Hancock Health chaplains Russ Jarvis and Laura Baker attended a recent hospital board meeting to share news of a recent award the hospital’s chaplaincy program received — the Excellence in Spiritual Care Award from the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network.
Shelley Swift | Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — Being humble goes hand in hand with being a spiritual advisor, but sometimes it’s OK to brag a bit.
Hancock Health’s head chaplain, Russ Jarvis, recently shared the good news that the hometown health organization received the Excellence in Spiritual Care Award from the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network.
The global health care nonprofit organization recognized Hancock Health’s chaplaincy program for rising to meet the needs of his patients.
“It’s a privilege to share with you some of the background of what has recently been a very exciting accomplishment, one that I hope will lead Hancock Health into an even greater future,” said Jarvis, the hospital’s director of chaplaincy services, as he addressed the board at its Aug. 30 board meeting.
Jarvis said his associate chaplain, Laura Baker, completed the lengthy process to have Hancock Health’s chaplaincy program considered for recognition.
Hancock Health was found to have achieved 14 of the 19 standards for excellence for the award, surpassing the minimum 10 standards required to be honored.
Some of those standards included employing board certified chaplains, screening patients for religious or spiritual concerns and having a dedicated sacred space on hospital grounds.
“We were originally found to have met 12 standards, but we put in the work to achieve another two,” said Jarvis, who has been the hospital’s chaplain since 2003.
He shared with the board that he plans to retire next May, at which point he will pass his director’s position to Baker, who joined the staff as associate chaplain in January 2022.
Jarvis praised Baker for her work in helping tend to the spiritual needs of patients, while she expressed gratitude for his mentorship.
The elder chaplain said it’s a chaplain’s job to address the spiritual needs of patients, many of whom are undergoing some of the most trying times of their lives.
“Spiritual distress is something that occurs when individuals or families incur illness or injury which can upset or challenge the foundation of their faith,” said Jarvis, “so that’s what we’re looking for when we walk into a (patient’s) room. We look to see if there are signs of distress so we can tend to that and help them as they process and move forward in life.”
Hancock Health’s president and CEO, Steve Long, told the board that Jarvis is a great spiritual leader not only for patients but staff as well.
“In my personal rounding with Russ each month, he is like my personal spiritual advisor. I feel ever so much better after talking to him, and he and Laura do that for everybody in this organization, so I wanted to say thank you guys for doing what you do,” he said.
Baker said the hospital’s spiritual care department is equipped to serve people of all faith backgrounds with various physical, mental and spiritual health needs.
Jarvis said that in addressing each person’s spiritual needs they work in tandem with Hancock Health’s physical and mental health providers, “so that together we can create a plan for delivering holistic care toward healing.”
The health organization hired its first full-time chaplain — Herman “Chip” Pieper — in 1995. Jarvis took over the role in 2003, after serving under Pieper as a volunteer.
He and Baker now work with a crew of 10 on-call chaplains who are available to provide spiritual care for patients round-the-clock seven days a week.
The hospital organized its Hancock Health Foundational Network, which connects clergy members form 30 local churches, to foster communication and care for local parishioners during hospital stays.
It’s that devotion to patient care that helped earn the hospital accolades from the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, said Jarvis.
According to the network’s website, HealthcareChaplaincy.org, the Excellence in Spiritual Care Award conveys that a recipient organization is committed to identifying and optimally addressing its patients’ spiritual and religious needs.
