Infection Control - St. Joseph Medical Center

Faith
Meet the Surgery Chaplain
Spreading blessings and calm in the presurgical area leads to better outcomes
St. Joseph’s beautiful new
front entrance and Surgical
Services waiting area inspire
confidence, but once patients
come into the Ambulatory
Surgery Unit (ASU), their caregivers
fill them with even more assurance
that they are in the best of hands.
They meet highly skilled nurses and
are greeted by a warm, supportive
person whom they did not expect—
Father Bogdan Palka, ASU chaplain,
watches over the ASU patients and
staff—his flock—offering blessings
and comfort no matter what
denomination a person is. He tries to visit every patient, approximately
20-40 a day, and is seldom turned down.
“I offer them a prayer, a blessing, or anointing of the sick.
I call it my spiritual medication to quench their anxiety,” said
Father Bogdan with a smile, in his charming Polish accent.
He describes the area as a mosaic of faiths and keeps Jewish
and Hindu prayers on hand.
The nurses look forward to his arrival each morning.
“He laughs. He jokes,” said Mary Stoecker, RN. “There’s a real
human behind the collar. He’s always there for us.”
“He has a calming effect. It doesn’t matter what your religion
is,” said Regina Schuch, RN.
Less Pain, More Peace
So calming, that according to Dr. Paul McAfee, head of Spinal
Surgery at St. Joseph, “Father Bogdan performs an incredibly
important service to patients of all faiths. After his visit, they’re
much less agitated in the OR, and they actually need less pain
medication when they wake up. Father Bogdan is one of the
greatest people I’ve ever met.”
“You see a peace, an appreciation from patients,” said Deborah
Hall, RN. “You cannot ask for anything better before surgery.”
“Spiritual care is just as important as the registration or medication
part,” explained Susanne DeCrane, director of Spiritual
Care at St. Joseph. “Patients almost feel like a weight’s been
lifted off their shoulders. To my best knowledge, we are
the only hospital with spiritual care dedicated to the
presurgical area,” said DeCrane.
“Jewish prayer books or
“It is a space for prayer
the Koran are available.
and meditation,
For those of the Muslim
designed for people
tradition, the room
features to bring shelves in their to faith” place
their Susanne shoes DeCrane, and a very
subtle
Director of Spiritual
marker
Care
indicating Mecca.”
New Interfaith Room Welcomes All Beliefs
Nourishing and comforting the spirit is of the utmost importance at St. Joseph Medical
Center, which is why our Spiritual Care Center recently opened the new Interfaith Room.
“The concept is a room that isn’t defined by religious symbols of any tradition,”
explained Susanne DeCrane, St. Joseph’s director of Spiritual Care. Located by
the Meditation Garden on the first floor, “this neutral room is warm and welcoming.
It is a space for prayer and meditation, designed for people to bring in their faith—it
can become a Jewish, Muslim or Hindu space, or any type of spiritual space a person
needs.” For example, Jewish prayer books or the Koran are available. For those of
the Muslim tradition, the room features shelves to place their shoes and a very subtle
marker indicating Mecca.
“We support the faith traditions of our patients in many ways. We have more than
130 visiting clergy, including most Protestant denominations, Rabbis and an Imam.
We provide electric menorahs on request for the Sabbath. Just let us know; we’ll do our
best to support your spiritual needs,” added DeCrane. Spiritual Care can be reached
at 410-337-1109.
Fall 2009 St. Joseph Medical Center / sjmcmd.org