World Church: LLU Medical Center Changes Lives Worldwide, CEO Says

Although widely known in Seventh-day Adventist Church circles as the flagship denominational healthcare institution, many church members may not know how far reaching the influence of Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) actually is, Ruthita Fike,

Loma Linda, California, United States | Mark A. Kellner/ANN

Although based in Loma Linda, California, the Loma Linda Medical Center has influenced about 70 countries.

Although based in Loma Linda, California, the Loma Linda Medical Center has influenced about 70 countries.

Although widely known in Seventh-day Adventist Church circles as the flagship denominational healthcare institution, many church members may not know how far-reaching the influence of Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) actually is, Ruthita Fike, its chief executive officer of just over 14 months, says.

“I don’t believe that I understood—and my impression is that others may not understand—how many different ways that Loma Linda supports worldwide healthcare improvement,” Fike, who is also executive vice president for hospital affairs of the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center, said in a telephone interview. “This organization has influenced 70 or 80 countries that we can count ... in very significant ways. Lives have been changed by Loma Linda, [and] I don’t think the average Adventist thinks about that.”

Its reach is a lot to think about.  Celebrating its centennial this year, LLUMC’s partnerships extend into North Korea, China and other nations. Plastic surgeons, dentists and dental surgeons from LLUMC travel the world on volunteer missions to help deformed children. At the same time, patients from the local California area, known as the “Inland Empire,” and as far away as Afghanistan, come to the famed medical center for life-saving surgeries, as one 12-year-old Afghani boy discovered recently when LLUMC doctors repaired his defective heart. (See ANN, March 29, 2005.)

Fike’s roots in Adventism and medical work go deep. She’s a 1970 graduate of Union College, an Adventist school in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. During the Vietnam War, she traveled extensively in South Vietnam and administered more than 175,000 vaccines to children there. After returning to the U.S., Fike taught English at College View Academy in Lincoln, and then became vice president for institutional advancement at her alma mater.

During that time, she was thinking of pursuing an advanced degree with an eye towards educational administration. A Union College board member—who also was on the board of the regional Adventist Health System—suggested she work a part-time marketing job at a hospital while studying; Fike said she liked hospital work so much she changed career direction.

For seven years, she was chief operating officer and senior vice president of Shawnee Mission Medical Center near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. From there, she became CEO of Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colorado, United States, then Littleton Adventist Hospital in the suburban Denver community. In 2002, Fike became executive vice president of operations and support for Centura Health in Englewood, Colorado, a 12-hospital organization sponsored by Adventist Health System and Catholic Health Initiatives.

“This organization has so much opportunity ahead of it ... it’s been much better than I anticipated,” Fike says.  “It’s a big organization, it’s a complex organization, but there’s so much alignment among the board, the leadership and the physicians.”

Her first year in the Southern California medical center was largely spent as part of a team evaluating LLUMC’s progress as its centennial drew near. The city of Loma Linda is in San Bernardino County, one of the fastest-growing parts of California. Fike said studies indicate an influx of 400,000 new residents in the area over the next few years, increasing demand on the medical center’s services. What’s more, consumer surveys consistently pick LLUMC as a “preferred” provider of healthcare services, because consumers, she said, “believe the quality of physicians, the quality of nursing care is better here.”

Such demands will mean adding capacity to the hospital, and while new construction is inevitable, Fike says a first step will be to “reclaim” some areas used for storage and other purposes and redirect the space into medical care. Also a priority: recruiting new students for the LLU medical program and physicians and other workers for the hospital.

“There has been careful attention to recruitment of people who share our mission,” she adds.

“The strategic planning consultants, the accreditation team, and others from outside the organization have commented that they have never been to a place where so many people can articulate and give personal expression to their employing institution’s mission,” Fike said about the dedication of the LLUMC staff.

“I’m personally touched by that on a daily basis, [seeing] employees and surgeons who begin their day with prayer. After a year [here], I get a knot in my throat when I walk into a room and see 50 physicians in prayer,” she said. “That sensitivity expresses itself in the way people are treated holistically.”

Asked if there was any message she’d want to communicate to members of the Adventist Church, Fike said that spiritual encouragement is always welcome.

“We need the prayers of the worldwide Adventist family,” she said. “One of the big challenges for the church is the New Testament theme of unity; supporting one another, lifting one another. Loma Linda appreciates the ongoing support of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as it continues to fulfill its mission of outreach and service.”

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