Who are we?

The health situation in Costa Rica during the first four decades of the 20th century was lamentable, and it was not until the late 1940s, as a result of the social reform that took place between 1940 and 1944, that significant improvements in the population's health indicators began to be observed. It is also well known that, between 1900 and 1930, efforts were made to improve health care, among which the creation of Clínica Bíblica occupies a relevant place, not only because it was a highly professional contribution to the development of medical care, but also because it offered Costa Rican society, an integral vision of health (simultaneous attention to the body, the affective-emotional world, the mental world and the spiritual world), which at that time did not exist or was very weakened by the presence of healers, the unilateral emphasis on the care of bodily health and religious fundamentalism.

In 1921, a project of the Latin American Mission began in Costa Rica. Several missionaries from different nations arrived in this country with the purpose of helping the most needy. The married couple Enrique Strachan -of Scottish nationality- and the Irish Susana Strachan, joined this noble cause after having served in Argentina for 17 years as evangelical missionaries.

Upon arriving in Costa Rica, they are particularly moved and very concerned about the deplorable state of the local health system. Their main concern was children's health, for they found that, out of every thousand children born each year, three hundred and fifty-five died, 50 percent of them before their fifth birthday. Malnutrition and neglect were the main problems suffered by children in that period; in addition, the only hospital that existed and that could only attend a part of the sick was the San Juan de Dios Hospital. As for health in general, life expectancy was about forty years. There were diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria.

Faced with this bleak picture, the Strachans decided to bring relief to the most needy, the poor and especially the children. Thus, they dedicated themselves to providing free medical services to these people and founded the Biblical Clinical Hospital, the original name under which it was founded. It later became Clínica Bíblica because that was the name Costa Rican society used to call it.

The works due to the tenacious and disciplined work of the Strachans are many and extraordinary for the fruits that have been derived from them. They inspired the creation of:

• Bible Institute
• Bible Seminary
• Bible Temple
• Roble Alto Association
• Radio Faro del Caribe
• Clínica Bíblica and its School of Nursing.

The work of Enrique Strachan and Susana Beamish branches out into aspects related to the evangelization of culture, service to the poorest and the development of Costa Rican medicine from an integral health approach.

One of the most significant and influential events associated with the work of Enrique Strachan and Susana Beamish de Strachan in Costa Rica was the creation and operation of the School of Nursing linked to the Clínica Bíblica project. This School, as was the case with the Hospital itself and with a good part of the missionary action of the Latin American Mission in the country, responded to the deeply felt needs of Costa Rican society regarding the professionalization of Nursing, as well as the care, both humanistic and technical, of the sick.
The School of Nursing founded by Enrique Strachan and his wife Susana had a human resource of nurses graduated in Europe and the United States, so that their presence and activities in Costa Rica reinforced the quality and dignity of this profession in the country.
The Hospital's School of Nursing achieved an excellent reputation in Costa Rica and in other Latin American countries, to which the technical preparation of its nurses and the high quality of the teaching provided contributed. The Costa Rican society found, in this School of Clínica Bíblica, a social space to respond to its needs and demands.

For four decades Clínica Bíblica had achieved great successes based on the tenacity and determination of those in charge, as well as the responsible management of the scarce economic resources at its disposal, but in the context of a rapidly changing Costa Rican society, moving from a rural to a predominantly urban society, and where the health indicators of the population revealed surprising successes, greater aggressiveness and vision was required in terms of economic resource management and strategic planning for hospital growth and development as instruments for preserving and deepening the institutional identity. This was precisely the challenge faced by the Costa Rican Medical Services Association when the Latin American Mission decided to close Clínica Bíblica, a decision that eventually led to its management being taken over by a group of eminent Costa Ricans.
In 1968, the Cabezas López brothers and other Costa Ricans created the Costa Rican Medical Services Association (ASEMECO) to continue the work begun by the founders, with the firm conviction that they were committed to never undermine the foundations of that mission.
In 1972 the Latin American Mission decided to make the total transfer of the Biblical Clinic to the Costa Ricans, but formulated some conditions.
One condition was that all members of the Board of Directors, as well as the medical director, would serve ad honorem as they had been doing to date. Another condition was that the Hospital would retain the Chaplaincy services.
Finally, an Association was to be constituted which, as the Hospital's proprietary entity, would invest the reserves produced by the Hospital in charitable purposes to help the community.
Both the Latin American Mission and the Costa Ricans who took charge of Clínica Bíblica shared the same ideals, principles and values that had inspired its existence since 1929, so it was not difficult to reach a fruitful agreement. In this way, Clínica Bíblica would be the instrument that would generate the economic resources to give sustainability to the Social Management Programs; returning part of the profits year after year to the "Tree of Life Ministry", an institutional icon that represents the social outreach of Clínica Bíblica inside and outside the facilities, where all the collaborators are committed to carry out actions of social impact and biblical foundation that reflect the love of neighbor, either individually or collectively; seeking integral well-being (spirit, soul and body) in favor of the most needy.