Swiss Adventist Clinic Opens New Health Center

By: Corrado Cozzi, Inter-European Division News & Adventist Review

A Seventh-day Adventist-operated clinic in Switzerland recently inaugurated a new medical and therapeutic center to promote the health message of the church, said leaders. La Lignière Clinic, located in Gland, officially opened the new facilities in a special ceremony on June 23.

La Lignière CEO Nicolas Walter welcomed participants to the inauguration, a milestone in the history of the clinic. “This project was born, above all, from the desire to seek and develop our activity, especially in the field of outpatient care,” he said.

The new center inauguration was attended by people from the medical as well as economic and administrative contexts of the region. Head of Public Health Stéphanie Monod, and Gland “First Citizen” Gérald Cretegny were present as representatives of local and regional health institutions.

President of the Administrative Board of La Lignière SA Mario Brito was the keynote speaker during the ceremony. “Today we thank and recognize the efforts to open this modern center while respecting the initial project,” he said.

La Lignière includes facilities that want to be anchored in the arc Lemanique region, said leaders. It wants to be close to the population and offer them excellent care.

“Faithful to the history of La Lignière, we have shown, once again…proof of a pioneering spirit with the opening of this medical and therapeutic center,” said Walter. “There is not yet a similar model, to the best of our knowledge.”

The new medical and therapeutic center offers therapeutic rehabilitation in cardiology, diabetology, and neurology, as well as orthopedic and rheumatological rehabilitation. It also provides occupational therapy, neuropsychology and logopedic therapy, physiotherapy, along with nutrition and dietetics for internal medicine, and pain therapy.

At the inauguration, participants were impressed by the building’s bright architecture and its beautiful design, which “inspires peace and serenity,” according to one of the institution’s physicians.

Leaders emphasized that key to institutional development is remaining faithful to the tradition and values held for over 110 years—a biological, psychosocial and spiritual approach to the patient, in agreement with the health mission advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. “The institutions are faithful to the mission of care modeled by Jesus, and to the heritage of the spirit of the pioneers who built the campus, including Dr. Perry Alfred De Forest, a disciple of John Harvey Kellogg,” they said.