Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 14, 1912

Discussions at Loma Linda

“Loma Linda Laboratory,” Loma Linda, California

April 4, 1912

This manuscript is published in entirety in Medical Practice & the Educational Program at Loma Linda.

Advice to Loma Linda Board Regarding Work in Los Angeles 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 1

[See Ms 14a, 1912 for a more complete copy of the discussion] 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 2

(Among the many problems under consideration at this time by the Board of Managers, one was the advisability of building a clinical hospital at Loma Linda, and the question as to how much of the instruction of the students during the last two years of their course should be done in Los Angeles. Sister White had not been able for several days to take an active part in the councils of the brethren, and no one had given her a full and comprehensive statement of the plans under consideration. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 3

In the forenoon of April 4, as she was preparing for a drive, she asked me to go with her. During our drive I found that she was not only willing, but desirous that I should give her a comprehensive statement regarding the questions that were occupying the attention of the board. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 4

In the afternoon there was to be a meeting of the board, and she was requested to attend. She pled that she was not able to do this and consented to attend only on the condition that I should take the burden of stating to the brethren the facts regarding our interview of the morning and the advice she had given regarding the problems then discussed. W. C. White.) 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 5

W. C. White (standing by his mother’s side and speaking first to her): We have been trying to plan about the work for the future year, and we meet with many perplexities; and one of the most perplexing is the one that we were talking about on our drive this morning. If you have something to say to the brethren about it, they would be glad to hear it. If you wish me to repeat to the brethren our conversation first, I will endeavor to do so. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 6

E. G. White: I would prefer that you do that, since I have been putting my mind on something else. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 7

W. C. White: You can add to it, or correct me if I do not repeat the matter correctly. I will speak to the brethren and will try to speak so that you can hear. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 8

We were driving nearly an hour, and after getting well on the road, I asked Mother if she would like to have me tell her some of the main features of our council. She said she would. I asked her if she had heard the story of our boiler. She said, “No.” Then I told her briefly the story of the break in the boiler, of the way our brethren worked to lift it, of the necessity of having two new boilers so placed as to do the heating for the whole plant, and thus save in labor and fuel. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 9

The heating plant would cost not less than $12,000, and our brethren in council, those from the East and those here on the Pacific Coast, have said that this should be done. They also said that they thought we ought not to increase our indebtedness. We are now paying interest on thousands of dollars and have a debt of about $160,000, and they say we ought not to increase it and that we must raise the money for the improvements. When I had reached that point, Mother said, “Yes. That is the only way, the only right way.” 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 10

Then I told her briefly the story of our hospital plans. I spoke first of the necessity of medical students’ coming in contact with sick people before they go forth alone to take the lives of men and women in their hands. I spoke of the fact that there are hospitals connected with the larger medical colleges, and that the State licensing boards are demanding that those who ask for permission to practice medicine shall have an experience in dealing with sick people before they go out alone to bear responsibilities. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 11

Then I spoke of the various plans we had before us; that we had sometimes thought of erecting a large hospital and endeavoring to give our students all of this experience here, that sometimes we had planned to take them to Los Angeles and let them get their experience there, and that sometimes we had planned to do part of the work here and part in Los Angeles. 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 12

Mother spoke up very cheerfully and promptly and said that that was the better way to do—part of the work here, and part in Los Angeles. Then I spoke at some length of the advantages of getting part of the experience here and part in Los Angeles, and she repeatedly spoke her approval of that plan. I told her that we had at one time considered a plan for a hospital that would call for $30,000, but our brethren felt that they could not go to the people now and ask for so large an amount; therefore we had planned to raise and expend $15,000, and that regarding this as other monies, our brethren said that we must raise the money before we expend it. Again Mother said, “That is the right plan.” 25LtMs, Ms 14, 1912, par. 13