Meet Larry Hamilton, One of Our Teammates Shaping Mission-Based Healthcare at Adventist Health

Larry Hamilton, Employee Health and Case Manager for Adventist Health Tillamook, 41 years with Adventist Health

Larry Hamilton is the Swiss-Army-knife friend you don’t want to leave home without. Whether helping subdue an unruly patient or teaching someone recently diagnosed with diabetes how to use an insulin pen, he is one of those people who always seems to know how to solve a problem.

At one point during the pandemic, Larry administered a COVID-19 vaccine every 3 1/2 minutes for 10 hours straight. His life is full of adventure, and he has all the amazing stories to tell that come with those adventures. He’s the person you want to sit around a campfire with and just talk for hours. And he’s a registered nurse too.

What is your best habit?
I enjoy cabinet work, so my habit when I go home from work is to chat with my wife, enjoy dinner and then spend the rest of the evening in my wood shop.

Who has had the biggest influence on your life?
A man in this community named George Hodgin started an organization called Men for Christ. That organization helped expand my religious and spiritual experience. With that group, I’ve worked on building projects in Mexico many times. I’ve also been a member of medical teams around the world including in Honduras, Uganda, Congo, Indonesia, Haiti and Mozambique.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Don’t wait until some devastating thing comes along to go on that vacation or do all those other things you want to do. Do it now. God says, “I’ll give you life and I’ll give it to you more abundantly if you’ll just trust in me.”

What brought you to Adventist Health?
In the 80s, a couple in Colorado hired me to work on their farm. My son had just been born, and my wife and I had very little money. One day, the woman I worked for on the farm said to me, “Larry, pick a college, any college, and we will make sure you graduate.” My parents had both been nurses, and I thought, why not get a nursing degree? After I graduated as a nurse, my wife and I drew a circle on the map of everywhere we could drive a U-Haul truck, and Tillamook was right on the edge.

What do you love about working at Adventist Health?
I appreciate the culture here. You can share your faith, and you can practice your faith. Since becoming a nurse, I’ve never worked anywhere else.

What motivates you?
I went on a medical mission trip to Mozambique. One day I met a woman who came in for help with athlete’s foot. I was talking with her and gave her gummy bears like we did all the patients — so they could taste the sweetness of what it feels like to be a friend of Jesus. When I first met her, she didn’t want to hear anything about Jesus, but by the time we left Mozambique she had given her heart to him. That is the kind of thing that motivates me.

What gives you hope?
I’ve heard the voice of God enough to know there’s a future beyond this world. My goal is to get out of bed every morning and say, “OK Lord, here I am. Point the way.” And he points the way and takes care of everything, every little detail.

Explore opportunities to join the Adventist Health team at AdventistHealth.org/careers.

Read more inspiring stories about the Adventist Health team:
Meet Adam Lee
Meet Chris Hagen
Meet Haley Pacholec
Meet Jasmin Huila Flores
Meet Jesse Seibel
Meet Selene Castilla
Terry Johnsson
Meet Treshawna (Tre) Turner