THE latest addition to the sanitarium system is situated in the beautiful woodland district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located just outside the town limits of Watford, on the L. N. W. Railway, about seventeen miles from London.
The Stanborough Park estate, upon which the sanitarium stands, comprises about seventy-five acres of choice country land, divided into meadows and woodlands, having a frontage of nearly one-half mile upon the picturesque St. Albans Road.
Upon the estate, besides the sanitarium, the International Health Association has its plant, where many kinds of health foods are manufactured. The British Publishing House also has its buildings and machinery, where all the literature for the English field is printed. On a prominent part of the estate stands the college, where the young people are educated for the work. The proximity of all these institutions to one another makes Stanborough Park exceptionally advantageous as an educational center.
The sanitarium is four stories high, and was at one time, with the beautiful grounds surrounding it, one of the "stately mansions of old England." Wings have been added and alterations made so that now it is a modern, up-to-date, fully equipped sanitarium, comfortably accommodating about thirty patients.
OUR INSTITUTIONS AT STANBOROUGH PARK, WATFORD, ENGLAND
The first floor contains the dining-room, kitchen, medical office, and electrical treatment-rooms, gymnasium, drawing-room, and the spacious bathroom. The second floor is devoted to patients' rooms, and also contains the surgical ward and operating-rooms, business office, and the solarium. The upper floors are also devoted to patients' rooms.
The building is fully heated with a hot-water system, and each room contains also an open grate. The English people are very fond of the open fireplace. It adds to the comfort and cheerfulness of the room, besides being an excellent ventilator. The rooms are plainly yet tastefully furnished. Every article of furniture and bedding is new, and with the polished oak floors and rugs the rooms look very neat and hygienic.
The sanitarium is much indebted for such a commodious, well-equipped, and beautiful building to the long and valuable experience of W. C. Sisley, chairman of the board; to the sister institution at Caterham, England, for the financial assistance rendered in securing the equipment; and to the liberality of the brethren throughout the field.
Beautiful gardens and lawns surround the institution, upon which are growing some fine old specimens of pine-trees. The patients find great comfort and rest on pleasant days in the many shaded, natural nooks to be found in and about the grounds. The sanitarium employs a gardener, who raises many of the vegetables and fruits used upon the tables. A fine herd of cattle supplies plenty of good fresh milk and cream, while numberless fowls keep the institution supplied with eggs.
The staff consists of the medical superintendent; Mrs. R. Meyers (formerly Miss R. Hibbel, of Australia), as head nurse and matron; Mr. W. Meyers, as steward; Mr. and Mrs. Sallee, of Gland, Switzerland, as bath-room nurses; and Miss Barras, a graduate nurse from the Caterham Sanitarium, together with a fine class of twelve young persons in training.
The institution was formally opened and dedicated by appropriate ceremonies on July 3, 1912. Over one thousand invitations and prospectuses had been sent out to different parts of the kingdom. A goodly number of guests and invited friends assembled on the day appointed. Elder W. J. Fitzgerald, president of the British Union Conference, acted as chairman. Elder S. G. Haughey, of the South England Conference, offered the dedicatory prayer. Dr. A. B. Olsen, of the Caterham Sanitarium, gave a very interesting and appropriate address on the "Origin of the Sanitarium System." The college students rendered some excellent music. Refreshments were served upon the beautiful lawn, after which the building was thrown open to the public.
Patients began to arrive soon after the opening. First one table in the dining-room was filled, then another, and another, until four tables, seating twenty-four, were all occupied. We all felt this a remarkable token of God's approbation of the work.
The brethren and sisters in England have prayed long and earnestly that God would bless this new addition to the promulgation of the third angel's message in this field, and to see a goodly number of patients so quickly occupying the building was indeed gratifying to their hearts.
At the present time the institution enjoys a fair patronage, and nurses and helpers are united in seeking God's blessing and favor that success may attend this branch of God's cause in the British field.
