Chaplaincy department responds to challenge of outpatient ministry

In so doing, it helps build patient loyalty, satisfaction

By Michelle Lemiesz, M.Div., BCC

In 2002, the three chaplaincy services departments within the Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, OH, participated in an individual and system departmental assessment in order to evaluate how our departments measured against Trinity Health’s “Standards for Spiritual Care.” Each standard was analyzed individually and the evaluation produced a collective examination of how spiritual care was being delivered within the system at each site. The analysis result was to assist in goal formation for each of the hospitals’ chaplaincy services departments.

Perhaps the most glaring observation uncovered by the assessment was our hospital-centric ministry with its focus on inpatients and staff. Little to no support was provided to outpatient care areas and there was no communication between the department and numerous physician offices on each of our campuses. This article focuses on how Mount Carmel East responded to that challenge, and how that changed the focus and perception of our department.

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Outpatient chaplaincy means
ministry ‘in the moment’

By Ruth Jandeska

I have never valued the importance of a good night of sleep as much as I did when I was the chaplain of an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC). The word ambulatory comes from the Latin “ambulare,” which means “to walk.” The day starts very early in the ASC. Patients might arrive as early as 5 a.m. and start registering. By 5:45 a.m. they are admitted and taken for lab work and other testing. It is a very fast-paced unit with a heavy flow of patients almost every day. One of the characteristics of this unit is that it has its own natural flow. Like most ASC’s, patients are admitted, evaluated, moved to the pre-operative room and then to the operating room (OR). Once the surgery is finished, patients are taken to the Post-Anesthesia Recovery Unit (PACU).

I quickly felt my need to be well rested so that I would be more intentionally able to pay attention to my feelings and respond effectively and empathically to my patients.

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‘Dream job’ achieved: outpatient ministry among the poor

By Sr. Andre Dembowski, RSM, BCC

Let us follow the example of Jesus who testified on all occasions a tender love for the poor. – Morning and Evening Prayer of the Sisters of Mercy

Every Sunday after being certified I’d chat with retired health care workers from my parish, St. Vincent’s, near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, about the hunt for my “dream job” -- outpatient ministry. Responses ran the gamut: from “Never happen! A chaplain for outpatients is a luxury” to “If you ask me it’s on the cutting edge of health care today. Patients are in and out ASAP; stick with your dream!” After a few sterile interviews at local hospitals in Baltimore, my mentor for certification encouraged me to “trust and wait,” the openings will come. “The openings” turned out to be quite singular -- St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, DE.

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Why a retreat?
Cancer patients seek hope, sharing of journey

By Phillis Bennett, BCC

"Healing is a matter of time, but it sometimes is also a matter of opportunity." -- Hippocrates

Course evaluations from Mayo Cancer Center public education events revealed that our patients value spirituality. Breakout sessions on spirituality and hope, as they relate to the experience of cancer, consistently received high ratings and attendance from conference participants. The evaluation of a chaplain presence conducted by Mayo Chaplain Services concerning a year long pilot in 1996-1997 involving outpatient cancer patients and their loved ones demonstrated the need for enhanced spiritual support. Setting apart a special time and sacred space for patients to gather and reflect upon their cancer experience outside the clinical setting would complement efforts provided by a chaplain in the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Rochester, MN, to meet the psychosocial and spiritual needs of our outpatients and their families.

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