Tom Stafford unlocked the door to the chaplain’s office and flipped on the light. Everyone was gone for the day, but as a relief chaplain at one of Adventist Health’s hospitals, Tom had just finished his evening rounds on the units. As usual, he returned to the office to jot down a few notes before leaving. He knew he could be reached via pager in the event that anyone else at the hospital needed him during the night.

As he sat in the quiet office documenting his activities, the phone at the receptionist desk started to ring. Knowing he could be paged, Tom debated whether to let the call go to voicemail. But after hearing the phone ring again and again, he instinctively reached for it. “This is the pastoral care office,” he said. “Can I help you?”

Tom’s query was returned by an urgent voice on the other end of the phone. “I need to talk to an Adventist minister, can you help me? I’m in the emergency room, and I desperately need a pastor.” Tom assured the woman he could help her and rushed to the ER.

Having met with patients and family members in the ER many times, Tom was surprised when a well-dressed woman—who was clearly not in need of medical care—greeted him. She explained that she was not sick but rather in need of spiritual help. “I knew I could find that here,” she explained to Tom.

In the quietness of the hospital’s chapel the “patient” poured her heart out and expressed her desire to come back to Jesus and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As the woman’s story tumbled out, Tom learned that after she graduated from an Adventist academy, she had turned to drugs, alcohol and other illicit activities. Recently, she had gone through a treatment program but knew that none of it would be complete without Jesus.

Reverently, the woman knelt with Tom in the chapel, and through tears she sought a new relationship with Jesus Christ. After praying and talking with Tom, she left the hospital comforted and armed with the address and phone number of a local Adventist church. And Tom went home knowing that healing can occur without ever seeing a doctor.

The Spirit of Healing: The Chaplains’ Role

At Adventist Health, chaplains are a critical component of mission and spiritual care. Today our chaplains are taking on increasing responsibility, including:

• Assessing patients’ spiritual condition and needs

• Providing input for spiritual care treatment

• Providing leadership in fulfilling the hospital’s mission and vision

• Educating line employees on the heritage and mission of Adventist Health

• Meeting the spiritual needs of the broader community

• Serving on the hospital’s strategic planning committee

Although Adventist Health chaplains are becoming more and more important to the overall hospital operations, their core calling and competency is still found in their ministering at the bedside of patients.

For more information regarding chaplain services, contact Adventist Health’s Mission and Planning Department at 916-781-4760.