The Story of our Health Message

A Successful Enterprise

The $40,000 necessary to secure the initial property in 1905 truly seemed to the few church members in southern California a formidable financial “river of difficulty.” Today the constituency of the entire Seventh-day Adventist Church stands back of the enterprise. SHM 403.4

Under the blessing of God Loma Linda University is a strong, thriving institution giving vigorous support to the great medical missionary program of the church. The self-sacrifice of thousands of enthusiastic believers that underlies this magnificent showing has been accompanied by God’s help in many financial perplexities and crises. SHM 403.5

At the beginning, overflowing “rivers of difficulty” threatened to make impossible the securing of such a rating for the prospective medical college as would enable its graduates to obtain legal recognition for the practice of medicine. But the work begun in faith was continued in faith. We have seen the hesitant recognition by the responsible boards, at first symbolized by the C rating, increased to B, and finally up to the highest standard, grade A. Today, of course, such institutions are designated as either accredited or not accredited. SHM 403.6

A period of some anxiety followed an announcement in 1934 that there was to be a resurvey of every medical school in the United States, looking to a large reduction in their number. But while colleges better known and more wealthy were either placed on probation or advised to close their doors, the College of Medical Evangelists was allowed to continue its work and was again awarded its accreditation as an A-grade school. The religious feature of the work, which some feared might be a handicap, counted in making a very favorable impression upon the members of the survey commission. SHM 404.1

Have the “rivers of difficulty” been crossed that led some in the early days to assert that it would be impossible to secure physicians, nurses, and other classes of helpers with qualifications to maintain another sanitarium, not to mention a fully staffed medical college? In the active service of Loma Linda University today are nearly 2,000 workers, including more than 350 doctors serving as full- or part-time instructors on the various university faculties. A number of these teachers, of course, are graduates of the university’s own schools. Specialized instruction at the university is further strengthened by the 800 physicians, dentists, and other professional persons who give of their time and talents in teaching without remuneration. SHM 404.2