About Us
Baby Web Nursery
Patient Services
Physician Directory
Contact Us
Employment Opportunities
Classes & Programs
Health Links
Foundation
Maps & Directions
Patient Handbook
News Library
Patient Greetings
Compliance
Report to the Community
|
|
|
|
JACKSON HOSPITAL
Contact: Rosie Smith FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tel. 850/718-2696
Email: rsmith@jackhosp.org
JACKSON HOSPITAL ANNOUNCES CHAPLAIN PROGRAM
Local Clergy Provides Spiritual Care for Patients at Hospital
Marianna, FL, November 6, 2007. Jackson Hospital announces The Jackson Hospital Chaplain Program, a new care program available to patients and their families. Sixteen area Clergy are participating and Evangel Worship Center’s Pastor LaVon Pettis serves as Head Chaplain. Debbie Matthews, RN, CNOR, Director of Surgery, is the Chaplain Program liaison and initiated the project. Nurse Matthews says, “The Chaplains are hands-extended, caring for the patient’s spiritual needs.”
The program planning which started in May 2007 is coming to full implementation this fall. Bishop Flavis Pittman says the Chaplain program “is another avenue to give back to the community.”
The local Clergy participating, in alphabetical order by Church name, are:
· Reverend Brad Wycoff, Christ Alliance Church
· Pastor Tim Smith, Church of Christ
· Senior Pastor Dr. Steve Canada of Eastside Baptist Church
· Senior Pastor LaVon Pettis, Worship Pastor Phil Crawford, and Executive Pastor Ken Barber of Evangel Worship Center
· Bishop Flavis Pittman, Ever Increasing Word of Faith Ministry
· Senior Pastor Stephen Potter and Associate Pastor David Long, First Assembly of God
· Reverend Dr. Huw Christopher, First Presbyterian Church
· Reverend Robert McKibben and Associate Pastor Bob Calvert of First United Methodist Church
· Pastor Jeff Ward, New Life Family Church
· Reverend Dr. James D. Sykes, Sr., St. James AME
· Reverend Norman H. Bray, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and
· Pastor Roland Rabon, Trinity Baptist Church.
President of the Ministerial Association of Jackson County and Associate Pastor Bob Calvert of First United Methodist Church says, “The Hospital Chaplain Program provides the opportunity for area Clergy to reach out and touch the hurting.” The Hospital Chaplain will make rounds, as a doctor does, to visit patients in the hospital. While the doctor tends to the physical, medical needs of the patient, the Chaplain tends to the patient’s spiritual needs. The Chaplain’s interaction with patients is one of comfort and counsel: the visit is not for proselytizing or recruitment.
How it works is the Chaplain consults the Hospital patient census to organize that day’s visit schedule. Highlighted on the census are those patients who answered yes to the “request for Chaplain Visit” question at the time of hospital admission. If a patient is unsure or declines the Chaplain visit at admission, then later changes their mind or a family member seeks the Chaplain, they need only to make their request known to the nursing staff and that patient will be included in the Chaplain’s rounds. Head Chaplain LaVon Pettis is “encouraged by the receptiveness of the Chaplain outreach at the hospital.”
For patients having a medical emergency or taken to the Emergency Department due to a trauma, the chaplain is on call 24 hours a day/7 days a week. The Chaplain will arrive at the Hospital to provide comfort to patients and their family. Reverend Dr. Huw Christopher says that “serving as a Chaplain helps build a relationship with the staff, too.” This relationship is important because in a trauma situation the Chaplain may also serve as a communications link between family members and the nursing staff caring for the trauma patient.
The Chaplains are staff of the hospital who completed orientation on the Hospital’s patient privacy and HIPPA regulations. Dave Hample, CEO of Jackson Hospital, is pleased to have the Chaplains serve on the Hospital’s care team. He says, “The Chaplains are there for the emotional and spiritual support of the patient and family, especially during times of medical crisis.”
Jackson Hospital’s mission is to provide the highest quality healthcare to those it serves, enhancing life in a compassionate environment. Debbie Matthews, RN, CNOR, is excited about the Chaplain Program because it “helps further the Hospital’s mission of enhancing life in a compassionate environment.”
The Hospital Chaplain Program is open to ministers of all faiths. Clergy interested in joining the program may contact Head Chaplain LaVon Pettis at Evangel Worship Center, 526-2232, or Debbie Matthews of Jackson Hospital at 718-2542.
Jackson Hospital, a top 100 Hospital in the nation according to Thomson Healthcare, is the only Florida hospital in its size category to receive the 2006 Performance Improvement Leaders award. The Hospital provides in-patient, outpatient, and emergency care services from its main location in Marianna at 4250 Hospital Drive.
# # #
If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Debbie Matthews, RN, CNOR, please call Rosie at 850/718-2696 or email her at rsmith@jackhosp.org.
4250 Hospital Drive, Marianna, FL 32446 ● (850) 526-2200 ● www.jacksonhosp.com | |