Adventist Health-Care Leaders Meet in Tokyo

The Northern Asia-Pacific Division (NSD) Presidents’ Council of the Adventist Health-care Association (AHCA) was held in Tokyo, Japan, October 4-6, 2022. About 30 Adventist hospital administrators, medical doctors, and department heads representing 11 member hospitals from the NSD, and one associate member, participated in the council.

AHCA is an organization based on the biblical principles of health and health care as amplified by Adventist Church co-founder Ellen G. White in her writings. The main goal of AHCA is to help the member health-care institutions provide excellent service and fulfill the mission of being an integral part of the proclamation of the everlasting gospel to the world, Adventist leaders said.

The group meeting in Japan consisted of 11 full members and one associate member: Adventist Medical Center, Eden Adventist Hospital, Hong Kong Adventist Hospitals (Stubbs Road and Tsuen Wan), Kobe Adventist Hospital, Sahmyook Adventist Dental Hospital, Sahmyook Medical Centers (Busan and Seoul), Taiwan Adventist Hospital, Tokyo Adventist Hospital, Yeosu Sanitarium Hospital; and the associate member, Penang Adventist Hospital.

NSD has held the AHCA Presidents’ Council every year but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual meeting was held online in 2020 and 2021. Tokyo Adventist Hospital president Toshihiro Nishino, and Taiwan Adventist Hospital president Huang Hui-Ting were re-elected as AHCA president and secretary in 2021.

For 2022, AHCA decided to hold the Presidents’ Council in person in Tokyo, Japan. Although the pandemic was still ongoing, God heard the leaders’ prayers and protected AHCA delegates attending the meetings in Tokyo.

One agenda item that had been approved from AHCA Extraordinary Presidents’ Council in March 2022 was a supporting fund for Mongolia Adventist AMOS Dental Clinic to purchase a medical device. The Mongolia Mission president had revealed the critical need of a panoramic X-ray machine for improving service quality at the AMOS Dental Clinic. AHCA was willing to support the health care mission in Mongolia, one of the countries included in the NSD. Providing this fund is the first step, and staff training and technology sharing will follow, leaders said. AHCA officers and members are planning to visit the AMOS Dental Clinic in 2023.

AHCA invited Lyndon Edwards, chief operating officer of Loma Linda University Health Hospitals, to give special lectures regarding the vision and quality of service of Loma Linda University hospitals. Edwards also talked about how Loma Linda met the great challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. He told impressive stories of doctors, nurses, and staff and their services to COVID patients. Attendees learned how Loma Linda focuses on the medical ministry mission and the goals of comprehensive health ministries. Loma Linda not only pursues the highest health-care service standards but also patients’ spiritual care as Jesus did.

One of the highlights of the meetings were the reports from each hospital. They gave thanks and glory to God for the blessings and honor they have received. Leaders shared their burdens and challenges in the past and how they pray and support each other. Most of the reports focused on the health mission and spiritual work in the hospitals as well as in nearby communities. All the delegates said they were blessed through the fellowship at the 2022 meetings.

The original version of this story was posted on the Northern Asia-Pacific Division news site.