Adventist Health Portland (formerly Portland Adventist Medical Center), is a 302-bed hospital serving 900,000 residents on the east side of the

Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsbo ...

in the United States.Annual Report 2008
It is the primary

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-located ...

of the Walla Walla University Nursing program.

History

In 1893, Lewis Belknap, M.D., headed west from Michigan where he had been a student at Dr. Harvey Kellogg's

Battle Creek Sanitarium The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a world-renowned health resort in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. It started in 1866 on health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and from 1876 to 1943 was managed by Dr. John H ...

, intending to start a similar sanitarium on the West Coast. He arrived in Portland, Oregon penniless after having been robbed while in San Francisco. An Adventist minister by the name of Starbuck lent him the first month's rent for small house where Belknap set up a medical practice. Along with his wife, he operated a six patient facility on East Twelfth St. in Portland. The couple soon relocated to the Reed Mansion, which provided them with 20 patient beds, a surgical ward, office, kitchen and dining room. The stable was re-modeled into treatment rooms and a nurse's dormitory and in 1896, the Belknaps moved from the area and the

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

(SDA) church obtained the facility. The church added a two-year nurses training program and formed a

health food A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy. A health ...

company in 1897. In 1902, the need for expansion relocated the sanitarium to the base of Mt. Tabor. There a four-story wood building provided for 75 patients and was easily accessible from the train station a few blocks away. William Holden, M.D., joined the staff in 1903 and soon took the position of medical director, which he would hold till his death in 1955. It was under his direction that the hospital transitioned from a long-term care facility to a surgical/medical facility. In the late 1920s the fire marshal condemned the top two floors of the Mt. Tabor facilities' building because it did not meet fire code. Rather than operate in limited quarters, the hospital board decided to raze the building and rebuild. It was closed on September 21, 1920, and reconstruction on the original site was completed in the spring of 1922. This modern facility was equipped with private rooms that had hot and cold running water, the first of its kind in Oregon. Dr. Holden performed the first surgery, an emergency appendectomy, on April 21, 1922, while painters and plasterers were still working the interior. Two years after the new building was completed, more space was needed. A nurse's dormitory was added in 1928 and two new wings in 1949 and 1964. Adventist Health Portland

During the 1950s and 1960s new additions were made including training programs in medical technology, radiological technology, practical nursing and a pediatrics department. In the mid-1960s it was determined that expansion and relocation was again necessary. A lack of funds prompted the hospital board to turn to the public for support. The $2.5 million expansion also received aid from federal grants and the

church. Administrators purchased the Glendover Golf Course planning to reserve for the hospital and redesigning the remaining land into a 27-hole championship golf course and driving range. Controversy over this plan arose resulting in the county purchasing the land back from the hospital and a new site was purchased on SE Market Street. During the construction plans, the desire to be linked with other denominational health care facilities prompted Adventist Medical Center (AMC), as it was now known, to join

Adventist Health Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 80 communities on the West Coast and in Hawaii. Founded on Seventh-day Adventist heritage and values, Adventist Health provides care in hospitals, clinics, ...

on February 8, 1973. Groundbreaking for the new hospital took place in 1974 at the site of the former Morningside Hospital. A physician's office building opened in 1976 followed by the hospitals grand-opening in 1977. "Operation Keep Step," consisting of eleven ambulances and five wheelchair cars transferred all patients, equipment and staff without seriously disrupting hospital services. AMC moved 204 beds to the new facility immediately while 72 remained at the Mt. Tabor site until the north wing was completed the following year. In 1978, the construction of a residence hall and classroom building for the Walla Walla College School of Nursing completed the hospital

References

External links

* {{authority control Hospitals in Portland, Oregon Hospital buildings completed in 1902 Adventist Health 1893 establishments in Oregon