A recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reveals that more than 70 percent of patients surveyed with less than a year to live said their spiritual needs were not met by hospital chaplains or others in the health care system.
“Where some hospitals do not make spiritual care a priority, we do,” said Sister Gerard Earls, vice president of Mission Integration at St. Mary Medical Center. “Because we are a faith-based hospital, we integrate the patient’s spiritual needs as an essential part of their total medical care.”
At St. Mary, there is a full complement of staff devoted just to the patients’ pastoral care. Each patient is visited within 24 to 48 hours of admission by one of the four chaplains, two Sisters and two priests. A Lutheran minister and volunteer Eucharistic Ministers are also part of the staff.
“After our initial visit, if the patient wants ongoing support, we offer that service too,” Earls said. “We also provide a reflective prayer in the morning over the hospital intercom system, a palliative care program with an emphasis on pain management and focus on end of life issues, and to help with the grief process, we offer bereavement counseling for loved ones.”
