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Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center main building.

Photo courtesy of Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center Archives, accessed on November 3, 2020, https://bit.ly/2TNVbfF.

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Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center

By Lucas Vítor Alves Rodrigues Sena

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Lucas Vítor Alves Rodrigues Sena

First Published: January 5, 2022

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The Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center (Centro Adventista Vida Sana de Misiones or CAVS of Misiones) was a health unit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church located in the ecclesiastical territory of the Argentina Union Conference from 1995 to 2019. While it was in operation, its headquarters was located on Provincial Route, 225 (Russia Ave.) and Los Pioneros, zip code 3315, in the town of Villa Libertad, department of Leandro N. Alem, in the province of Misiones, Argentine Republic.1

The Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center offered a health program based on natural treatments.2 The CAVS of Misiones promoted activities to combat diseases such as work-related stress, eating disorders, obesity, smoking, and cardiovascular diseases. At the end of its activities in 2019, it had 30 beds to carry out its services.3

Developments that Led to the Establishment of the Institution

The preaching of the Adventist message in the Misiones region began around 1906, when some Adventist families from the city of Ijuí, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the extreme south of Brazil, settled in the village of Picada Rusa (presently called Villa Libertad), near Leandro N. Alem. At that time, there were already Adventist believers in the regions near Misiones, such as Posadas. However, the Adventists who were arriving from Ijuí did not have any contact with the Adventist members in Posadas.4 Gradually, other Adventist families from the various parts of the south of Brazil settled in the vicinity of Misiones. In 1923, these Adventist families established the “Sabbath School” (presently known as “Instituto Superior Adventista de Misiones” [Misiones Adventist College] - ISAM), under the direction of Pastor Juan Wedekamper.5

A few decades later, in 1962, the South American Division began to explore the possibilities of expanding the Adventist presence in the Misiones region. The plans involved establishing an Adventist hospital in Misiones, a short distance from the North Argentine Academy (Instituto Juan Bautista Alberdi or IJBA, presently known as ISAM), in Villa Libertad. That same year, the Adventist community of Villa Libertad, inspired by the example of Pastor Benoní Cayrus at the Hohenau Adventist Sanitarium, decided to build a hospital. The North Argentine Academy management supported the project and the leaders of Villa Libertad found 33 hectares of land, which would be used for the construction of the Sanitarium, about 700 meters from the IJBA. The value of that land was 800,000 pesos (c. US$ 6,900 at the time).6 In three days, the Adventist community obtained the necessary resources.7

On January 6, 1963, the community of Villa Libertad handed over that property to the care of the Austral Union Conference (presently Argentina Union Conference). In 1965, the cornerstone of the main building of the new North Argentine Sanitarium (Sanatorio Adventista del Noreste Argentino or SANA) was laid. However, it was not until 1972 that the Sanatorium began its operation, with 35 beds and under the direction of R. K. Noltze.8 At the end of 1979, the SANA experienced successful growth in ambulatory care and already had 56 beds, having performed more than 10,500 consultations in that year.9

Establishment of the Institution

The North Argentine Sanitarium, located on Leandro N. Alem, soon became a prominent medical institution in the province of Misiones,10 having received various renowned individuals from Argentina for treatment at its facilities. The medical institution grew and, by the 1990s, SANA had 70 beds – the double of what it had when it began operating.11 As a result of these advances, in 1995, the Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center began its activities as a branch of SANA, offering natural treatments for physical and psychological illnesses.12 Since that beginning, the CAVS of Misiones mission was to offer a comprehensive aid program to improve the lifestyle of people.13

However, in that same decade (1990), the institution went through a severe financial crisis that caused a reduction in care and the number of beds. From 70 in 1990, the number of beds in SANA dropped to 44 in 2002.14 The severe economic recession in the land affected not only this Adventist institution but the entire private health system in Argentina. As a result, the Austral Union Conference decided to close the Sanitarium on June 10, 2004. The CAVS would begin to use and manage the Sanitarium facilities.15

History of the Institution

In the following years, the Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center gained national prominence. Numerous personalities from politics and other areas of the Argentine society (such as the former President Eduardo Duhalde) visited the Center to enjoy its natural treatments. One factor that contributed to the success of the medical unit at this time was the inclusion of advertisements on television sports programs during the 2006 Soccer World Cup period.16

The operation of the CAVS also boosted the local economy, generating many jobs for the population of Villa Libertad and Leandro N. Alem. The good situation lasted until 2015 when financial problems returned due to the economic crisis and the severe recession that affected Argentina.17 However, with divine blessings, the Adventist institution continued to operate even in the midst of difficulties until December 15, 2019, when it ended its activities.18

Historical Role of the Institution

The CAVS of Misiones left a great legacy for the region, not only in the health area but also in the economic area. This institution was the second Adventist healthy living center to be created in Argentina. For a long time, the CAVS used firewood and other products produced in Villa Libertad and Leandro N. Alem, generating income for the local population. Thus, innumerable families in the region lived directly or indirectly from the work carried out in the health unit. The CAVS was also one of the main attractions of the province of Misiones.19

However, more than the economy and the jobs generated by the institution, the CAVS had a great spiritual influence in that region, bringing the gospel to the people of Argentina. When the Center was closed, several media in the region reported that the end of the activities of the healthy life center touched a large part of the population, who felt that the Healthy Life was part of their homes and their own families.20

List of Directors

Walter Romero (2003-2005); Daniel Torres (2006-2008); Ariel Bauducco (2009-2013); Alejandro Cesano (2013-2019).21

Sources

Annual Statistical Report. Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1990‎.

Billetes Argentinos [Argentine Notes]. http://www.billetesargentinos.com.ar/.

“Comunicado oficial por el cierre del Centro Adventista Vida Sana de Alem” [Official announcement for the closure of the Alem Healthy Life Adventist Center]. Reporte Misiones [Misiones Report] (Online), December 15, 2019.

Durán, Alba Isabela. Misiones y Leandro N. Alem: síntesis histórica, desde la conquista española hasta la actualidad [Misiones and Leandro N. Alem: historical synthesis, from the Spanish conquest to the present]. Buenos Aires: Dunken, 2005.

“El tradicional centro médico Vida Sana de Alem cierra y deja sin trabajo a 25 familias” [Alem’s traditional Healthy Life Center closes and leaves 25 families without work]. Noticias del 6 [News from 6] (Online), December 13, 2019.

Greenleaf, Floyd. A land of hope: the growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America. Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 2011.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. Misioneros en Sudamérica: Pioneros del adventismo en Latinoamérica [Missionaries in South America: Pioneers of Adventism in the Latin America]. Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 2013.

Plenc, Daniel Oscar. “Raúl Roberto Álvarez. IJBA, Hogar de mis recuerdos: Orígenes y presente, 1ª ed” [Raúl Roberto Álvarez. IJBA, Home of my memories: Origins and present, 1st ed.]. Revista Enfoques [Focus Review] 31, no. 2 (July-December 2019).

“¿Por qué cierra sus puertas Vida Sana?” [Why does Healthy Life Center close its doors?]. Alem News (Online), December 14, 2019.

“Propietarios del SANA ratifican el cierre del servicio de internación” [SANA owners ratify the closure of the hospitalization service]. Misiones OnLine (Online), June 24, 2004.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Vida Spa [Spa Life]. https://www.vidaspa.com.ar/.

Notes

  1. “Northeast Argentine Sanitarium,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 617-618.↩

  2. “There are eight general principles of how to develop and maintain a better life in the physical, emotional and spiritual scope. For the adventists, according to Romans 12:1 and 2, the quality of life should not be sought only to obtain longevity or the momentary well-being, but on behalf of a correct relation between the creature and the Creator and Originator of the life.” Seventh- Day Adventist Church (Argentina) Website, “¿Cuáles son los 8 remedios naturales y para qué sirven?” [Which are the eight natural remedies and for what they serve?] accessed on July 17, 2020, https://bit.ly/2Co57XX.↩

  3. Vida Spa [Spa Life] “Centro Adventista Vida Sana” [Healthy Life Adventist Center], accessed on October 13, 2020, https://bit.ly/3iWQSJ5.↩

  4. Daniel Oscar Plenc, Misioneros en Sudamérica: Pioneros del adventismo en Latinoamérica [Missionaries in South America: Pioneers of Adventism in the Latin America] (Florida, Buenos Aires: South American Spanish Publishing House, 2013), 60.↩

  5. Daniel Oscar Plenc, “Raúl Roberto Álvarez. IJBA, Hogar de mis recuerdos: Orígenes y presente, 1ª ed.” [Raúl Roberto Álvarez. IJBA, Home of my memories: Origins and present, 1st ed.]. Revista Enfoques [Focus Review] 31, no. 2 (July-December 2019): 122.↩

  6. Billetes Argentinos [Argentine Notes], “Cotización histórica de monedas argentinas” [Historical quotation of Argentine coins], accessed on November 4, 2020, https://bit.ly/3jXzdBB.↩

  7. Alba Isabela Durán, Misiones y Leandro N. Alem: síntesis histórica, desde la conquista española hasta la actualidad [Misiones and Leandro N. Alem: historical synthesis, from the Spanish conquest to the present] (Buenos Aires: Dunken, 2005), 237-239.↩

  8. “North Argentine Sanitarium,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1973-1974), 384.↩

  9. Floyd Greenleaf, A land of hope: the growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in South America (Tatuí, SP: Brazil Publishing House, 2011), 534.↩

  10. ‘Northeast Argentine Sanitarium,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996), 495.↩

  11. “Health-Care Institutions: Northeast Argentine Sanitarium,” Annual Statistical Report (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1990), 37.↩

  12. “El tradicional centro médico Vida Sana de Alem cierra y deja sin trabajo a 25 familias” [Alem’s traditional Healthy Life Adventist Center closes and leaves 25 families without work], Noticias del 6 [News from 6], December 13, 2019, accessed on October 15, 2020, https://bit.ly/2SDnnkw.↩

  13. “Comunicado oficial por el cierre del Centro Adventista Vida Sana de Alem” [Official announcement for the closure of the Alem Healthy Life Adventist Center], Reporte Misiones [Misiones Report], December 15, 2019, accessed on October 15, 2020, https://bit.ly/31bJ7ca.↩

  14. “Northeast Argentine Sanitarium,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2002), 529.↩

  15. “Propietarios del SANA ratifican el cierre del servicio de internación” [SANA owners ratify the closure of the hospitalization service], Misiones OnLine, June 24, 2004, accessed on October 13, 2020, https://bit.ly/311XZcO.↩

  16. “¿Por qué cierra sus puertas Vida Sana?” [Why does Healthy Life Center close its doors?], Alem News, December 14, 2019, accessed on October 13, 2020, https://bit.ly/3oSxYar.↩

  17. Ibid.↩

  18. “Comunicado oficial por el cierre del Centro Adventista Vida Sana de Alem” [Official announcement for the closure of the Alem Healthy Life Adventist Center], Reporte Misiones [Misiones Report], December 15, 2019, accessed on October 15, 2020, https://bit.ly/31bJ7ca.↩

  19. Ibid.↩

  20. “El tradicional centro médico Vida Sana de Alem cierra y deja sin trabajo a 25 familias” [Alem’s traditional Healthy Life Center closes and leaves 25 families without work], Noticias del 6 [News from 6], December 13, 2019, accessed on October 15, 2020, https://bit.ly/2SDnnkw.↩

  21. “Northeast Argentine Sanitarium: Healthy Living Adventist Center (Centro Adventista de Vida Sana, SANA),” Seventh-day Adventist Online Yearbook, accessed on November 4, 2020, https://bit.ly/2JuGzzK; “Northeast Argentine Sanitarium,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2004), 545; “Northeast Argentine Sanitarium,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 617-618. For more information of all the leaders of the Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center, see the Yearbooks of 2004 to 2019.↩

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Sena, Lucas Vítor Alves Rodrigues. "Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 05, 2022. Accessed November 27, 2024. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HIYP.

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Sena, Lucas Vítor Alves Rodrigues. "Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. January 05, 2022. Date of access November 27, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HIYP.

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Sena, Lucas Vítor Alves Rodrigues (2022, January 05). Missiones Healthy Life Adventist Center. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved November 27, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=HIYP.

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