Pastoral Care

Chapel

The mission of the Mary Washington Healthcare Department of Pastoral Care is to facilitate and enhance the spiritual dimension of healing for all patients, families and staff at Mary Washington Hospital and at Stafford Hospital. Our mission is accomplished through a dedication to clinically competent pastoral visitation, spiritual assessment and the delivery of multidimensional pastoral care.

The Department of Pastoral Care of Mary Washington Healthcare functions as a member of the multidisciplinary treatment team and its’ mission is to provide quality driven, clinically competent pastoral care to patients, families and staff.  The Department coordinates pastoral services twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. Chaplains provide direct religious/spiritual/pastoral services to the patients and their families; coordinate specific spiritual services and rituals with patients’ local community clergy; facilitate the patient’s right to have access to spiritual and pastoral services. We participate with other departments of the hospital in working with cultural issues, patient satisfaction , patient and family centered care and patient safety.       

The Department of Pastoral Care is comprised of Staff Chaplains and Clinical Pastoral Education students (interns and residents). All operate under the auspices of hospital, department and HR policies.  Each duly authorized chaplain in the Department of Pastoral Care has met department standards and undergone extensive orientation. Hospital chaplains wear a Mary Washington Healthcare employee badge and a white coat with the Department’s identification on the pocket.

Chapels
There are Chapels at both Mary Washington Hospital and at Stafford Hospital. These are open to the public and are readily accessible. 

Department phone
540.741.1654

Clinical Pastoral Education
The Department of Pastoral Care offers ACPE Accredited Clinical Pastoral Education  and our  (CPE) program is accredited by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education as a center to offer level I , II and Supervisory Education. CPE is a graduate level course of clinical training in ministry.  It provides students an opportunity to practice and reflect on the act of ministry and the person of the minister within the individual and group settings.  An accredited unit of CPE requires at least three students in a unit and at least one hundred (100) hours of structured group and individual education, accompanied by at least three hundred (300) hours of clinical practice in ministry.  ( ACPE Standard 308.1)

CPE is divided into levels (Level I, Level II and Supervisory Education) all governed by standards, objectives and outcomes. Each set of standards are unit specific and each covers a variety of objectives. Each individual  program meets all standards, as required for ACPE accreditation, and each  program will provide a set of unique learning opportunities.

Mary Washington Healthcare’s accredited CPE program offers part-time extended programs in the fall and spring and a full time intensive intern program for seminarians is offered in the summer.

We also have five full time, year long resident positions, in which a student with one unit of introductory CPE spend s a year in specialized training for ministry.

Persons interested in applying for one of the CPE programs should fill out a standard ACPE application. These applications can be found on the ACPE web page at www.ACPE.EDU and should be submitted to Larry J. Austin , D.Min Director,   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or to Kevin Crowder, CPE supervisor, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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