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Description

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About Us
Walla Walla General Hospital located in Southeastern Washington State is a notforprofit 72bed acute care facility offering a full range of inpatient outpatient and emergency services In 2008 WWGH had 1744 admissions 323 deliveries 10069 ER visits 38303 outpatients visit and 6837 home care visits

Walla Walla General Hospital is part of Adventist Health a notforprofit faithbased health system operating in California Hawaii Oregon and Washington Founded on the Seventhday Adventist heritage of Christian health care Adventist Health is comprised of 17 hospitals with more than 2800 beds nearly 18000 employees numerous clinics and outpatient facilities the largest system of rural health clinics in California 15 home care agencies and four jointventure retirement centers Adventist Health headquartered in Roseville California is part of an international network of more than 160 Adventist health care facilities

Our Mission

Restoring Peace
Restoring Hope
Restoring Health
To do this as Christ did
This is our Mission

Our Values

At Walla Walla General Hospital we value

The compassionate healing ministry of Jesus

Human dignity and individuality

Absolute integrity in all relationships and dealings

Excellence in clinical and service quality

Responsible resource management in serving our communities

The health care heritage of the Seventhday Adventist Church

Each other as members of a caring family

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History

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The story of the first 100 years

A century ago Walla Walla Wash was a bustling commercial hub serving farmers for a 75mile radius Wheat was king in the quotValley of Many Watersquot and the development of a sidehill harvester in 1891 made it possibleand profitableto cultivate the gently rolling hillsides

As more and more acreage was planted the valleys population increased and in the last two decades of the nineteenth century the towns size doubled to some 10000 people Walla Wallas dirt streets were clogged with farm wagons horsedrawn buggies and hundreds of newly popular bicycles The first automobilea steampowered contraptionchugged down Main Street in 1899

Medical Treatments Sound Bizarre
Medical treatments of that era seem as outdated today as the horse and buggy A patient with asthma might be sent to the tobacconist for a cigarette quotsmoking is sometimes beneficialquot for this condition reported the authoritative physicians source of 1899 the first edition of the Merck Manual

Treatments for tuberculous meningitisat the time a killing scourge of infancyincluded iodine and turpentine massaged into the skin Alcoholics were advised to suck an orange and drink a pint of hot water before mealsor to take a dose of opium

But a radically new concept of health care was gaining attention in the United States In England the word quotsanatoriumquot was applied to a health resort for invalid soldiers It usually designated a small hospital near the seashore where a healthful climate was part of the cure

In 1876 a variation of the English term was applied to the first Seventhday Adventist health care institution Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan Within a few years it became a worldrenowned health center under the direction of Dr John Harvey Kellogg

Treatment at the sanitarium usually began with a complete physical examination by a trained physician followed by a variety of treatments These included relaxation in a beautiful setting therapeutic water and electric treatments a simple vegetarian diet moderate exercise outdoors and trust in a Divine power Patients often stayed weeks or months to slowly recuperate If indicated surgery was available and Dr Kellogg was considered one of the finest surgeons in the United States

Walla Walla Sanitarium Opens
In the fall of 1899 Isaac and Maggie Dunlap returned to the Walla Walla Valley from Battle Creek Dunlap business manager at Walla Walla College during its inaugural year had left to study medicine His fouryear training was concentrated at the Battle Creek Sanitarium with additional clinical experience in Chicago

The Dunlaps opened treatment rooms in the basement of the college and during the first year of operation some 3000 treatments were given For the first few years the Walla Walla Sanitariumwhich was considered a branch of the Battle Creek Sanitariumwas frequently relocated as it continued to grow In 1906 it purchased the old College Place public schoolhouse which had been outgrown

George Rulaford and his son Cecil moved the onestory structure to the campus of Walla Walla College Once in its permanent location the building was hoisted on jacks and a new floor was added underneath preserving the original roof line It was transformed into a graceful twostory sanitarium with wide verandas reminiscent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium

Six hundred curious people attended the dedication ceremony of the schoolhouse turned sanitarium on June 3 1907 Dr Dunlap served as master of ceremonies inviting guests to tour the building and drink lemonade on the college lawn