Eden Adventist Hospital

Eden Adventist Hospital (aka. Eden Yoyang Byungwon) is a medical institution established by the Korean Union Conference in 2001 to achieve preventive healthcare and medical missionary work. This hospital, located in 160, Biryong-ro 1782beon-gil, Sudong-myeon, Namyangju-si, is an integrated cancer treatment hospital with 195 beds and eight medical departments. It was established with the vision of “World's Best Hospital for Lifestyle Medicine” under the mission of “Cure, Mission, and Education with Love.”

Developments That Led to Establishment of the Institution

With the new millennium ahead, the medical environment in South Korea demanded the establishment of a nursing hospital. It was raised by frequent cases of medical law regulations such as reducing government subsidies if hospitalized for a certain period of time, even though the patient's high hospitalization cost and the patient's medical treatment are more needed in general hospitals, and discharge of patients before recovery. Even though there were a lot of nursing homes at that time, the doctor did not reside, and the patient's recovery was slowed down. Therefore, as the need for long-term care hospitals, which are difficult to do in general hospitals, has emerged, the establishment of the medical law has been legislated.¹

The Korean Adventist Church, which started medical missionary work in 1908, started the nursing hospital project in the mid-1990s. The first year the Korean Union Conference (KUC) established a professional nursing hospital was in 1996. In this year, Deokyu New Start Nursing Home and Yocheon New Start Health Center were opened. In 1997 the two institutions combined to open the Yeosu (Jangsoo) New Start Sanitarium and Hospital.² This nursing home was too far away from the metropolitan area. Therefore, the Korean Federation pushed for the establishment of a specialized nursing hospital in the heavily populated metropolitan area.

Founding of the Institution

In June 1998 KUC purchased a site at 449,724 m² of 44-1 Nebang-ri, in Sudong-myeon, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. In September 1999 the hospital building was built on the first basement floor of five floors, 10,850 m² of building floor space, 209 beds in 61 rooms in the ward.³ In January 2001 Il-Kwon Yang took office as the first director and decided to name the hospital as Eden Adventist Hospital (EAH) and had a grand opening worship service. On July 3, 2001, the EAH opened with departments of family medicine, internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, and rehabilitation medicine. In November 2002 the staff resident building (18 households, 1,294 m²) was completed.⁴

Eden Adventist Hospital (EAH) has set the following specific goals according to its founding ideology and purpose; firstly, by applying modern medicine and life-medicine in a balanced manner, EAH cures and helps the patients to heal their disease in body and mind naturally (Treatment Mission). Secondly, EAH operates chaplains and its church, and reaches out to the patients and their family members with the gospel of eternal life to salvation through spiritual treatment (Mission Work). Thirdly, health education, based on the Adventist health messages given by God to the patients and their families about the rehabilitation treatment, not only the prevention of the disease, cancer, but also the recurrence is prevented (Education Mission). This knowledge offers knowledge on rehabilitation and prevention for disease.

History of the Institution

In April 2003 Dr. Jong-Ki Park was appointed as the second director of the EAH. In December that year, the hospital was granted permission to separate nursing wards from senior wards and changed the number of beds from 209 to 198. In February 2004 the X-Ray camera was installed, and the number of patients enrolled was 200.⁵ Since its opening in 2001, EAH has baptized 383 patients over the three years until 2004. In addition, EAH has been reported on TV programs in Korea several times, as it is known as a hospital for holistic treatment, which combines modern medicine with natural treatment.⁶

In March 2006 the hospital began construction with a basement floor and four floors with 2,297 m² of building floor space and 150 beds. In May 2007 the new building was designated as an elderly ward and was changed to 280 beds. In June and September 2007, two high-frequency thermotherapy devices were set up from Germany to help patients.⁷

In December 2009 Dr. Jong-Ki Park was retained as the third director of the hospital.⁸ In July 2012 Korean traditional medicine was added to medical departments. In November an electronic medical record (EMR) was installed. In December the hospital was allowed to change to have 196 beds. In April 2013 another building for the elderly (Silver Town) was constructed having a camp dormitory and a guest room, and 1,151 m² in size was completed within a year.⁹

In December 2015 Dr. Nam-Hyuk Kim took office as the fourth director of the hospital.¹⁰ It was granted a change to 193 beds. In May 2016 the Gilerad Prayer Garden was established, and in April 2017 it was provided a sunbath, and in March 2018 EAH is located at 339, 379, 381-1, 380-5 Naebang-ri, Sudong-myeon, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do and purchased land with 3,520.5㎡ from Sahmyook University. In November 2018 the clinical laboratory was allowed to expand; in November 2018 the hospital changed to 196 beds.¹¹

EAH achieved excellent results in March 2017 in an assessment of the adequacy of nursing hospitals conducted by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. Of the 1229 nursing hospitals, only 202 (16.4 percent) received first-class grades, including EAH. In particular, EAH received excellent reviews at both the level of professional staffing and the level of healthcare services.¹² With this recognition, EAH developed into a specialized nursing hospital that accommodates more than five thousand hospitalized patients each year.

In 2018 EAH sought to develop the hospital as a specialization strategy. Under the motto of "patient-centered, holistic care," EAH has secured competitiveness with specialized policies and medical services such as natural treatment hospitals, integrated treatment hospitals, lifestyle correction hospitals, and diet hospitals. In addition, EAH operated “cancer wards” for cancer patients, “elderly wards” for the elderly, “evergreen center” for social welfare, and “life style training center” for missionary education. The program resulted in more than forty thousand participants a year.¹³

Historical Role of the Institution

The EAH is established to contribute patient-centered treatment and missionary work and education through the medical mission project to practice the love of Jesus Christ. The purpose of this institution is to contribute to the health and happy life of all. With the vision of “World’s Best Living Medicine Specialized Hospital,” it has a mission that “Treats missionary work with love and educates.”

To complete this mission and vision, four strategies of hospital-specifics were developed that combine the eight treatment principles of NEWSTART: Firstly, as a natural treatment hospital, it creates a walkway in natural environment and provides natural-friendly natural treatment such as foot bath, massage, and charcoal pack treatment. Secondly, as a hospital specializing in integrated treatment, the medical institution provides complementary treatments such as immune promotion, high-frequency thermal cancer treatment, anti-cancer immune cells, light healing pads, light and wave therapy, etc. Thirdly, as a lifestyle hospital, it provides laughter therapy, stretching that removes depression and instills positive mind, removes stress, and focuses on treatment. Finally, as a diet therapy practice hospital, it provides nutrition counseling, vegetarian cooking lessons, and hospitals directly grew vegetables supplied with organic vegetables treated through diet.

The EAH, as an Adventist Church medical institution, has faithfully played its role and mission in several areas over the past two decades. Firstly, in this era when the role of nursing hospitals is becoming important in Korea, which has entered an aging society, it has been in charge of health-promotion projects as a professional medical institution. Secondly, EAH has become a central institution in the holistic treatment through natural treatment and is faithful in promoting the excellence of health messages in Adventism. Third, EAH also plays a major role in the missionary work to save souls through medical projects. In particular, the Lifestyle Training Institute has provided a “New Start Camp for the seekers” and a “Detox Camp” to support the missionary work of local churches. In addition, it has conducted volunteer work for overseas mission every year and has conducted free medical services in India, Russia, Mongolia, Kenya, and the Philippines.

Outlook

In June 2020 EAH formed a Future Development Strategy Committee to explore management strategies for the post-corona era. The Strategic Committee has drawn up 100 detailed implementation tasks in six areas and developed a plan to address them. The plan also included four urgent tasks to be addressed: maintaining the institution's identity, preparing for post-corona era, preparing for the third-cycle certification assessment, and increasing health care satisfaction.¹⁴

In reflection on its history, the above four tasks are very important. EAH, as a medical institution of the Korean Adventist Church, should focus on the identity and mission pursued by the Adventist Church, but its identity is challenged a lot in a society where technological humanism is accelerating. Social change caused by Corona 19, which has driven the world into a pandemic situation, poses a big challenge to all sectors of society. This challenge is no exception to EAH. As a medical institution, EAH should not only do its best to prevent infectious diseases but also come up with strategies to meet the hospital's mission in line with the changed environment. As EAH received the first grade in the first and second cycles of certification assessments, it should do its best to receive the first grade in this third cycle assessment. And hospital facilities and medical staff should be expanded to increase satisfaction with health care.

Ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the hospital's establishment, EAH is committed to addressing the above challenges and becoming a more advanced hospital. As of 2020, EAH has 103 staff members, including five medical doctors dedicated to hospital development.¹⁵ The EAH has 73 wards for senior citizens and general cancer and 196 beds. The hospital’s total income is aimed at 10.4 billion won ($1.25 million), with an average of 165 patients per day and 84 percent for the operation rate of the hospital beds.¹⁶ Eden Adventist Hospital seeks to achieve that fundamental purpose of holistic physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing for humanity as revealed in the Bible.

List of Directors

Il-Kwon Yang (2001-2003); Jong-Ki Park (2003-2015); Nam-Hyuk Kim (2016- ).

Sources

Church Address Book of Korean Union Conference. Seoul: Korean Union Conference, 2021.

Kim, Jin Soo, et al. A Study on the Establishment of the Role of Nursing Hospitals and Nursing Facilities: Focusing on the Linkage Plan. Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 2013.

Korean Adventist News Center. https://www.adventist.or.kr/. July 2, 2004; May 3, 2007; December 14, 2009; December 24, 2015; December 10, 2017; December 4, 2018; December 2, 2019; July 15, 2020.

Minutes of the 31^st General Meeting of Korean Union Conference, 2000. Korean Union Conference archives, Dongdaemun-ku, Seoul, South Korea.

Minutes of the 32^nd General Meeting of Korean Union Conference, 2005. Korean Union Conference archives, Dongdaemun-ku, Seoul, South Korea.

Minutes of the 35^th General Meeting of Korean Union Conference, 2015. Korean Union Conference archives, Dongdaemun-ku, Seoul, South Korea.

Minutes of the 36^th General Meeting of Korean Union Conference, 2020. Korean Union Conference archives, Dongdaemun-ku, Seoul, South Korea.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1998.

Notes

1. Jin Soo Kim, et al., A Study on the Establishment of the Role of Nursing Hospitals and Nursing Facilities: Focusing on the Linkage Plan (Seoul: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 2013), 54.↩

2. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1998).↩

3. Minutes of the 31^st General Meeting of Korean Union Conference (Seoul: Korean Union Conference, 2000).↩

4. Minutes of the 32^nd General Meeting of Korean Union Conference (Seoul: Korean Union Conference, 2005).↩

5. Ibid.↩

6. Korean Adventist News Center, July 2, 2004. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=25&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=1848.↩

7. Korean Adventist News Center, May 3, 2007. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=18&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=3342.↩

8. Korean Adventist News Center, December 14, 2009. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=14&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=4499.↩

9. Minutes of the 35th General Meeting of Korean Union Conference (Seoul: Korean Union Conference, 2015).↩

10. Korean Adventist News Center, December 24, 2015. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=6&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=7263.↩

11. Minutes of the 36th General Meeting of Korean Union Conference (Seoul: Korean Union Conference, 2020).↩

12. Korean Adventist News Center, December 10, 2017. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=4&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=8367.↩

13. Korean Adventist News Center, December 4, 2018. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=4&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=8933.↩

14. Korean Adventist News Center, July 15, 2020. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=2&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=9986.↩

15. Church Address Book of Korean Union Conference (Seoul: Korean Union Conference, 2021), 68, 69.↩

16. Korean Adventist News Center, December 2, 2019. http://www.adventist.or.kr/app/view.php?id=News&page=3&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&keyword=%BF%A1%B5%A7%BF%E4%BE%E7&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=9558.↩