Adventist Health System (Adventist) was founded in 1973 to support and strengthen Seventh-day Adventist healthcare organizations in the Southern and Southwestern regions of the United States. It quickly became the largest not-for-profit Protestant healthcare provider in the nation. Today, Adventist Health System organizations provide 37 hospitals totaling more than 6,300 licensed beds, care for nearly 4 million patients each year in inpatient, outpatient and emergency room visits, and employ almost 43,000 members of their communities in full and part-time positions. Seventeen extended-care centers provide more than 2,000 beds for patients who need long-term medical or rehabilitation services.  Adventist Care Centers, Adventist Health System's long-term care connection, contracts with 16 of these facilities. Adventist's also operates over 20 home health care agencies. Adventist's flagship, Florida Hospital, is one of the largest healthcare providers in America and a national leader in cardiac care.