Bayhealth Receives Excellence in Spiritual Care Award

Bayhealth Pastoral Care has received the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network’s “Excellence in Spiritual Care” Award for the second time, after previously receiving the award in 2016. The national award signifies Bayhealth’s commitment to addressing the spiritual and religious needs of our patients through best practices in spiritual care.

The HealthCare Chaplaincy Network™ is a nonprofit organization offering spiritual care-related assistance to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The two-year award is given based on an organization’s ability to meet a set of standards of excellence in spiritual care. These standards include employing an interdisciplinary approach to spiritual care, engaging in quality improvement projects and the strategic deployment of chaplaincy care resources.

“It’s gratifying to see the improvements we’ve made in order to maintain this recognition. Our drive is helping us to grow the program and provide better spiritual care,” says Senior Chaplain Blake Bowers. “Every day we consistently visit with patients to help them through what may be some of their darkest days. We also assist staff as they too have difficult days, and may need an outlet to manage their grief and other issues arising from patient care.”

Pastoral Care at Bayhealth is responsible for the religious and spiritual care of patients and family during a patient’s stay in the hospital. There are 21 on-call clergy and lay pastoral care volunteers made available to patients. Currently Bayhealth employs three full-time chaplains. Spiritual care at Bayhealth has shown to have a positive impact on patient and organizational outcomes.

Local clergy can volunteer at Bayhealth and offer assistance to the chaplain by visiting patients and responding to pastoral requests made by families and staff. If you’re interested in being a chaplaincy volunteer, visit Bayhealth.org/Volunteer-Opportunities for more information.