUMC Accreditation Visit
Loma Linda University Medical Center ranked among the top 10 percent of hospitals during its scheduled accreditation review by the Joint Commission on Accreditation for Healthcare Organizations.

Financial challenges
Loma Linda University Medical Center, as with all other teaching hospitals throughout the United States, faced serious financial challenges during the past few years. I am happy to report that Loma Linda has met these challenges and is operating at a gain.

As we enter the new millennium, we solicit your prayers and partnership in the Lord’s work.