Resiliency and purpose

As I hike up Pisgah Peak near our home in Oak Glen, I cannot help but notice the scarred peaks to our north — Birch, Cedar, Wilshire, and Little San Gorgonio — all on the ridge between us and Forest Falls. The El Dorado Fire in the fall of 2020 left them largely bare, even three years later. Even the terrain around me on Pisgah is barely recovering from its own fire several years before that. Burned branches still stick up amid the new growth coming from their bases. Nature is resilient, but it takes time. And until then, the consequences can be disastrous, as the recent hurricane and other storms demonstrated to local residents in Potato Canyon. These storms washed down mud and sludge, along with huge boulders the size of cars, burying the roads and driveways.

I hike on across Pisgah, noting with some greed the old oak trees toppled from the wind, waiting to be cut into firewood. I carefully harvest three elongated seed pods from my favorite flower on the mountain, the Plummer’s Mariposa Lily (Google it and you will see why). 

From the top of Pisgah I can look across the Inland Empire and easily pick out landmarks, including the institution I am privileged to serve, Loma Linda University Health. It has been a tough fiscal year for us due to premium labor costs in our hospitals following the pandemic and the flattening of enrollment in the university following the demographic changes in the country. Loma Linda University Health has been very resilient over the past 118 years as it faced many challenges, and it will be so again. Careful budgeting, limiting capital expenditures, and strategizing for new opportunities dominate our committees.

Each tragedy also provides opportunities, and I am reminded of a book by Rhonda Spencer-Hwang, one of our School of Public Health faculty — “Raising Resilient Kids.” She gleaned lessons from interviewing the geriatric set in Loma Linda, of which we have plenty. What made them live so long? What advice can they share with those coming after them? They did not have easy lives! It was clearly the trials they faced and overcame that gave them resiliency — and longevity! 

While on the topic of longevity, Netflix has just come out with a four-part series, “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones” with Dan Buettner. Loma Linda is a noted part of these long-lived generations. The principles Buettner has determined from his studies? “Eating wisely, moving naturally, connecting with others, and having a purpose or outlook.”

What does this all mean for you and me? As I watch the world, our country, and our own institution, our students, I can’t help but contrast the differences I see. Ukraine’s determination and focus, the commitment of the staff at some of our struggling mission hospitals, and the lives of some of our own students all show what purpose and meaning can bring to each of us. The story of Ashley Avila from patient to student to employee, seen here in a short video, demonstrates what a little help and focus can do. Having a purpose in life is a common virtue in each of these situations. Join me in pursuing that calling.

Sincerely,

Richard H. Hart, MD, DrPH
President
Loma Linda University Health