BUCKHANNON – The Chaplains at St. Joseph’s Hospital focus on patients’ spiritual needs while the doctors tend to their physical needs.
Did you know Oct. 20 through Oct. 26 is Spiritual Care Week? This year’s theme is ‘Chaplains Beyond Religious Roles.’ In recognition of the crucial work chaplains do, My Buckhannon spoke with Chaplain Rev. Gage Rewerts, who explained the importance of taking care of a patient’s spiritual needs while they stay in the hospital.
“I monitor the staff’s, guests’ and visitors’ spiritual needs while they are going through our hospital, and I try to visit everyone that comes through our hospital within 24 hours,” Rewerts said. “Primarily, what I’m doing in that first encounter is welcoming you to the hospital and making sure you’re comfortable.”
Rewerts said he wants to offer hospitality and empathy but also evaluate each patient’s spiritual resources.
“Do you have family and friends who will come and visit with you? Do you have a local congregation? Is your local pastor able to come and visit? Do you have any sort of issues understanding, reconciling and coping with what you’re going through at this time?” Rewerts said. “I make that assessment, just like any physician would, and then attempt several different types of interventions, depending on the case.”
He said some patients simply enjoy having someone to talk to.
“Sometimes, folks just need to know we’re here, and the idea of that safety net makes them feel a little better during their stay,” Rewerts said. “Sometimes folks are just lonely; a lot of our patients are elderly and are more or less shut in, so having just a pleasant conversation while they’re in the hospital, while I still do my assessment, can help.”
“Sometimes folks are in a crisis where they are having trouble coping with the situation, and they find themselves, thankfully, being a smaller local hospital; we don’t see nearly the volume of those folks in a spiritual crisis like at UHC or Ruby, or where I did my residency, St. Mary’s in Huntington. We don’t see that same volume of critical cases, but they do occur about once a month, I’d say,” he added.
St. Joseph Hospital’s has three volunteer chaplains who step in when Rewerts is not available. As part of Spiritual Care Week, the hospital thanked volunteer chaplains Father Ed Tetteh, Pastor Dwayne Brown and Pastor Treasea Crites.
“Father Ed Tetteh has some formal training in what’s called Clinical Pastoral Education, and the other two are interested in pursuing it, but they are local pastors, so they have some training and experience with dealing with people in crisis,” Rewerts said. “I really want to express my appreciation for our volunteers and their dedication to the patients of our hospital.”
Rewerts also runs a prayer service at the St. Joseph’s Nursing Care Facility at least once a week.
“That’s a unique Chaplain setting; not a lot of Chaplains actually belong to or have a nursing care facility on top of seeing the patients who rotate in and out,” Rewerts said. “It’s quite wonderful. I get to spend some time up there with them and put on some events there, but I need to try and find some more volunteers for up there because there is not as much programming up there as I’d like, especially musically inclined volunteers.”
“We’re trying to put something on a more regular basis in terms of a hymn or gospel music up there for them,” he continued.
While federal law requires hospitals to offer pastoral care, it is unique for a hospital of St. Joseph’s size to have a full-time chaplain.
“Hospitals our size usually have some part-timers, and they’re not usually chaplains who have a residency under their belt, and I’m actually board-eligible right now, ” Rewerts said. “All hospitals will have at least one chaplain, or a chaplain’s department or local chaplains they can call, so you have to provide it in some capacity.”
Rewerts completed a yearlong residency at St. Mary’s in Huntington and joined the St Joseph’s Hospital team last year after the passing of the Rev. Barry Moll.
“It’s been quite a unique experience in terms of what I was trained to expect at a hospital this size versus what actually takes place on a day-to-day, but in a good way,” Rewerts said. “I’m in my third year of chaplaincy, and I was in parish ministry for about five years before that.”
Rewerts said he is willing to accept students who need to complete their clinical hours in Clinical Pastoral Education.
“I’m not a CPE facilitator, but I would be willing and able to be what’s called a ‘preceptor’ and would allow folks to be able to use our site at the hospital to actually gain those skills and those units,” he offered.
