Health Services

Great River Medical Center chaplains are part of the health-care team providing you with quality care. They are available to care for your emotional/spiritual needs while in the hospital. Hospital chaplains do not represent specific denominations or religions. Their ministry is to patients and family members who may be affected by a crisis or significant hospital event, including birth, illness, medical tests, surgery or death.

Hospital chaplains are not meant to replace your clergy. They serve as additional sources of care when circumstances warrant or when other clergy are not available. On request, hospital chaplains can arrange visits from clergy of your choice. They also provide nondenominational meditation materials.

Contacting a hospital chaplain

The chaplains may visit you as they make rounds, or you may request a visit. You may reach a chaplain in two ways:

• Ask your nurse or any staff member to call a chaplain for you.
• Dial 88 for Guest Services and ask that the chaplain stop by your room.

A chaplain is on call evenings and weekends and there is always a chaplain available. Any hospital employee can contact a chaplain for you.

Inpatient pastoral care services

Hospital chaplains are available for:

• Administering the sacraments
• Contacting your own clergy
• Faith and spiritual concerns
• Prayer and reading the Scripture
• When you and your family are experiencing anxiety and fear
• When you are experiencing grief due to personal loss
• When you are experiencing the grief of your own impending death or the death of a family member

Chapel

The Glenn R. Parrott Chapel is located on the Garden (lower) Level of the hospital, next to Human Resources. It is open to patients, family members and friends 24 hours a day for prayer and meditation. Literature racks with booklets and pamphlets dealing with various emotional/spiritual topics are located in the chapel and Intensive Care Unit waiting room.

Chapel services are scheduled at 2 p.m. Sundays in the Transitional Care Unit Dining Room. Everyone is welcome to attend these services; however, some patients may require permission from their physicians to leave their rooms. If this is a concern, please discuss this with your physician, a nurse or a chaplain.

Feel free to come to chapel services dressed in your hospital attire. If you need help with transportation to chapel, please discuss this with your nurse before service begins.

Grief programs

The Spiritual Care Department has information regarding grief support resources and groups that are available in the local area. These programs are led by professionals in bereavement counseling in a group setting. The programs are designed to help survivors recognize and accept the reality of death, share their feelings, learn coping behaviors and diminish their grief. All sessions are confidential.

Advance directives

Hospital chaplains are available to discuss with patients, family members and members of the community, questions related to advance directives. An advance directive is a legal document that outlines specific decisions regarding a patient’s health care, including the right to accept or refuse recommended care. Two types of advance directives are:

• Durable power of attorney for health care
• Living wills

If you already have an advance directive, the hospital will ask you for a copy so it can be included in your medical record. If you do not have an advance directive and would like to create one, forms to do so are available from a hospital chaplain. Feel free to talk to a hospital chaplain if you have any questions about advance directives, and they will be happy to answer your questions and help you complete one.

For more information, please call the Spiritual Care Department at (319) 768-4060.