A Brief Comparison of the Sanitarium Philosophy and the Hospital Philosophy
Sanitarium Philosophy Hospital Philosophy
Heal body, soul, and mind Heal body, maybe mind
Spiritual focus – three angels messages Limited to no spiritual focus
Save souls. No salvation focus
Small number of beds. Generally large number of beds
Natural remedy focus, medical tx avaiable Medical/Drug focus on treatment
Long time in treatment 20-30 days Short time of treatment – 1-8 days
Placed in the country Usually in the city
Predominantly SDA staff Have to staff with available people, no
specific denominational standard
Patient funding Insurance/Medicare funding
Spiritual standards of treatment Insurance/state standards of treatment
Change of Character is a goal Character is not addressed
Vegetarian to vegan dietary is encouraged General diet is encouraged
Patients encouraged to have outdoor experience Limited outdoor experiences
Patients invited to participate in light garden labor No outdoor labor
Exposure of patients and buildings to air and sun Buildings are sealed
Health and spiritual education daily Health educational is optional
Staff encouraged to pray with patients Staff is discouraged from praying
Denominational focus – Seventh Day Adventist Non-Denomiational focus
God is the primary part of the healing process Science is primary focus of healing
Man is to cooperate with God in healing Man to help man in healing
The above comparisons are not presented to denigrate any treatment necessary to accomplish the care of the individual in need. However, it is the purpose of this brief listing to show that there are very strong differences of foci when comparing the two systems of healing. The Seventh Day Adventist system of healing has a very spiritual focus and to accomplish the goals of treatment take longer, require the assistance of God, and has a much heavier attention to the spiritual aspects of the patient and of the healing process. The healing process takes longer, and requires a heavy investment of time, education, and spiritual orientation to accomplish the goals involved in the sanitarium process.
It has been the intent of the writer to compare the two systems so that the reader can look at the general ideas and have something to pray and meditate upon and to decide what focus is the most appropriate for each person to get healing or to provide healing to another person. I pray that these thoughts will assist in each person’s walk in life.