At Newton Medical Center, spiritual care is affirmed as an integral part of the team approach to health care and is very much a part of our belief and values. We are grateful for our spiritual heritage. Our mission is to excel in providing health care by understanding and responding to the individual needs of those we serve, including spiritual and emotional needs.
Our Chaplain can serve you, and/or your family, by:
- Being present with you during crisis or stress.
- Contacting your local pastor in a crisis situation.
- Bringing spiritual resources to bear toward your healing.
- Arranging for sacraments and rituals.
- Considering medical/ethical decisions.
- Offering pastoral visitation.
- Providing spiritual counseling.
- Supporting you and your physician’s medical goals.
- Advocating for your concerns.
- Sharing blessings of praise and thanksgiving.
Supportive Presence
If you are a patient, family member or friend of a patient, the Hospital Chaplain is available to be present with you during an emergency or stressful situation.
Pastor Notification
At the time of your admission, the registration assistant will note your religious preference and your local church connection. You and/or your family are encouraged to notify your pastor personally.
Bibles and devotional guides in large print are available in your room. CD/DVD players are also in each patient room. Religious music CDs are available for your use while in the hospital, as well as prayer cards, rosaries and other spiritual care resources through the pastoral care department. Your own clergyperson is also welcome to visit you at any time.
Chapel
Our Hospital Chapel is a quiet oasis. Located in the main hallway across from the center courtyard, the chapel is always open. It is an environment of calm, available for personal meditation or small group consultation. Prayer requests may be left there for our chaplain. Bibles, devotional guides and other supportive care resources are also available in the chapel.
Holy Communion Sacrament
On Sunday mornings, Holy Communion is made available to you. A card arrives on your breakfast tray. You may indicate your preference for Protestant, Catholic or other faith tradition for the communion sacrament. Upon giving your card to your nurse, appropriate Eucharistic ministers or Communion stewards will come to your room. Arrangements for Holy Communion at other times are available upon request.
Other Sacraments and Rituals
In addition to prayers, other requests may include Baptisms, Blessings, Naming Ceremonies, Anointing of the Sick and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Hospital Chaplain may provide, or arrange for another chaplain to provide, these services for you.
Patient and Family Support
The hospital chaplain provides spiritual and emotional support for you and your family by respecting your religious tradition and your own spiritual practices. Supporting you also includes listening to your concerns while you are in the hospital and praying with you if you so desire. Supportive spiritual care may include conversations with you about end-of-life decisions or assisting you with advance care planning documents. The chaplain provides comfort for you in times of spiritual distress and anxiety.
Supportive spiritual family care may include conversations with the chaplain surrounding your health care choices and the emotional needs of your family. The chaplain may help redefine critical issues and sort out misunderstandings, help reevaluate values and beliefs and provide supportive encouragement. The chaplain will participate in family conferences with the medical team as needed.
Staff Support
Spiritual support services undergird our staff. The chaplain listens with respect and concern, journeys with them through grief and loss, facilitates debriefings after difficult events, shares joys and concerns in prayer and comforts in times of distress and despair. The chaplain also provides blessings of encouragement and hope to staff members through various rituals and ceremonies throughout the year.
Interdisciplinary Support
Other services provided in cooperation with the hospital’s interdisciplinary team include assisting with the completion of Advance Care Planning directives, lending insight into religious and cultural diversity, participating in ethics consultations, connecting with organ/tissue donation services and engaging in community partnerships.
24/7 Availability
Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m, call 316.804.6022 (from outside the hospital) or 1720 (from a hospital telephone).
After 6:00 p.m. and on weekends and holidays, ask a nurse or other staff member to contact the switchboard and request a Chaplain.
Volunteer Chaplaincy Program
Newton Medical Center launched a redesigned Volunteer Chaplaincy program in 2013. This program provides a unique opportunity for local and area clergy to serve patients and families in times of a health crisis, as well as hospital staff in times of special needs.
- The team of dedicated Volunteer Chaplains each choose one night per month of call-in availability.
- Volunteer Chaplains are not asked to complete any clinical “paperwork.”
- Responsibilities are to provide a ministry of presence and spiritual care for patients, families and/or staff as requested during the designated availability.
If you are interested in participating as a Volunteer Chaplain, please contact the hospital chaplain to request a brochure, application form, and schedule a free breakfast interview with the Pastoral Care advisory council. Following acceptance, a hospital orientation and calendar schedule will be provided.
Phone: 316-804-6022
Email: chaplain@newmedctr.org.