September 14, 2019

Washington Adventist Hospital Has a New Name and a New Home

by

Adventist Review News

By: Adventist Review News

After more than 100 years in Takoma Park, a city on the northern edge of Washington DC, Washington Adventist Hospital has relocated to Silver Spring, Maryland and has been renamed Adventist Healthcare White Oak Medical Center.

“While this 112-year old hospital is leaving Takoma Park,” said Terry Forde, CEO and president of the Adventist Healthcare system, “the historical and divinely inspired call to serve our country for miles and miles around Washington DC continues today.”

The formal move to the new hospital location took place on August 25, 2019, although the transition — and the construction of the new US$400 million medical center — has been in the works for a few years.

Prior to making the transition to the new campus, Adventist Healthcare leaders organized an onsite dedication service on August 8, 2019, that brought healthcare and Adventist Church leaders together with community leaders. Many of those who spoke at the service emphasized Providential leading throughout the project.

“This hospital is going to do magnificent things,” said Adventist Healthcare executive vice president and chief operating officer John Sackett. Sackett emphasized, however, “I don’t want us to ever get to the point where we forget” how God led and blessed the process.

“We celebrate today not what we have accomplished but what God has done,” said Ann Roda, Adventist Healthcare vice president for Mission Integration and Spiritual Care. “We gather together to praise the One who created the world we live in; who has enabled the space we minister from, who establishes the purposes of our call and defines the mission we commit to.”

Dave Weigley, president of the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and Adventist Healthcare board chair, summarized the sentiments expressed by quoting Ellen White, a co-founder of the Adventist Church. At the turn of the 20th century, White donated proceeds from her book The Ministry of Healing to assist with the construction of Washington Sanitarium, the precursor of Washington Adventist Hospital.

“It’s not the capabilities that you now possess or ever will that will bring you success, but it’s that which God can do for you,” Weigley quoted.

Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the Adventist Church, also spoke at the service, highlighting his personal history with the hospital. He was born at Washington Adventist Hospital and later served as a chaplain there. Wilson emphasized the hospital’s legacy and its impact in the community.

Elsewhere on the web: Below is a collection of articles and images associated with the new White Oak Medical Center.