Comfort and Healing

At Catholic Health, we understand that spiritual well-being is essential to a patient's health and recovery. Reflecting the teachings of the Catholic Church, we seek to uphold the dignity of every individual and compassionately attend to the religious and spiritual needs of all those we serve. Our pastoral care team—comprised of chaplains, priests, ministers, and religious sisters and brothers—is available to all patients, at all Catholic Health hospitals and continuing care facilities, regardless of religious affiliation. 

Whenever we do something together, something good, something beautiful, everyone changes—all of us change in some way—and this does us good.

Pope Francis

Spiritual Care at Catholic Health Hospitals

Our pastoral care team is also available to help patients and caregivers at Catholic Health continuing care facilities.

Role of Our Chaplains

Spiritual care is the specialty of a chaplain, lay or ordained, who provides spiritual support and pastoral care to patients and their families. Our chaplains are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They serve all faith traditions and help patients and their families access the resources needed to carry out their own religious traditions or spiritual practices in the process of healing.

Chaplains are called when:

  • A patient is anxious or fearful of surgery, therapy or medical procedures
  • A patient arrives in a traumatic or emergency situation
  • Patients and family members must make major care or treatment decisions
  • A patient is seeking the sacraments
  • Patients are seeking religious symbols, materials, rituals and/or prayer
  • Patients or family members need encouragement, comfort or consolation
  • A patient seems alone or isolated from family and community
  • For unknown reasons, the patient is not responding to medical treatment
  • Families and clinical staff find it difficult to effectively communicate with one another
  • A patient’s illness causes lasting disability
  • A patient is coping with long term or terminal illness
  • A patient is dying or is being disconnected from life support
  • There is conflict involving the patient, caregivers and/or family

Caregivers Fund

Thanks to the generosity of employees and friends of Catholic Health, the lifesaving work of fellow caregivers both near and far has been enthusiastically supported.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

Become a spiritual caregiver through ministry education.

Our I-CARE Values

Integrity: We are who we say we are and act in accordance with the splendor of truth of our Catholic moral teaching and our Catholic values.

Compassion: We have compassion for our patients, see the suffering Christ in them, strive to alleviate suffering and serve the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of our patients.

Accountability: We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.

Respect: We honor the sanctity of life at every stage of life and the dignity of every person, and incorporate all the principles of Catholic social teaching in our relationships and advocacy.

Excellence: We seek the glory of God in the compassionate service of our patients, and we strive to do the best that can be done, whatever our role.

Our Mission 

We, at Catholic Health, humbly join together to bring Christ’s healing mission and the mission of mercy of the Catholic Church expressed in Catholic health care to our communities.
 

Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services