EDITORIAL: Baylor: A century of health care_10603

Posted: 10/3/03

EDITORIAL:
Baylor: A century of health care

Almost exactly 100 years ago–Oct. 16, 1903–visionary Texas Baptists founded a hospital that has touched millions of lives. “Is it not now time to start a great humanitarian hospital?” asked George W. Truett, legendary pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas. Cattle baron C.C. Slaughter, one of most the generous laymen anywhere, responded by offering the first donation to make the challenge a reality. Charles McDaniel Rosser, a leading physician, supplied the expertise. Robert Cook Buckner, orphan home founder and owner of the kindest heart ever to beat in Texas, lent credibility as the first board chairman. With such leadership, the Baptist General Convention of Texas signed on. Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium was born.

This month, Baylor Health Care System, the sanitarium's direct descendent, celeberates its 100th anniversary, a fine time to thank God for our far-sighted ancestors' magnificent vision and for how God has multiplied its impact through the decades.

Baylor Health Care System defines itself as a “Christian ministry of healing” that “exists to serve all people through exemplary health care, education, research and community service.”

BHCS encompasses 14 hospitals and 76 other medical facilities across North Texas. Last year, the 1,900-bed system treated more than 400,000 patients, including 74,195 who were admitted and 444,581 outpatients. The system is comprised of 12,600 employees and utilizes the services of 2,414 physicians. It holds $1.6 billion in total assets and operates on $1.2 billion in revenue.

Through the decades, BHCS has been a trail-blazer among medical providers. For example:

1929, Baylor created the Baylor Plan, a pioneering hospital insurance program that developed into Blue Cross.

1938, Joseph Hill, a hematologist at Baylor, invented a machine to dry blood plasma for storage without refrigeration. Hill's invention saved thousands of soldiers' lives during World War II.

1960, Baylor surgeons performed the Southwest's first heart pacemaker implant.

1961, Baylor opened the first clinically oriented virology lab in the United States.

1983, Baylor University Medical Center became the first hospital in the Southwest to own an MRI machine.

1988, surgeons at Baylor University Medical Center performed Texas' first unrelated-donor bone marrow transplant.

1993, U.S. News & World Report recognized Baylor as one of the best hospitals in the nation, an honor it has received 11 times.

1997, Baylor surgeons pioneered using a genetically engineered pig liver to allow a patient to live while awaiting a successful liver transplant.

2000, the system became the first in the nation to screen newborns for 30 inherited diseases.

Beyond cutting-edge medicine, Baylor Health Care System always has focused on its mission to provide medical treatment to people who otherwise could not afford it. Just last year, BHCS supplied $120 million in charity health care for 24,000 patients. BHCS illustrates how Texas Baptists have taken seriously Jesus' admonition to care for “the least of these.”

That's also true because BHCS still fulfills its mission to provide a “Christian ministry of healing” by caring for the soul as well as the body.

Twenty-seven permanent chaplains serve through the system. They train 25 to 35 additional chaplains a year, and they also work with more than 120 part-time volunteer chaplains. Together, they make more than 160,000 pastoral contacts a year. They conducted 739 hours of support-group sessions, provided 1,156 hours of counseling to BHCS employees, ministered in more than 12,000 instances of deaths or medical emergencies, led 942 worship services and distributed 7,214 Bibles for babies last year.

Of course, the Baptist General Convention of Texas cannot foot the bill for all the Baylor system's costs, but the proposed 2004 BGCT Cooperative Program allocates $240,000 to help underwrite the chaplaincy program and contributes $18,000 for charity ministries.

Baylor Health Care System celebrates its 100th birthday this month, but it is not alone.

The BGCT also directly affiliates with four hospital systems–Hendrick Health System in Abilene, Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, Memorial Hermann Baptist Hospitals in Beaumont and Orange, and Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen. Two other systems–Baptist St. Anthony's Health System in Amarillo and Baptist Health System in San Antonio–also indirectly are related through other affiliated entities.

This emphasis on Christ-centered care for bodies as well as souls reflects in other BGCT endeavors, such as four child and family ministry enterprises and five retirement and aging-care ministries, as well as ministries to human need through River Ministry, disaster relief, Christian Women's Job Corps and other programs.

Baptists don't theologize much about whether souls in heaven can look down and see events on earth. But if so, we can only imagine these are ministries that make Truett, Slaughter, Rosser and Buckner proud–and grateful to God.
–Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com