Adventist HealthCare

2018 Mission Initiatives and Activities

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Alignment with Church’s Identity and Objectives

Mission Initiatives and Activities 2018

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Adventist HealthCare Limited (AHCL) originated with the opening of the ‘Sydney Sanitarium’ in 1903. AHCL is a not-for-profit institution of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with its Mission to “serve the community with a distinctive health and healing ministry founded on faith in God and the bringing of relief and hope through the co-operation of human effort and divine power”.

AHCL operates a range of healthcare facilities including Sydney Adventist Hospital, San Day Surgery Hornsby, San Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, and Sydney Adventist Hospital Pharmacy. The organisation’s mission of ‘Christianity in Action – caring for the body, mind and spirit of our patients, colleagues, community and ourselves’; and its values of Dignity, Excellence, Integrity, and Continuity, is consistent with the Christian values and teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

AHCL supports the Mission of the Church through a growing healthcare ministry to thousands of community members in need every day, creating opportunities to introduce people to the grace and love of God through the various healthcare services provided. Through their experience with AHCL, customers are exposed to Adventist ethos and philosophy – including our focus on wholistic care and healthy living. AHCL also actively supports the Church in the training of nursing, medical and allied health personnel so that they are enabled to heal and teach others in the future.

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Continuing work has been undertaken to enhance Mission integration throughout the organisation – every day, through all activities and interactions with the communities that we serve.

AHCL cares for over 186,000 patients each year (inpatients and outpatients), and has the opportunity to influence thousands of individuals who interact with AHCL services every year including staff, doctors, volunteers, visitors, contractors, and other community members

Spiritual Care Services – chaplains support our patients and staff with spiritual and emotional needs. This year our aim has been “every patient every time” – a vision of providing support to all inpatients with an increased number of chaplains, volunteers and visiting faith representatives

Worship & Prayer – weekday worship / prayer services, prayer and Bible study groups, and special services are held throughout the year

Daily opportunities for prayer are provided in meetings, gatherings, celebrations and with individuals

Prayer request cards and boxes are placed around Sydney Adventist Hospital (SAH) for patients, family, visitors, staff and community

Media – Hope Channel and 3ABN are freely available to patients via the SAH TV network (San TV). Two dedicated in-house TV channels provide the ability to promote healthy living and Adventist beliefs to patients. From October 2018, all services in the chapel will be available to patients and staff through San TV, including the 8:15 Morning Worship.

Brochures such as ‘Adventist Christianity in Action’, and ‘Sabbath’ – provide opportunity to introduce staff, patients, doctors & visitors to our Adventist beliefs

Bibles are placed in every patient room, and Adventist Christian literature is available throughout our facilities. With gratitude to the AUC, this year we have distributed the book “The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Australia” to all rooms and all public spaces.

Mission is integral in our daily services and activities

The ‘First Friday’ event is held each month, with a regular Friday evening vespers program in the chapel every other Friday evening and broadcast to patients via in-house San TV

A new ‘Sabbath Praise’ musical program is held in the Hospital Chapel each month – and available to patients via San TV

SAH website promotes our Mission and provides a wealth of health information for the community

Flat screens in main foyer areas showcase hospital history, service & patient care with Mission related images

Biannual San News publication with a Mission focus

Regular interviews on Radio 2GB and 2UE with talented AHCL staff and doctors sharing information about health and wellbeing

Integration of Mission into recorded productions for website, intranet, in-house TV and podcasts

Promotion of vegetarianism and healthy foods through San Café, San Snax and patient menus

Incorporation of “Christianity in Action” into hospital advertisements and promotions

Proactive promotion of Mission related AHCL news stories to the media

Integration of Mission into master planning and facility design

The new “Mission Minutes” initiative commenced in September 2018: a 60-second inspirational staff member video focusing on how they see or deliver Mission

Channel 9 Report on Troponin

Mums at the Table with San Doctor

A/Prof Payal Mukherjee

Radio 2GB - Steve Price and Nurse Practitioner,

Dawn Hooper

3Mission is integral in our daily services and activities

Our people are passionate about bringing our mission to life through serving the community, whether this be locally, nationally, or in overseas developing countries.

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION through our volunteers

AHCL has 500 dedicated community members who volunteer their time regularly to support AHCL in caring for the community, including several individuals who are members of AHCL committees and the AHCL Consumer Advisory Council. Many of these volunteers have experienced care at AHCL, and wish to give back to the community through volunteering their time at AHCL.

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION through cancer support services

Free information, resources, support groups and assistance is provided to cancer patients and their carers within the community. The service is supported by a large team of volunteers from our community. Low cost accommodation is also available onsite at SAH for patients and their carers.

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION through education

AHCL provides ongoing health education to our community through a number of initiatives including:

Regular birthing and parenting (including grand-parenting) classes – improving life skills of new mums and their families

Health education sessions provided free to the community

Formal accredited medical education provided free to general practitioners in the community as well as education for allied health practitioners

ACHL staff, doctors and patients sharing health information on Mums at the Table

Bringing Mission to life in our community

STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, Maths) education event – a free event first held in mid-2017 to inspire young women in our local community high schools to consider caring careers in medicine and nursing (and other STEMM areas)

Education facilities on site at SAH (including the SAH Clinical School of the University of Sydney, Avondale College of Higher Education, and San College of Education) – teaching people to heal in the future by providing formal education courses for medical, nursing and allied health professionals at AHCL and in the community. Courses / seminars for the community include CPR training, healthcare seminars, refresher & re-entry for nursing, new graduate programs, and First Aid programs for Greater Sydney Pathfinder leaders

STEMM Seminar

San Foundation Run for Life

San Help Team Volunteers

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Mission Initiatives and Activities 2018

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION through outreach

Outreach activities provide excellent opportunities for our staff and doctors to extend our Mission to the community:

Open Heart International – humanitarian aid program initiated by SAH (now partnering with ADRA) continues to transform lives in overseas countries, with many AHCL staff and doctors volunteering their time and skills

SAH continues to provide work opportunities for disabled individuals – helping them to transition into community work

Active involvement in local fundraising projects and activities for the community such as the ‘The Dish’ (meals and support to the local homeless and disadvantaged), Novus Foundation, Rotary, ‘Bobbin Head Cycle Classic’ bike ride, Cancer Council events, ‘Movember’ Hornsby Women’s refuge and others

Regular speaking appointments of AHCL staff in local churches and community groups

Many of our programs in the Chapel are advertised through local community by word of mouth and by letterboxing

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION through community events

Several regular community events are conducted each year to support our community and promote health & wellness:

‘San Run for Life’ fun run – a yearly event promoting healthy lifestyles, spiritual reflection amid nature and raising funds for hospital projects

Annual Memorial Service – bringing community members together to remember those who received care and support at SAH

Carols by Candlelight – attracting several thousand community members to the front lawn of SAH each year to celebrate Christmas and the birth of Christ

San Teddy Bears’ Picnic – hundreds of new parents and grandparents from our local community bringing their ‘San babies’ back to the hospital to enjoy a picnic and reunite with staff and doctors

‘It’s about us’ cancer forum – connecting cancer patients and their loved ones with cancer services available at SAH and in the community

CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION through community fundraising

San Foundation is actively involved with local community groups, businesses and individuals in raising much needed funds for AHCL, helping to maintain its reputation for excellence, raising awareness of AHCL’s services, and fulfilling its Mission of caring for the community through financially supporting services and activities.

San Teddy Bears’ Picnic

Carols by Candlelight

Bobbin Head Cycle Classic

Our people bring life to our Mission in our community5

Mission and Culture initiatives inspiring our people Our people are our most important asset. Their passion and dedication to our Mission drives our staff, doctors and volunteers to pursue excellence in caring for our community. Mission focused activities for our people include:

Inclusion of Mission goals in Corporate Strategy, Leader Goals and Performance Appraisals

The ongoing Mission Ambassador Program, which provides encouragement and a structure for peer initiated mission enculturation in Hospital departments and recognition for staff who are examples of Mission in a number of ways, including information on Pulse (the staff intranet), and special awards at the annual AHCL Quality Awards event

The Spiritual Ambassadors program – AHCL employees who are passionate in their support of Mission with a particular focus on offering, promoting and providing spiritually oriented care in their workplace

Monday Mission Message distributed weekly to leadership and staff

A different message placed on the Intranet each Friday inviting staff to celebrate Sabbath

Inclusion of Mission as a standard agenda item for meetings

Inclusion of prayer as a standard agenda item for formal AHCL meetings

Inclusion of “Christianity in Action” on Job advertisements

Inclusion of Mission in recruitment and interviews for new employees

Inclusion of Mission in the AHCL orientation program

Mission and culture on-boarding for all people appointed to leadership roles with the Director of Mission Integration

Inclusion of “Christianity in Action” on staff business cards

Inclusion of a Mission segment at each Leadership Forum

Discussion of Mission examples in ‘San Chat’ videos by CEO Brett Goods shared with staff on the Intranet

Annual Hospital Focus Week with Mission related presentations and activities to inspire our leaders with new ways of integrating Mission into their areas

Spiritual Care Week – a new week of spiritual focus successfully conducted in Oct 2018 with 50 departments/areas visited, worships and evening programs held each day and a special Sabbath service

Annual Staff Week with Mission related activities and other staff celebrations

LiveMore program – 55 AHCL Leadership members registered to participate in the LiveMore program during 2017/18

Chaplains Symposium – a new three day symposium in 2018 which brought together chaplains from various denominations around Australia and New Zealand working in health care, aged care and corrective services for professional development and inspiration

Leadership development initiatives ‘More Care’ program focused on enhancing

patient experience and extending Mission Employee workplace giving opportunities

and projects Caring for the wellbeing of our staff and

volunteers through work / life policies, flexible work practices, recognition of diversity, celebrations, and provision of recreation facilities on site

Negotiating fair and equitable employment agreements

Employee support program (for employees and volunteers)

Staff Bereavement Pack provided to employees on death of a family member

Fitness Passport program for staff Inclusion of Mission survey questions into

the regular staff survey New ‘Caring for our Colleagues’ planned

giving fund to enable staff to provide support for their colleagues in times of crisis

Pastor Kara Johnsson at Focus Week

During 2017/2018 AHCL developed a new Mission Integration Plan with key areas of focus as follows:

Unifying Purpose All entities, business units, and key stakeholders are Mission-unified and Mission-driven

Influence Creating mission awareness, useful resources and practical intentionality

Wholeness We care by focusing on body, mind and spirit, and creating optimum healing environments

Experience AHCL provides excellent, spiritually nurturing experiences for staff, patients, carers, visitors, and the wider community

The Mission Integration Plan provides direction and focus for activities that are integrated into daily practice by the Leadership team and staff – across the hospital and throughout our community – to enhance our ongoing focus on delivering Mission. While many initiatives are already underway, further work is being undertaken to develop and implement initiatives and activities to support this new plan.

Our aim is to live our Mission of ‘Christianity in Action’ through all that we do, and to maintain our focus on providing quality services and wholistic care.

Adventist HealthCare will continue to support Adventist Mission demonstrating Christ’s message through promoting healthy living, providing healing treatments, educating healthcare professionals for the future and touching people’s lives through our services and people.

How can you support AHCL and its Mission?

Become a prayer partner – email: prayer@sah.org.au

Make a tax deductible donation to San Foundation by calling 02 9487 9406 or email: foundation@sah.org.au

Mission Integration Plan

Supporting Adventist Mission into the future

Mission Minutes by Naveen Thalluri

Easter Concert

San Chat by CEO - Brett Goods

7Mission and Culture initiatives inspiring our people

Adventist HealthCare 185 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga NSW 2076 Telephone: 02 9487 9111 www.adventisthealthcare.org.au ABN 76 096 452 925

A teaching hospital of Partner in nursing education Proudly supported by

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