As Adventist GlenOaks Hospital marks its first 25 years of service to the community, administrators wanted to make a special note of the cultural richness that can be found at the hospital. On May 2–5, the first in a series of week-long cultural enrichment events celebrated the Mexican culture. Spearheaded by the Spiritual Life Committee of the Ministries and Mission department, the program highlighted various cultures represented at the hospital.
The week included a mariachi band which played music throughout the lunch hours in the cafeteria and various units in the hospital; folk dancers who skillfully demonstrated dances from different parts of Mexico; artwork and historical displays; and a complimentary Mexican meal served on May 5—Cinco de Mayo—a Mexican holiday. Delora Hagen, Adventist GlenOaks Hospital chaplain, commented, "The very diverse ethnic composition of the employees, medical staff, and service community of Adventist GlenOaks Hospital brings such a unique aspect to Adventist Midwest Health. We wanted to celebrate that."
In sharing the background for this project, Delora noted that the Spiritual Life Committee knew highlighting the diverse cultures was what they wanted to do, but were unsure how to accomplish that. "At first we didn’t have a clear picture of how to do this," said Delora. "We knew that we wanted to expose our staff to the different viewpoints and deeper perspectives of other cultures because we encounter each other every day, whether as colleagues or patient and clinician." She adds, "There are so many nuances in our service delivery that is effected by language—spoken and actions—even something as simple as the direction of fingers when motioning to someone differs from culture to culture."
The concept of cultural enrichment events emerged from a casual conversation between Delora and Verona Valentine, assessment coordinator at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital. "We were talking about what the Spiritual Life Committee was aiming for and Verona's eyes lit up and [she] said that she knew someone who could possibly help." That "someone" was Gottfried Oosterwal, Center for International Relations director, who also happens to be Verona's father. Within days, an invitation had been extended to Gottfried to speak at the hospital. In Fall 2004, as part of the plan to implement deeper understanding of cultures within the organization, all employees were strongly encouraged to attend the two-hour seminars presented by Gottfried.
"I really appreciated the effort the hospital made to highlight the different cultures we have," said Sallieta Balice, GlenOaks Sports and Spine Outpatient Rehab office coordinator. "Dr. Oosterwal had a great message and he made us think out of the box when it comes to our interactions with each other and our patients."
From that point on, the Spiritual Life Committee knew they wanted to create a program that would immerse employees in cultural experiences—even for just a small amount of time—and proceeded to select the Mexican culture as the first to highlight. Patrice Beal, Employee Health Nurse and Spiritual Life Committee member lead the Mexican Heritage Week planning and solicited the help of many employees who had Mexican backgrounds. "There was a sense of affirmation and pride to be able to share their culture," said Patrice. "And for those of us who are not of Mexican decent, our understanding was deepened."
"As a group, we realized that this was such an integral part of our daily lives," said Patrice. "It is one thing to mentally understand the culture, but to experience it—food, smells, thoughts, ideas, art, and history—it's a completely deeper experience. And that's what we wanted to highlight. It's like taking a little trip to whichever culture we feature."
Future plans are in place to present similar weeks that would feature insights into different cultures, including: East Indian/Pakistani, Filipino/Vietnamese, and Eastern European.
Jonathan Leach, Ministries and Mission regional executive director, notes, "These cultural treasures are designed to honor and understand the different cultures at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital. The more comfortable we are to work with people of other cultures, the better we can accomplish our mission and in turn will help us meet our patients' needs in providing healthcare."
Crister DelaCruz is the regional manager of public relations for Adventist Midwest Health.
