“Faith heals,” says leading publication
Modern Healthcare

Modern Healthcare is the leading source of healthcare business news. On November 2nd it published the second letter to the editor that HealthCare Chaplaincy’s the Rev. George Handzo, and Association of Professional Chaplains president the Rev. Sue Wintz, have jointly sent this year. They wrote:


Faith heals

We appreciated David May’s suggestion in his Oct. 26 editorial (p. 23) that professional chaplains have much to contribute to the national discussion on end-of-life care within healthcare reform.

Mr. May said that, for his family, “the warmth, empathy and comforting presence of the hospital chaplain ... really saw us through at the end.” For patients and families facing any diagnosis, particularly one that involves treatment decisions near end of life, it is most often the issues that touch one’s spirituality—including those of suffering, hope, comfort and meaning—that cause distress and challenge communication.

The recent consensus report, “Improving the quality of spiritual care as a dimension of palliative care: the report of the consensus conference,” published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine says that board-certified chaplains are an essential part of the interprofessional team. They are the spiritual-care experts who contribute to the diagnosis and treatment plan with respect to issues of spirituality.

By virtue of their training and certification, professional chaplains work with persons of all religious and spiritual traditions as well as those with none.

They are there not to impose a certain belief system upon patients or families, but rather to assist them in identifying their sources of strength and support. By helping to identify cultural, emotional, religious and spiritual beliefs and values, professional chaplains assist the care team to address and incorporate those components into the treatment plan.

Rev. George Handzo
Vice President
HealthCare Chaplaincy
New York

Rev. Susan Wintz
President
Association of Professional Chaplains
Schaumburg, Ill.

Applause for extraordinary health care professionals

On November 10th nearly 500 health care, business and civic leaders attended the 23rd annual Wholeness of Life Awards Dinner at Cipriani 42nd St. The benefit raised close to $1,050,000 in support of HealthCare Chaplaincy’s innovative and evidence-based programs in research, education, and clinical practice.

The dinner honored health care professionals who recognize and tend to the whole person – spirit, mind and body.

Honorees included twelve patient care professionals from our metropolitan New York partner institutions.

Honored were HealthCare Chaplaincy and its Chief Executive Officer the Reverend Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J. Introducing Father Smith was Thomas R. Rochon, Ph.D., President, Ithaca College, and presenting the award was John M. Templeton, Jr., M.D., Chairman and President, The John Templeton Foundation.

Lifetime Achievement honorees were Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery and Clinical Pharmacology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and one of the world’s leading authorities in cancer pain management and palliative care; Jean B. Case, M.D., Internist, Preventive Medicine at New York Physicians, LLP and a specialist in internal medicine and rheumatology; and David B. Case, M.D., Executive Board Member, New York Physicians, LLP and an educator, researcher, clinician and expert in the field of hypertension.

View photos of honorees and guests here.

Chaplaincy’s tag line ranks in top 4%

Nearly 5,000 nonprofit professionals who voted in the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards selected HealthCare Chaplaincy’s tagline “Finding Meaning. Bringing Comfort” as among the most effective 4% of those in use today. “Finding Meaning. Bringing Comfort” was one of 60 finalists out of the 1,700 taglines entered in this year's competition.

Nancy Schwartz, editor and publisher of Getting Attention, wrote, “A nonprofit's tagline is hands down the briefest, easiest and most effective way to communicate its identity and impact."

Major palliative care conference includes
HealthCare Chaplaincy

HealthCare Chaplaincy urges that palliative care become more widely available and that a public health priority should be to educate more Americans of its value. As a result, Chaplaincy was asked to participate in a milestone conference hosted by New York City’s Health & Hospitals Corporation on November 19th.

Representing Chaplaincy were the Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J., Jeanne Lee, Claire Haaga Altman and the Rev. George Handzo.

In his keynote address, R. Sean Morrison, M.D., Director of the National Palliative Care Research Center and Professor of Geriatrics and Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, said that palliative care is a novel solution to what he called America’s health care crisis.

He defined palliative care as “patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering.” Palliative care addresses “physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs.”

Dr. Morrison noted that despite unprecedented gains in life expectancy, with its exponential rise in number and needs of frail elderly and their caregivers, we currently have only one palliative medicine M.D. for every 31,000 people with serious advanced illness.

A panel discussion followed on the challenges for palliative care services in New York City. Father Smith joined five members of the health care community to discuss “improving community awareness and hence access to palliative care services.”

“By definition,” said Father Smith, “palliative care is a team approach to care, and the chaplain is an integral member of that care team and has a specific role to play in helping patients and families to navigate safely and securely through often uncharted waters.”

Other panel members included Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Ph.D., Commissioner, New York City Department for the Aging; Susan E. Cohen, M.D,, Director/Medical Director, Palliative Care Program, Bellevue Hospital Center; Nancy Dubler, LLB, Senior Associate, Montefiore-Einstein Center for Bioethics; Jeanne Denis, MSW, Vice President, VNSNY Hospice Care; and Bette Kerr, Ed.D., Caregiver, Volunteer, Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Representing the Bloomberg administration was Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs who made the closing remarks.

Read new annual report
Shaping the Future of Health Care

The Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report spotlights recent accomplishments and previews future projects in our work to transform how health care is understood and provided. Find annual report here.

Explore new video oral history

Watch personal stories from more than thirty visionaries and change-makers for spiritually centered health care. Their ideas, energy and spiritual concerns have contributed to HealthCare Chaplaincy's becoming a force for vision and change for an issue that reaches into the deepest meaning of human experience.