News Briefs for February 9, 2018
9 February 2018 | News reports from Mountain View, California; the British Virgin Islands; Roseville, Glendale, Redlands and St. Helena, California; Rwanda and Buffalo, New York.
A Chinese language tutor who worked in a facility rented from the Central Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mountain View, California, has been arrested for allegedly engaging in lewd acts with children. Yizhuang John Liu worked at the San Yu Learning Center for two years and police are currently looking for victims. Local ABC 7 television station reported that the acts are alleged to have taken place starting in August or September of 2017 and ending in December. So far two victims have been identified.
ReliefWeb reported that 1,074 households in the British Virgin Islands received help via a financial assistance programme led by the BVI Red Cross and aid organization Caritas Antilles with the support of the Government of the British Virgin Islands. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) also contributed to the fund which initially sought to assist 24 families after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The work expanded to help 3,531 individuals in 1,074 registered households or nearly 12% of the population of the territory. Each household was given between $800 USD to $1200 USD. In total more than $3,190,000 USD was distributed.
Roseville, California-headquartered Adventist Health has promoted Dustin Aho, the former AH associate vice president of community mission, to the role of vice president of mission integration. An Adventist Health statement explained that Aho will be charged with ensuring the healthcare organization’s mission is integrated throughout its culture and within the communities it serves. “The future of healthcare is much more than the physical treatment of the ill inside the four walls of a hospital,” said Aho. “It will be an intentional partnership with the community to create a better place for everyone to live—including the homeless and those in low-income households. Adventist Health is at the forefront of this incredible change, building tools, resources, programs and methodologies that engage people from all walks of life and offer them increased opportunities to live productive, happy and healthy lives.”
A man who was a patient at Adventist Health-owned Glendale Adventist Medical Center (Now Adventist Health Glendale) has announced that he plans to sue the facility for an injury he sustained while getting an MRI scan at the hospital in 2016. Local TV station KTLA reported that Nick Kruth, a diabetic, went to GAMC after experiencing low blood pressure and weakness in his legs. Doctors ordered an electrocardiogram and an MRI. A tab from the EKG containing metal was allegedly on Kruth’s stomach before a technician placed him into the MRI machine. After the scan a hole was discovered in his side, where the tab and metal had burned deep into his flesh. Kruth claimed to still experience pain from the incident two years later. He said the Glendale, California-based hospital had not apologized for the incident.
Redlands Daily Facts reported that William Elder, a retired Adventist pastor, celebrated his 101st birthday in Loma Linda, California, last month. Elder was joined for the celebration by friends and family, including Mary, his wife of almost 80 years. Sandra Roberts, president of the Southeastern California Conference of the Adventist denomination, wrote to congratulate Elder on the milestone. He had pastored for the conference for 40 years.
According to the Napa Valley Register, Adventist Health St. Helena has outsourced 200 jobs to Cerner, a Missouri-based healthcare technology company. The employees were part of the hospital’s revenue cycle and clinical applications teams and made up 17.6 % of the employee population. Cerner claims to have hired all 200 employees at similar pay and benefits to what they earned at Adventist Health. The transferred employees will stay at the same location.
Rwanda’s New Times reported that the Rwanda Media Commission (RMC), a body working for media self-regulation in the country, has received complaints from Pro-Femmes Twese Hamwe, an umbrella organization representing several women’s associations. The organization claimed that Nicolas Niyibikora, a preacher with an Adventist background, said in a sermon on the country’s Amazing Grace radio station that women are the source of all evil. Niyibikora has claimed to be a stanch Seventh-day Adventist. The denomination’s spokesperson in Rwanda, Onesphore Yadusoneye, said Niyibikora was disfellowshipped five years ago.
The Buffalo News reported that two stained-glass windows were stolen from the sanctuary of Buffalo, New York’s Emmanuel Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in mid-January. The culprits are said to have entered by breaking an exterior window and using a makeshift ladder. The church building is at least a century old.
