Every AdventHealth hospital leader has two roles: chief executive officer and chief spiritual officer. While the daily demands of the first role could easily overshadow the second, AdventHealth believes the latter determines the organization’s ultimate success. 

A group of 17 AdventHealth CEOs recently had the opportunity to learn this lesson firsthand in Battle Creek, Mich., where, beginning in 1866, the Seventh-day Adventist Church began its commitment to extending the healing ministry of Christ through health care services to the public. The CEOs, all in the early phase of their tenures, were there as members of the inaugural class of AdventHealth’s Chief Executive Leadership Program (CELP). 

“The visit to Battle Creek was to ground the CEOs in our mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ,” says Michael Paradise, executive director of the AdventHealth Leadership Institute. “They were able to feel and experience the health care legacy that differentiates us as an organization.”

The visit to the Battle Creek Sanitarium and Historic Adventist Village was part of a three-day intensive focused on sustaining the mission through communication and influence. It was the second of three intensives spread throughout the year that are themed around leading self, leading others, and leading results. 

“AdventHealth truly believes that leadership matters,” Paradise says. “This organization is trying to stay grounded in mission because of the threat of mission drift, which says you are only one generation away from losing sight of what matters most in the organization.”

A Working Tour

Although the sanitarium and village are open to tourists, the CEOs were not there as sightseers. During the three-hour drive from Chicago to Battle Creek, the CEOs participated in discussions based on readings they had been assigned in advance. While in Battle Creek, they toured the sanitarium, the historic village, and the gravesites of the White family and Joseph Kellogg at Oakhill Cemetery. They also participated in a prayer service and “sense-making” discussions on site and again the following day centered around experiential questions, such as:

• What is the CEO’s responsibility to be intentional about the “healthstyle” principles of the Seventh-day Adventist health tradition in leading self and others?
• Is the healthstyle tradition started at the Battle Creek Sanitarium just window dressing at your entity? How do CEOs guard against this?
• How did the lack of alignment about mission as the core motivation relate to Battle Creek Sanitarium’s demise? 

While the positive lessons learned at Battle Creek were expected, the discussion around what led to the closing of the sanitarium in 1942 was unexpected but just as beneficial. In particular, the criticality of a single person, in this case John Harvey Kellogg, to the organization’s survival demonstrated the importance of succession planning today and that individual CEOs are just one link in the Adventist health care legacy. 

“The entire experience re-grounded me in the special gift and mission we have been given to carry forward,” said Dallas Purkeypile, CEO of AdventHealth South Overland Park in Kansas. “It really reinforced the responsibility we each have to ensure this not only remains a part of our organization but is expanded. It is our duty.”

Vladimir Radivojevic, CEO of UChicago Medicine AdventHealth GlenOaks in Illinois, commented, “The experience at Battle Creek tied our work back to our heritage and made it both personal and relevant.”

From Learning to Life

Each CEO works on two action documents to ensure that the knowledge gained during CELP, including the Battle Creek experience, is translated into practice on the ground. They review and revise their entity’s Christian Service Plan, which outlines how the entity will emphasize spirituality within its operations.

“They revise it with intentionality, not just as something to check off,” Paradise says. “This experience inspires them to be intentional about keeping mission at the top of their priority list.”

They are also asked to write a job description for their Chief Spiritual Officer role, which will be unique to each entity. Each description is reviewed by AdventHealth corporate leaders, members of the leadership institute team, and by the other CEOs in the cohort. After revising the descriptions based on the feedback, the CEOs are expected to use them to frame their daily activities in leading self, others, and results.

“As the chief spiritual officer, they are responsible for the culture and atmosphere of extending Christ’s healing ministry to their entire organization,” Paradise says. “Mission is our motivator, and culture is our differentiator. How does it show up on your campus? How does a nurse experience the difference? How does a patient feel the difference? It has to happen through the culture, and that is something the CEO owns. It is the biggest lever a CEO can pull. It can be our competitive advantage, too. This program helps turn mission into practical culture.” 

~Michelle Conklin is a freelance writer for AdventHealth.