Services

Location Information

Spiritual Care

The spiritual care department works to help patients, family members and associates address spiritual, religious and emotional needs. Chaplains are clinically trained to provide care to people of diverse faith traditions and people who do not claim a faith or tradition. Chaplains listen to what is important by accessing each person’s beliefs, value systems, spiritual resources and religious resources to support them in their circumstances. The presence of a chaplain who isn’t judging – but who is listening and seeking to understand – can be an asset for those who are facing or attempting to make meaning of life transitions and decisions.

Chaplains may serve as a bridge to the faith community where the patient or family has a connection, or may work in tandem with a patient’s faith resources to provide spiritual care. If patients, residents or families are not a part of any faith group, or their relationship to their faith group is not a close one, the chaplain can offer spiritual support that draws upon the form their spirituality takes.

There are common expressions of spiritual pain to which the chaplain seeks to respond in a supportive manner:

  • Alienation
  • Meaning and purpose
  • Guilt
  • Forgiveness and reconciliation
  • Mortality
  • Hope
  • Anger/frustration

Other commonly expressed concerns are:

  • Loss of identity
  • Fear of suffering or death
  • Relational conflicts or tensions between a patient and their family members
  • Sense of loss of control of one’s life or health

People often express concern about seemingly unimportant issues when it is too hard to express their spiritual or emotional concerns. Many times, spiritual and emotional care are given simultaneously. The chaplain is not the sole source of spiritual care or emotional support. There are times when nurses and other clinicians offer support in these areas. Spiritual and emotional care are often similar in nature.

Chaplains are available at Blanchard Valley Hospital, Bluffton Hospital, Bridge Home Health & Hospice, Birchaven Village and Independence House. If you would like spiritual care support during your visit, please notify you nurse or another health system associate. 

You are also welcome to request chaplain services during your visit by calling the numbers below.

Blanchard Valley Hospital

419.425.4500

Bluffton Hospital

419.358.9010

Bridge Home Health and Hospice

419.423.5351 (Findlay)

419.352.9808 (Bowling Green)

Birchaven Village

419.424.3000

Independence House

419.435.8505