An
Adventist-affiliated psychiatric hospital in South Africa has celebrated its 30th
anniversary with VIP guests, 300 bottles of sparkling grape juice, and gifts of
olive oil.
The Vista
Clinic, located just south of the capital, Pretoria, was founded by Dr. Japie
Vermaak in 1984 in response to a suicide that occurred as the
result of a lack of beds at a state psychiatric hospital in Pretoria.
Today,
Vista Clinic has 158 beds, making it one of the largest private psychiatric
hospitals in southern Africa.
The guest
roster at the Sept. 10 celebration at a local hotel included the mayor; the top
local public health official; Dr. Peter Landless,
chairman of the clinic’s board of trustees and director of the Adventist world
church’s Health Ministries department; and Kandus Thorpe, vice president
of the Hope television channel.
The
guests received olive oil products branded for the 30-year celebration.
“One
of the great symbols in the Bible is the symbol of olives, which symbolizes
life, renewal, resilience, and peace, while olive oil symbolizes purity,
protection, health and light,” the clinic said in a statement. “Vista Clinic
associates with these characteristics.”
For the
event, the clinic purchased 300 bottles of juice from Ashton Cellars, which
donates a portion of every sale to Meals on Wheels, an Adventist-run food
program.
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