BeaconNews from HealthCare Chaplaincy

The

Bold Vision for America’s First Palliative Care Campus

Inaugurates 50th Anniversary Year

2010 Wholeness of Life Awards Dinner honors the chairmen of the Board of Trustees

from our first 50 years and patient care experts from partner hospitals.

HealthCare Chaplaincy inaugurated

its 50th anniversary year on

November 4th at its annual gather-

ing of friends – the Wholeness of Life

Awards Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street – by

presenting highlights of its plan to build

America’s first palliative care campus.

Also that evening HealthCare Chaplaincy

honored 16 leaders who have served as

chairmen of our board of trustees

through our first 50 years as well as 11

health care professionals from our part-

ner institutions who provide extraordinary

care for their patients.

America’s first palliative care campus will

change the way Americans care for peo-

ple with life-altering illness.

Palliative care helps people to live well and

live fully. It reduces suffering. It matches

treatments to a person’s wishes and values.

Palliative care is concerned about and

embraces the whole person. It’s patient-

centered.

The palliative care team includes physi-

cians, nurses, social workers, profes-

sional chaplains, and others.

C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 3

Vol. 35 No. 4 / November 2010

The Palliative Care Campus will be located in lower Manhattan overlooking the FDR Drive and EastRiver. It will be housed in a beautifully-designed, environmentally-sustainable, iconic building thatwill add grace and elegance to the New York City skyline.

Anderson Cooper, anchor of CNN’s AndersonCooper 360o, narrates the new Video about ourpast achievements and future plans, “Caring fora City’s Soul.” View it at our website:healthcarechaplaincy.org.

At the November 4th Wholeness of Life AwardsDinner Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney(14th District New York) honored HealthCareChaplaincy by presenting a CongressionalRecord citation in tribute to our first fifty yearsof service.

News Briefs

This fall HealthCare Chaplaincy is

conducting an outstanding thirteen-session

educational seminar series to educate all

staff on key components of palliative care.

Leading the seminars are nationally

recognized speakers and qual i f ied

HealthCare Chaplaincy faculty.

The first session’s speaker

was Nessa Coyle, Ph.D.,

R N , F A A N , a n u r s e

practitioner at Memorial

Sloan-Kettering Cancer

Center with special training

in the care of symptomatic advanced cancer

patients and their families, and in end-of- life

care. She spoke about the philosophy of

palliative care.

The second session

presented an overview of

research findings on

palliative care, presented by

Kevin Flannelly, Ph.D.,

associate director of

research, Spears Research

Institute at HealthCare

Chaplaincy, and Nava

Silton, Ph.D., a former

postdoctoral Templeton

fe l l ow a t Hea l thCare

Chaplaincy and now a visiting professor at

Marymount Manhattan College.

The third session topic was

legal issues in chaplaincy,

a n d p a l l i a t i v e c a r e

presented by Bob Wolf,

HealthCare Chaplaincy’s

senior vice president for

development and innovation. His

presentation covered a broad range of legal

issues, including government benefits,

power of attorney, advance directives,

housing, consumer credit, immigration,

insurance disputes, wills, and employer

accommodation.

The Rev. George Handzo,

HealthCare Chaplaincy’s

vice president for pastoral

care leadership and

practice, was the guest speaker at the

September 15th Grand Rounds at

Northern Michigan Regional Hospital. His

subject was the role of spiritual care in

health care. The hospital serves 22

counties and a population of 400,000.

“Spiritual care isn’t or shouldn’t be an add-

on to health care,” Rev Handzo declared.

“It should be a valuable part of the regular

health care component. Chaplains

shouldn’t just be brought in at the end of a

patient’s life but should be there at the very

beginning of care, to offer support in any

way possible.”

According to Larry Funk, the Spiritual Care

Coordinator at Northern Michigan, the

number of people requesting hospital

chaplain visits has increased as more

people become aware of the role of

chaplains in the health care field.

Rev. Handzo’s visit affirmed the hospital’s

approach and provided new knowledge.

Mr. Funk said, “He emphasized the

importance of whole person care inclusive

of body, mind and spirit. His visit and

presentation left us encouraged, refocused

and energized.”

With so many Muslim and Jewish holidays

occurring in the Fall, the St. Luke’s Hospital

Diversity Council arranged several

presentations in late August to help foster

understanding and appreciation of those

upcoming observances.

HealthCare Chaplaincy’s

Imam Yusuf Hasan, a

staff chaplain at St.

L u k e ’s , g a v e a n

overview of Ramadan

and Eid Al-Fitr, Muslim

holy days observed by

many of the hospital’s

Muslim associates. The

talk aimed at broadening understanding

about Islam and the month-long religious

observance of Ramadan, and to be mindful

and respectful of Muslim associates who

may be fasting and praying for 30 days.

The fo l l ow ing week

Chaplaincy’s Rabbi Michael

Cohen, also a staff chaplain

at St. Luke’s, talked about

Rosh Hashanah, Yom

Kippur, Succoth and other

Jewish holidays to be

observed in the coming months.

The Diversity Council is charged with

promoting an understanding of diversity,

inclusion and respect at St. Luke’s Hospital.

For the second time this year, the New York

Daily News has featured HealthCare

Chaplaincy and one of our partner

institutions in its Sunday “Faith in the City”

page. Most recently shown was Lenox Hill

Hospital, and Chaplaincy director the Rev.

Wilfredo Rodriguez, and chaplains Rabbi

Ralph Kreger and the Rev. Christian

Christopher. We are proud of our 50 year

affiliation with Lenox Hill, which was one of

our first partner institutions in 1961. Here

are some excerpts:

� Size and character of congregation: “We

help 600 patients, family and staff find

comfort and meaning regardless of reli-

gion or beliefs. We provide prayers,

Scripture reading and counseling by the

bedside,” said Rodriguez.

� Proudest moment: “Our Wholeness of

Life Award ceremony and dinner spon-

sored by HealthCare Chaplaincy, which

honors individuals who realize the

importance of addressing the whole

needs of patients: physical, emotional

and spiritual,” Rodriguez said.

2 The Beacon

Northern Michigan Regional Hospital.

With the population of those over age 65

steadily increasing, there is a growing con-

se n su s t h a t America needs new cost-

effective care models that are more patient-

centered and responsive to the needs of spirit,

mind and body.

This is why HealthCare Chaplaincy is develop-

ing America’s first Palliative Care Campus. It will:

� Change the way care is provided for resi-

dents with serious progressive illness

through more accessible, more coordi-

nated, more integrated care. � Provide an optimal quality of life for residents

and their significant others during illness.� Help residents better understand their

choices for care and tailor treatment to

meet individual needs.

The Palliative Care Campus will house a 120

unit model enhanced assisted living residence

for persons with serious progressive illness;

our education, research, clinical practice and

administrative offices; and a palliative care and

geriatric medical home for residents and the

Lower East Side community.

Development is well underway and construc-

tion at the Lower Manhattan site is slated to

begin in the Summer of 2011 with a 2013 tar-

geted completion date. �

To find out more, please contact

Anastasia Hagan, Associate Vice

President for Advancement at

2 1 2 - 6 4 4 - 1 1 1 1 x 1 3 5 o r

ahagan@healthcarechaplaincy.org.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

<Bold Vision for America’s First Palliative Care

Campus Inaugurates 50th Anniversary Year

3 The Beacon

ADERONKE A.

ADEgBENRODietetic Technician

North Shore University Hospital

SHERRY I. BACKUS, PT,

DPT, MA Clinical Supervisor of the Motion

Analysis Laboratory

Hospital for Special Surgery

RAlPH BERNARDINI, RTSenior Recreation Therapist 3

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital

Extraordinary Individuals Honored

The Wholeness of Life Awards Dinner honored the chairmen of HealthCare Chaplaincy’s Board of Trustees who have led the

organization through 50 years of caring, healing, and growth. They are Robert C. Brown, the Rev. Dr. John S. Damm, William

W. Donnell, the Rev. C. Hugh Hildesley, the Rev. Frederick Hill (deceased), the Rev. Alanson B. Houghton, Donald J. Keller, T.

Michael Long, Anthony P. Marshall, Esq., the Rev. Hugh D. McCandless (deceased), Charlotte Miller, Ralph U. Price, William

G. Spears, Lawrence J. Toal, Rabbi Harlan J. Wechsler, D.D., and Eugene I. Zuriff.

Also honored for their achievements were these health care professionals who care for patients as whole persons in spirit mind,

and body. HealthCare Chaplaincy manages, staffs, and operates board certified chaplaincy services at these institutions. �

The campus will house a geriatric and palliative caremedical home practice, which will providemultidisciplinary care not only for our residents, butfor people who live in the neighboring communities.

SHIRlEY ESCAlA, MA,

BSN, RN Nurse Manager, Oncology Department

Beth Israel Medical Center

JEANNE FARERI, RNC Staff Nurse - Radiology

Lawrence Hospital Center

HIllARY E. FEDER,

MSN, MPH Nurse Practitioner

St. John’s Riverside Hospital

FREDERICK S. FEIN, MDDirector, Telemetry Service

Winthrop-University Hospital

ElIzABETH HAlTON, RN,

MSN/C-ANPNurse Practitioner

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

BARRIE J. HUBERMAN, PHDChief, Behavioral Medicine & Director of

Clinical Ethics

Lenox Hill Hospital

J. THOMAS ROlAND, JR.,

MDMendik Foundation Professor and Chairman

of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery

NYU Langone Medical Center

PATRICIA WOODS, PHDDirector of Psychological Services, Chief

Learning Officer of NYHQ College

New York Hospital Queens

Robert Wolf has joined HealthCare Chaplaincy as

senior vice president for innovation and development.

An expert in geriatrics, Bob has been the senior advisor

to the SC Group, one of the country’s most important

philanthropic foundations in the field of geriatrics, and

most recently has served as director of special projects

at AARP Foundation. For 20 years prior, Bob was the

executive director of medical and geriatric programs for

UJA Federation in New York City. He has also had a

distinguished career in law, and was one of the first

attorneys to specialize in elder law.

“I feel fortunate to be part of the stellar leadership at

HealthCare Chaplaincy, a world-class organization that

helps bring meaning and solace to those most in need.”

New Trustee Susan Spindler Jordan has been a prin-

cipal in her own independent advertising agency for

the past thirty years. Much of her work focused on

developing TV campaigns for consumer health com-

panies. Some of her clients include Johnson &

Johnson, Weight Watchers and Zicam. More recently,

she has also worked on producing documentaries for

various non-profit organizations. She has served on

the governing boards at Choate Rosemary Hall and

Villa Maria School and is looking forward to advancing

the mission of HealthCare Chaplaincy. Susan holds a

BA in English from Elmira College.

“My husband’s illness and dying showed me the value

of quality end-of-life care. Chaplaincy has played an

important part in my life and I am pleased to join

a board that so vigorously supports that mission.”

Chaplain Osvaldo Tanon has successfully

completed Supervisory Resident training

and has joined the faculty as an associate

clinical pastoral education supervisor (eli-

gible) at St. Johns Riverside Hospital in

Yonkers.

Sandra Lee Jamison is HCC’s new research

librarian. She previously was a news research

librarian at The New York Times, TIME

Magazine and Queensborough Public Library.

A native New Yorker, she finished her Bachelor

of Arts at SUNY Stony Brook and Masters in

Library Science at Columbia University.

Lisha Bodden is now the advancement

associate. Most recently she was a devel-

opment assistant with the Metropolitan

Jewish Health System Foundation.

Xiomara Wallace is now the administrative

assistant to Claire Haaga Altman, executive

vice president and COO. Most recently she

was the executive assistant/project man-

ager for special health events and education

for the Duane Reade Corporation.

Aleksandr Froymchuk has rejoined HCC as

a staff accountant in our Finance

Department. He comes to us from Kiwi

Partners, a New York City financial consult-

ing firm, where he worked as an Analyst.

To support HealthCare Chaplaincy online; to arrange “In honor of” and “In memory of” gifts; and for information

about other types of support, please visit our Website: www.healthcarechaplaincy.org. For personal assistance,

please contact Lisha Bodden at 212.644.1111, ext. 132, or at lbodden@healthcarechaplaincy.org. Advancement

Office: 315 East 62nd

Street; New York, NY 10065; 212.644.1111, ext. 132.

� A Note to Our Friends

Profiles

4 The Beacon

HealthCare Chaplaincy

has begun the celebra-

tion of its golden jubilee

year – annus jubilaeus. In the

Hebrew Bible, God commanded

the Israelites through Moses to

consecrate and observe in special

ways the 50th year (Leviticus 25:10).

Through fulfilling this ancient bibli-

cal mandate, we reconnect with

our roots, heritage and mission.

God also expected that the jubilee

year would renew faith and confidence in the divine power to

bestow meaning and purpose on everything we do and achieve.

For the past 50 years, generations of our chaplains from every faith

tradition have worked together and spiritually cared for more than

5 million people, helping them find meaning, hope, comfort, for-

giveness and inner peace. During the past half-century, we have

toiled to insure that spirituality—after a long absence—reclaim its

rightful place alongside medicine and the other healing arts. We

have helped to promote the integration of body, mind and spirit in

contemporary health care.

Affirming an intrinsic relationship between spirituality and health,

HealthCare Chaplaincy has been harnessing its resources to

establish the validity of this connection in the hope of better under-

standing why there is this essential bond and how it works.

The second Secretary General of the United Nations, Dag

Hammarskjöld, died in 1961—the year that HealthCare

Chaplaincy was established. I conclude by recalling his famous

phrase, which could be a refrain for this jubilee year: “For all that

has been—thanks. For all that will be—yes.” �

Ilearned about the need for palliative care long before I heard the

term used. In college I worked nights as an EMT. I worked in rural

and urban settings, in the field and in hospitals. I saw death first-

hand, and I watched as my colleagues – all expertly trained in the skills

of saving lives – either stood helplessly by or fought vainly against the

inevitable. I thought surely there must be a better way.

Then, as a seminarian, I worked with the Institute of Care at the End of

Life as they sought to find that better way. Through them, I found my

way to the Palliative Care service at Duke Medical Center, and was for-

ever changed.

Palliative care is holistic care by an interdisciplinary team. To palliate is

to comfort. So palliative care naturally includes excellent pain and

symptom management. It also includes emotional and spiritual sup-

port. It might involve everything from nutrition to grief support, med-

ication management to meditation, depending upon the needs of the

patient. It is the epitome of multidisciplinary, patient-centered care.

Such care might benefit people who are approaching end of life, but it

might also benefit anyone with a chronic, life-limiting illness. And,

according to my personal theology of pastoral care, such care would

certainly benefit every person, regardless of diagnosis.

The research is coming in steadily: the early intervention of palliative

care directly translates to an increased quality of life, a reduction in

pain, and even a lengthened life expectancy for patients with terminal

and life-limiting illness. In other words, palliative care properly done,

lifts the human spirit. It is that simple.

Today I have the unusual privilege of serving as HealthCare

Chaplaincy’s member of the palliative care team at NYU Langone

Medical Center, at a job that lifts my spirits, as I in turn hopefully con-

tribute to the lifting of the many spirits of patients, families and staff. �

A M

essa

ge fro

m th

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ev. D

r. Wa

lter J

. Sm

ith, S

.J., P

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“Spirituality is the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their

connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.” (Source: Archstone Foundation 2009 Consensus Conference)

5 The Beacon

ifting the Spirit

The Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J.

President & CEO

Lifting Spirits on the Palliative Care Team

Chaplain Holly Gaudette, Staff Chaplain, New York University Langone Medical Center.

Vol. 35 No. 4 / The Beacon November 2010

HealthCare Chaplaincy is a national nonprofit leader in the research,

education and evidence-based practice of professional multifaith

chaplaincy care. It helps people find meaning and comfort — regardless

of religion or beliefs — in stressful health care situations. It is a thought

leader for patient-centered care and accessible, affordable, and quality

palliative care. For nearly fifty years it has collaborated successfully with

major academic medical centers and other professional organizations

in the integration of spiritual care within health care.

Presorted Standard

U.S. Postage

PAIDWilkes-Barre, PA

Permit No. 413

315 East 62nd Street, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10065-7767Phone: (212) 644-1111 Fax: (212) 758-9959healthcarechaplaincy.org

Managing Editor: Bernie Rosner Art & Design: Brian H. Kim

Director of Marketing & Communications: Jim Siegel

(212) 644-1111, ext.141/ jsiegel@healthcarechaplaincy.org

Spotlight on Palliative Care

Visit us online at healthcarechaplaincy.org

Follow us on at http://twitter.com/MeaningComfort

“Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention

and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.”

– World Health Organization, WHO Definition of Palliative Care, 2010

6 The Beacon

Alandmark study by researchers at

Massachusetts General Hospital and

reported in the New England Journal of

Medicine found that receiving palliative care

early in treatment not only improved quality of

life but also survival in patients with newly diag-

nosed metastatic non small-cell lung cancer.

Patients receiving palliative care intervention

experienced less depression and survived

approximately 2.7 months longer.

Palliative care is provided by a team consisting

of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, social workers,

chaplains, pharmacists and others, who focus

on the whole person to provide comfort, ease

pain and help the patient, family and caregivers

make important decisions.

Commenting on the study, Diane Meier, MD,

director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care

wrote: “The results of the study show that

palliative care is appropriate and potentially

beneficial when it is introduced at the time of

diagnosis of a serious or life-limiting illness – at

the same time as all other appropriate and

beneficial medical therapies are initiated.

“It shows that palliative care is the opposite of all

that rhetoric about ‘death panels.’ It’s not about

killing Granny; it’s about keeping Granny alive

as long as possible — with the best quality of

life.” �

Study Finds Early Palliative Care Extends Life and Improves Quality of Life for

Cancer Patients

Patients’ rights in New York State

gained a large boost last month with

the passage of the Palliative Care

Information Act.

The law requires New York doctors and nurse

practitioners to offer terminally ill patients

information and counseling that includes a full

range of information about end of life care

options, including hospice care, aggressive

pain management, and palliative sedation.

The patient is then empowered to control his

or her own medical care decisions.

Where the patient lacks the capacity to

reasonably understand and make informed

choices related to palliative care, “the

attending health care practitioner shall provide

information and counseling under this section

to a person with authority to make health care

decisions for the patient.”

Claire Haaga Altman, HealthCare Chaplaincy

COO, says, “HealthCare Chaplaincy has

consistently supported this type of legislation

within New York State and at the national

level.” �

State Law Now Mandates Palliative Care Information to Terminally Ill Patients

© 2010, HealthCare Chaplaincy