Catholic Health World - September 1, 2020

Delivering sacraments in a pandemic 5 Sponsorship webinar series 6 Holy Redeemer PJP 6 PERIODICAL RATE PUBLICATION

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 9

For those resuming in-person school, ministry providers offer guidance, resources Sound public health Teachers, parents, data is essential others fear viral to safe school spread at schools and reopenings challenges with virtual learning

By LISA EISENHAUER

Continued on 2

By JULIE MINDA

AP Images/Brynn Anderson

While scattered districts across the country that reopened for in-person classes have seen immediate outbreaks of COVID19, some school-based health care workers say they are confident schools can operate without jeopardizing the health of students and staff in communities where the rate of the virus is low and strict precautions are observed.

“I do still believe this can go smoothly,” says Carol Hirchak, a nurse practitioner at a school-based clinic in Pineville, Louisiana.

“I am not saying we will not have a student

Paul Adamus, 7, waits at the bus stop for the first day of school on Aug. 3 in Dallas, Georgia. School districts across the U.S. have been making the difficult decision about whether to resume the school year with virtual learning, in-person learning, or a hybrid model.

In mid to late August, schools across the U.S. began resuming classes — with some of them offering just distance learning; some, in-person instruction; and some, a hybrid of the two. While the schools that are resuming face-to-face education have put safety measures in place to help prevent coronavirus spread, teachers, parents, students and others have expressed strong concerns about resuming in-person education.

To help address their fears of contagion, Continued on 3

Ministry chaplains lighten emotional, spiritual burdens of pandemic caregivers ing light refreshments and a little levity to overburdened staff.

“People need to know that there is someone there specifically to address spiritual and emotional distress, and people need someone that they at least perceive has a ‘red phone’ to God to offer prayers, support and some assurances,” says James Austin, a chaplain Austin with Mercy Virtual Care, the telehealth arm of the Chesterfield, Missouri-based Mercy system. He says of chaplains, “We have a calling for such a time as this, and God has given us the tools to provide comfort and support in these difficult times.”

Mary Salois, right, leads a touchless blessing of the hands of nurses at Mercy Hospital Washington in Washington, Missouri. Salois manages mission and pastoral services for the hospital.

By JULIE MINDA

Chaplains in the Catholic ministry have been a supportive presence among hospital staff caring for COVID-19

patients, helping staff process and cope with pandemic-related trauma, grief and exhaustion.

In addition to providing spiritual succor and an empathetic ear, they’re serv-

In harm’s way Ministry chaplains who spoke to Catholic Health World say their system and facility leadership has been concerned since preparations for the pandemic began about how the crisis would impact the emotional and spiritual well-being of

hospital staff.

Deacon Ken Potzman, who recently retired as pastoral care director for Mercy St. Louis, says his department was “made aware that the progression of this would be rapid, and we were asked to reconfigure our outreach, spending 60% to 75% of our time supporting our co-workers. Our preexisting protocols changed almost immediately. We were not used to dealing with a crisis of this magnitude and the impact it would have on our co-workers.

“One major concern was for fatigue, fear and stress created by this pandemic on our co-workers on the front lines of caring for our patients,” he says.

‘Pre-traumatic stress syndrome’ Rev. Jerry Vander Lee is chaplaincy manager of Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He says his department has been concerned “for the emotional and physical well-being of the chaplains and the hospital staff. Many hospital staff members are very young and may or may Continued on 4

Eldercare staff keep the good times rolling amid lockdowns

CHA invites everyone to use its free resources at chausa.org/masks to promote mask wearing and protect the health of all. #LoveThyNeighbor

On a Friday morning in early June, after months of a precautionary lockdown against coronavirus, 40 residents of St. Andre Health Care of Biddeford, Maine, sat, socially distanced, in chairs, benches and wheelchairs around the perimeter of the eldercare facility’s parking lot. A long parade of festooned cars wove its way slowly toward them.

More than 100 family members and friends had jumped at the chance to take part in the parade, and they waved enthusiastically as they called out greetings and blew kisses to the loved ones they’d been separated from by the pandemic. The Continued on 8

Sr. Cecilia Joy Kugel, OSF

By JULIE MINDA

Becky Reichelt, left, executive vice president at St. Paul Elder Services, interviews a resident about her favorite summer memories. The videographer, Sr. Cecilia Joy Kugel, OSF, compiled the responses of several interviewees into a lively video for residents and their families. The activity at the Kaukauna, Wisconsin, long-term care campus is just one effort to keep residents engaged and active.

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CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD September 1, 2020

tocols are setting up methods for students with symptoms that may indicate coronavirus to come and go from the nurse’s office or school clinic without interacting with other students and educating parents on how to quarantine students who do have, or might have, the virus. Freed says testing of students for the virus is not being done in schools in North or South Dakota.

School nurses From page 1

Urging in-person learning Hirchak’s confidence in the ability of schools to operate safely before there is a vaccine for COVID-19 is shared by some other school-based health care providers affiliated with Catholic health systems. Their faith hinges on schools following guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, both of which have come out in favor of having students physically present in school when local school officials say it is safe to do so.

Dr. Michael Bolton, a pediatric infectious disease doctor with Franciscan MisBolton sionaries of Our Lady Health System, has been relying on the CDC’s and pediatrics’ group’s guidelines as he advises the clinicians and educators who are part of Health Centers in Schools, a program that provides health care for about 40,000 students in 75 schools in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Health Centers in Schools program is operated by Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady subsidiary Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health.

Bolton agrees that in-person learning is best for students, especially the youngest ones. He also thinks that even though cases of COVID-19 are certain to crop up in schools, students can safely return to the classroom provided the schools are in communities with a low rate of new cases.

Bolton and other infectious disease experts have suggested safeguards for Louisiana schools that include: Arranging classrooms to maximize the distance between desks.

Creating static groups of students and teachers who stay together throughout the school day to minimize comingling.

Ensuring that the use of high-touch areas is minimized, such as by keeping often-used doors open.

Offering as much instruction as possible outside, where masks can generally be shed without fear of contagion.

Home-based school health In Baton Rouge, to match the schools’ shift to virtual-only classes for at least the start of the year, the seven school-based clinics that are part of the Health Centers in Schools program are offering their services remotely, too. Students can have telehealth In this pre-pandemic telehealth visit, Avera eCARE School Health nurse Amanda Allison instructs a stuappointments with the same providers they dent at Deubrook Elementary School in Toronto, South Dakota, who is learning to manage his diabetes. would normally see in-person at the clinics.

The student is accompanied by a school secretary. Allison works from a telehealth hub about 80 miles In anticipation of students’ eventual away in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. return to campus, Tammy Rider, a regisThe fact that the safeguards seemed to be For those schools that haven’t, assessing tered nurse and manager of the clinics, and working well at a charter school that brought and addressing mental health issues falls her staff spent some of their students back to campus in July was giv- to nurses who are already remotely offer- summer break creating ing Bolton and others hope. The school is ing primary care services. Those services signs to encourage social the focus of a pilot program in partnership include assessing and treating students with distancing, handwashing with Health Centers in Schools that involves common illnesses like colds and strep and and wearing masks.

Cheree Duvic, a regis- Rider saliva testing of all students and staff for monitoring students with chronic condiCOVID-19 twice a week. tions such as diabetes. tered nurse who oversees Despite the heavy demands on school the nursing component nurses, Freed and other school-based of the Health Centers in A new normal Unlike those in Pineville, most schools in workers say assessing students for signs of Schools program, was part and around Baton Rouge were sticking with COVID-19 and referring them for appropri- of a district task force that virtual-only classes through at least Labor ate care can be added to the mix if the right looked at how to best put in Day. Officials cited high local and state rates protocols are in place. Among those pro- place contagion safeguards.

One of the mea- Duvic of COVID-19 for their decision.

Laurie Combe, president of the sures that she and Bolton, who National Association of School was also on the task force, sucNurses, says that while her group cessfully lobbied for was requirsupports the idea that in-person ing face masks even for the dislearning is best for trict’s youngest students. students, its top Duvic is pleased that the dispriority is the safety trict took the recommendations of students and of medical providers like her to school staff. The heart as well as the concerns of nurses association other stakeholders like the paris urging that all disents of children with chronic illCombe tricts have access nesses who might be especially to sound public health data on the susceptible to COVID-19 and at rate of new infections on which to risk for a severe outcome. base their reopening decisions. The Both Duvic and Rider say group posted several resources for understanding of the virus’ nurses and school administrators spread is a vital factor in containon its website. ing it. Like other school-based The group is also asking the fedhealth workers, they expect that educating students and school eral government to provide at least staff on the need for and value $208 billion in funding for schools of the precautions will be part of for a variety of needs, such as to their jobs once in-person classes stock personal protective equipare back in session. ment for health workers, to make “We’re ready. We want to facility upgrades such as ventilation see kids,” Rider says. “We just improvements, and to set up isola- Christy Barton inspects boxes of supplies at the Rapides Parish School all have to be mindful of those tion rooms for students who show District offices. She is one of the 23 registered nurses who works for the signs of the infection until they can public school system in central Lousiana. The district stocked up on sup- guidelines.” be assessed and, if needed, sent plies including gloves, face shields and hand sanitizer for all staff before home. A survey the association did students returned to classrooms in mid-August. leisenhauer@chausa.org of its members found that before schools were closed because of the pandemic only 28% stocked N95 masks, which are recommended for use by medical workers, and only 23% had isolation rooms.

The federal funding the nurses group is seeking could also be used to hire health professionals for the 25% of schools that don’t have one now or to increase access to mental health services. “What we’ve asked for is that school districts have maximum flexibility in understanding what their school community needs,” Combe says.

Sponsorship: Sustaining Mission in Long-Term Care Rapides Parish School Board

with COVID, but if everyone — students, parents, teachers, staff and the community — will follow the guidelines to mitigate this virus, it will go smoother.”

Hirchak’s clinic is part of the CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Health System, based in Alexandria, Louisiana, and provides primary care at an elementary and a junior high with about 1,300 students in central Louisiana, a state hit hard by the pandemic.

In the first few days of classes, in midAugust, Hirchak says students — even the ones as young as 4 — were following those guidelines to wear masks, stay 6 feet apart and wash their hands frequently.

Teachers were taking temperatures of students as they entered their homerooms and health workers at the schools had a stockpile of protective equipment, such as gloves and face shields. Anyone who had symptoms or felt sick was being sent home, advised to contact their health provider, and if they had a known exposure to someone with the virus, to quarantine for 14 days.

Several days into their reopening, Hirchak was unaware of any cases of COVID-19 at any of the Louisiana schools covered by CHRISTUS’s 17 clinics.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported that more than 134,000 people in the state were confirmed to have had the illness by mid-August and more than 4,200 had died. The department issued guidelines for school openings but was allowing individual districts to decide whether to restart in-person or continue virtual classes.

Based on news reports from across the country, some of the schools that had reopened by mid-August had quickly had to deal with outbreaks of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In Cherokee County in Georgia, more than 1,100 people were put in quarantine because of a school outbreak just days after students returned.

Upcoming Events from The Catholic Health Association

Remote assistance Sheila Freed, who directs the Avera eCARE School Health service line, says longtime school nurses like herself know that mental issues are a big factor in students’ physical health. In fact, she says symptoms that students present with, such as headaches and nausea, are sometimes caused by conditions such as stress and trauma.

Her program provides 44 schools across South Freed Dakota and North Dakota with telehealth medical care for students.

A few of those schools also have signed on for a new behavioral health program in which licensed social workers offer therapy.

the Ministry Webinar Series Series 1 Session 2: Evolution of Sponsorship — Past and Future Sept. 9 | 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET

Diversity & Disparities Networking Call Sept. 16 |1 p.m. ET

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Sept. 22 | 3 p.m. ET (Members only)

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September 1, 2020 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD

School fears, stressors

status of in-person learning will hinge on the level of viral spread in the community as well as in the schools.

He said his goal in representing Mercy and the task force in the community was to help people understand how to live more safely with the virus in their midst — and to feel reassured, and more comfortable and confident if they chose to send their children for in-person instruction, or return to jobs which require them to be at the school.

Addressing fear Tim Hron is a mental health therapist with CHI Health – Creighton University Medical Center Bergan Psychiatric Associates. He moderated the two-hour virtual assembly that drew Hron more than 450 participants, most of them educators. He said CHI Health was sharing its infection control and

Bentonville Schools

From page 1

medical and mental health providers in the Catholic health ministry have been sharing their expertise with their local schools and providing them with resources. They have been consulting on safety precautions, contributing their expertise to the drafting of reopening plans, hosting online informational forums, building out websites with tools and beefing up their mental health offerings, in order to help people navigate the transition back to school — whether virtual or in-person.

“As people were preparing for back to school, we saw there were a lot of anxious teachers and parents. They were seeing a lot of information on television and social media — some of it inaccurate — and they didn’t know what to be– lieve,” said Mary Williams, public relations director for Omaha, Nebraskabased CHI Health. That 14Williams hospital network serving Nebraska and Southwest Iowa hosted a virtual conference in late July aimed at easing teachers’ anxiety about resuming school in-person.

“We thought we would help give teachers and others the tools to return to school and the science to make informed decisions — to make better decisions,” Williams said.

The Bentonville, Arkansas school district requires all staff and students to wear masks at its schools. Two Mercy Northwest Arkansas, staffers were on a community task force that recommended mask wearing and other steps to the district as it prepared for a return to in-person school.

mental health providers’ expertise via the assembly because “We think that fears will be reduced if people understand the facts.”

The assembly featured two infectious disease experts from CHI Health – Creighton University School of Medicine. Dr. Renuga Vivekanandan, an epidemiologist, explained the charVivekanandan acteristics, transmission methods and symptoms of coronavirus; and Dr. David Quimby, an infectious disease specialist, fielded questions on everything from how to wear and store face masks to how to space desks Quimby for optimal distancing. They both emphasized the importance of masking, social distancing at 6 feet or more, hand hygiene and staying home when ill.

CHI Health child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Monica Arora told the audience that children may have anxiety about the pandemic and about the social unrest

Dr. David Quimby responds live to questions posed during a July 28 virtual assembly that Omaha, Nebraska-based CHI Health hosted for educators to help them prepare for a return to school amid the pandemic. Quimby is a CHI Health - Creighton University School of Medicine specialist in infectious diseases.

Vice President Communications and Marketing Brian P. Reardon

Editor Judith VandeWater jvandewater@chausa.org 314-253-3410 Associate Editor Julie Minda jminda@chausa.org 314-253-3412 Associate Editor Lisa Eisenhauer leisenhauer@chausa.org 314-253-3437 Advertising ads@chausa.org 314-253-3477 Graphic Design Les Stock

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Shared experience In Greenville, South Carolina, Dr. Marcus Blackstone, chief clinical officer of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, has been a sounding board for the superintendent of a Greenville school district and for a Catholic school Blackstone campus, as they honed their plans this summer for their reopenings. He also participated in a roundtable of South Carolina and local leaders convened by Michelin North America to discuss issues facing economically vulnerable communities as they prepared to reopen their schools.

Blackstone said that five months ago members of the health care community faced fear and uncertainty as they exposed themselves to risk in the course of their

prevalent throughout the summer. They may be worried, sad, defiant. She said teachers can help students articulate and explore their emotions by establishing trusting relationships Arora and welcoming discussion about concerns.

CHI Health school-based mental health therapist Sheila St. Amant added that teachers can help kids adjust to the dynamics of the new school year, and handle their emotions, by establishing structure and routine in their classrooms.

CHI Health mental health therapist Karen Williams focused on the importance of self-care, particularly for teach- Dr. Stephen Goss, president of Mercy Clinic Northwest Arkansas, appears ers. She recommended in news coverage on television station KHBS/KHOG. He became a trusted establishing routines voice on school reopening issues in Bentonville, Arkansas. that build resilience, including healthy eating, jobs — the education community has the sleeping enough, exercis- same trepidation now. He said Mercy had ing, going outside, journal- learned much about how to protect staff ing, praying and meditating. and patients with careful adherence to pub“You matter — and taking lic health recommendations and wanted to care of yourself matters,” she share that wisdom with the school system. said.

“I wanted to instill confidence about returnWilliams Beyond hosting the ing to school, and I wanted to educate the assembly, CHI Health created an informa- public on how to do this safely,” he said.

His colleague Dr. Carson Felkel is systional website for the school community, provided all elementary schools in its sertem medical director for behavioral health at Bon vice area with a book aimed at helping young Secours Mercy Health and children and adolescents handle their emolead psychiatrist for that tions, and published an online magazine system’s Greenville market. covering COVID-related concerns.

Bon Secours Mercy Health is the parent of Bon Secours Incremental steps Felkel St. Francis Health System.

In Northwest Arkansas, Mercy physiFelkel said that both the system and the cians served on a reopening task force for Bentonville Schools. Dr. Stephen Goss, Greenville market have seen an uptick in a pediatrician, internal medicine physi- mental health concerns among adults and cian and president of Mercy Clinic North- children amid the pandemic. This includes west Arkansas, chaired the task force of 12 heightened anxiety around the return to community leaders. Dr. Lisa Low, a fam- school, he said.

Felkel and colleagues have created a ily practice physician and medical direcseries of short videos to help parents, teachtor of community health for Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, served on the ers, Bon Secours Mercy associates and committee. other community members to address their The group met weekly throughout the own fears and the fears of students. summer to give input and feedback on the Bon Secours Mercy has been bolstering school district’s plan. Whether or not to its mental health resources for staff, includrequire face masks was a flashpoint for the ing for those struggling with angst related to group and for the community, said Goss. their kids’ schools reopening, Felkel said.

The district accepted the committee’s rec- It has launched a daily online “pause” in ommendation to require that all staff as which Bon Secours Mercy staff can spend well as students in kindergarten through about 10 minutes hearing prayers, guid12th grade wear masks. Bentonville Schools ance on stress reduction, and reflections were to open Aug. 24, with parents deciding from system mental health experts. whether their children would go back inFelkel notes that community health person or online. needs assessments have consistently shown Goss became one of the trusted voices mental health concerns and substance and a regular contributor in the commu- abuse to be top concerns in Greenville, and nity’s reopening debates. He told Catholic COVID has exacerbated those problems. He Health World, “There’s no way to make the said, “Mental health issues are bubbling up return to school risk-free, but each layer of around the country … and we need to conprecaution is an incremental step that low- tinue to create safe spaces for people to tell ers risk.” Throughout the school year, the their stories” and get the help they need.

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CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD September 1, 2020

Chaplains From page 1

not have previously experienced trauma in their personal lives. These are frightening times for all — particularly for those that may be considering their own mortality as they place themselves at risk, even as they care for others.”

Rev. Vander Lee adds that stress is not just affecting staff who are working during surges. He says one of his chaplain colleagues has referred to “pre-traumatic stress syndrome.” Rev. Vander Lee explains: “As we prepare for a surge in COVID positive patients, we are anticipating anxiety that is yet to come — ironically, this anticipation also produces its own anxiety.” Staff members have told him they are afraid for themselves, their families, their colleagues, their finances.

Mary Salois, manager of mission and pastoral Vander Lee services for Mercy’s Washington, Missouri, hospital and connected clinics, says additional stress comes when a colleague contracts COVID. “We had one of our providers hospitalized with the virus.

In a small facility, that had a big impact and our co-workers were anxious, both for that provider and for what it might mean for all of them.”

Checking in, leaning in Rev. Chance Beeler is manager of pastoral and spiritual care for SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital – St. Charles and affiliated facilities in the St. Louis Beeler suburb. He and his fellow chaplains regularly touch base with staff in

James Austin, a chaplain with Mercy Virtual Care in Chesterfield, Missouri, at work. In addition to counseling patients, he provides virtual meeting spaces where Mercy staff can pray together, and he gives communication tips to chaplains who are new to virtual care.

all hospital departments.

“We want to make sure our staff is taken care of,” he says. He notes that St. Joseph’s “Care for the Caregivers” peer support program for nurses has reinforced the nurses’ efforts to look out for each other’s emotional well-being during the pandemic.

Rev. Greg Creasy directs the department of spiritual care and mission at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia. He says to be accessible to staff, there is a chaplain in-house around the clock.

Together with the hosCreasy pital’s representative for the employee assistance program, Rev. Creasy rounds throughout the hospital once per week. “We talk with staff about what they are feeling — their fears, their

anxieties. We help them with the emotional piece.” He also leads prayer services for the staff.

Rev. Vander Lee says, “Chaplains are called to climb into the trenches with people who may be scared and suffering.” He says Avera McKennan staffers have told him that the chaplains have brought them much-needed calm that has been essential to their sense of emotional well-being.

Deacon Potzman says in addition to being a supportive presence, chaplains at Mercy St. Louis provide staff with one-on-one counseling, prayer resources and information for coping with fatigue and stress.

Early in the pandemic, Potzman they frequently performed touchless blessings of the hands of caregiv-

ers in the COVID units.

Jim Erwin supervises pastoral and volunteer services for Mercy Hospital Cassville and Aurora, two critical access hospitals in southwest Missouri. He sends out emails of encouragement to staff, meets with teams of co-workers and looks for opportunities to strike up casual converErwin sations with colleagues.

He prays for and with staff, that they will have “spiritual resilience, strength, and enhanced ability to stay calm in a crisis, as well as endurance.”

Austin at Mercy Virtual Care has been providing virtual spaces to debrief and gathering staff via WebEx and other meeting formats to share encouraging words and prayers. During his biweekly “Spiritual Nourishment” segment via WebEx, people share uplifting thoughts and stories. “The attendance continues to climb as more people become aware of the opportunity to receive some nourishment for their souls,” he says.

Salois of Mercy Washington says she has found humor to be a release valve for staff.

“In the midst of co-workers’ fears about what they might be bringing home to their families, which is a serious and real fear, we are sharing a lot of silly stories about our routines of stripping down” before entering the house to reduce contagion risk for family members. “We hope their neighbors know that they are health care workers,” she jokes.

She says through both serious and lighthearted connections, “we can remind our teams of God’s love, grace, hope and perseverance.”

Visit chausa.org/chworld to learn how chaplains are a source of strength to one another. jminda@chausa.org

Chaplains find patients searching for insights, open to deep

By JULIE MINDA

The coronavirus has had a big impact on pastoral care in Catholic health systems. At the outset of the pandemic, outpatient and elective inpatient services were canceled, or greatly restricted. Hospitals across the country prohibited in-person visits.

In part because personal protective equipment had to be reserved for clinicians early on, chaplains provided their services to patients and their families remotely. By mid-August, as Catholic Health World went to press, inpatient and outpatient services were back, or nearly back to pre-pandemic levels at many facilities.

In areas where the virus is not surging, many facilities allow limited visitation for patients without COVID. In these regions, chaplains report that they are seeing many patients for face-to-face visits, but continue to rely on telehealth technology, tablets or smartphones to minister to patients who have COVID, and those awaiting a coronavirus test result.

As caseloads continue to spike in new markets around the country, chaplains must adapt accordingly.

“Our pastoral teams have had to be more flexible, creative and collaborative within our own departments — as well as working with other departments,” says Art Maddock, manager of pastoral services for Mercy Northwest Arkansas, part of the Chesterfield, Missouri-based Mercy system. Coronavirus surged in Northwest Arkansas in early July. He says Mercy chaplains use a triage system put in place before the pandemic to ensure they give priority to patients in crisis.

‘Anxiety dump’ COVID patients who are critically ill may not be able to converse, but Deacon Ken Potzman, recently retired pastoral care director for Mercy St. Louis, says for

address anxiety and find available to them. They are wondering what ways to psychologically the future holds and it is important to be transfer the anxiety back there with them.”

“We have the chance to humbly repto the one that may be in a position to actually do resent God’s presence in these sacred something about it. Trans- moments,” adds Mary Salois. She manages ference brings ‘hope to mission and pastoral services for Mercy health system’s Washington, Missouri, light,’” he says.

Rev. Greg Creasy, direc- hospital and for several dozen of its nearby tor of the department of clinics. spiritual care and mission at St. Mary’s Medical Center in In the know Huntington, West Virginia, Chaplains interviewed for this article says the pandemic has say their pastoral care departments have caused many people to slow been part of the operational incident comdown and take stock of their mand planning that their hospitals have faith and priorities in life. been conducting around COVID since late Patients and othFr. John Gaglione suits up in personal protective gear at the Catholic ers searching for Health COVID-19 Treatment Facility at St. Joseph Campus in Buffalo, this kind of insight New York. He is assisted by nurse Francine Perkins. Fr. Gaglione directs may be open to deep spiritual conpastoral care services for staff and patients at the facility. versations that can patients who are able to communicate their lead to a spiritual reset, he says.

Rev. Chance Beeler, manager “uncertainty, anxiety, fear and fatigue, spirof pastoral and spiritual care for itual and emotional support are so crucial.

Our chaplains have the skills, experience SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital — St. Charles, in Missouri, says and expertise in this area.”

Rev. Jerry Vander Lee of Avera Health chaplains practice active listening says that the pandemic is obliging chap- and have the ability to help people lains to continually reimagine how they to name their feelings. He says offer their presence to patients and families the chaplains he works with do in crisis. The chaplaincy manager of Avera not expect patients to seek them McKennan Hospital & University Health out — the chaplains are trying to Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, says check in with as many people as chaplains at Avera “seek opportunities to they can at the hospital.

Rev. Beeler says regardless of retain a ‘heavenly perspective’ in the midst of the deluge of ‘earthly concerns’ encoun- whether people have a faith traditered with this pandemic.” tion or not, they are very welcomHe says when people talk about their ing of the chaplains’ presence. fears, they experience relief. So, he and “We’re spending a lot of time other chaplains at Avera are seeking to talking with patients. They want serve as what he calls an “anxiety dump,” to talk to us. They are not seefor patients and staff. “I believe Jesus com- ing their family and friends to the Rev. Kayla Parker, right, chaplain resident at St. Mary’s Medical mands us to care for the most vulnerable, extent that they were before the Center, discusses a patient with nurse Melinda Barton. and I might suggest that his intent was to pandemic, and it’s important to be St. Mary’s is in Huntington, West Virginia.

September 1, 2020 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD

Pandemic alters delivery of sacraments in health care settings

By KIM VAN OOSTEN

contracting coronavirus.

Meyer McGrath said, “Those we serve are more vulnerable than the general population and so the guidelines had to be a bit more restrictive. This was especially true regarding our long-term care facilities.”

Serban said in drafting the guidelines, careful attention was paid to preserving sacramental integrity while following strict infection control procedures.

The guidelines also address the safe delivery of compassionate pastoral care in acute and long-term care settings and safety protocols for reopening chapels to provide a space for prayer and solace for caregivers, patients and families. © Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Several of the sacraments that ministry pastoral care departments administer are highly intimate, involving close personal interaction and touch. For instance, during the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, a priest normally uses his bare thumb to apply blessed oil to a patient’s forehead and hands.

In Holy Communion, a priest or eucharistic minister may place a consecrated wafer on a patient’s tongue or put it into the cupped palm of the communicant.

Because of the high risk of contagion during the COVID-19 pandemic though, those high-contact protocols are not permitted in many health care settings. The pandemic creates what canon law defines as a “grave reason” to don personal protective gear and use a surgical glove and/or a cotton ball to anoint a patient, or make other adaptations as needed for public health.

As part of their pandemic protocols, some hospitals and nursing homes have defined clergy members as nonessential personnel who are prohibited from entering the rooms of COVID-19 positive patients, or even the entire facility. In those cases, some spiritual care providers minister over the phone or iPads. Priests may offer “spiritual communion” in lieu of a consecrated wafer or special indulgences at the point of death for the faithful who have been unable to receive the Last Rites.

Carrie Meyer McGrath, CHA’s director of mission services, said pastoral care Meyer McGrath departments throughout the ministry began adjusting their protocols early in the pandemic, and several CHA members reached out to CHA for input and

Fr. Warren Harvey celebrates Mass at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, Arkansas, in May. In the midst of the pandemic, he and other ministry chaplains have been adjusting how they administer the sacraments, following the guidance of the Catholic Church.

resources. “It was work that had to happen,” she said, adding that members of the CHA pastoral care advisory committee she staffs “wanted to do the work together.”

Working with peers at the National Association of Catholic Chaplains, the CHA committee drafted general guidance for the administration of the sacraments in health care settings which were adopted by both associations. With so many variations of circumstances in facilities and localities across the U.S., the guidelines are necessarily broad and allow for prudent situational judgment, said Meyer McGrath.

p spiritual conversations February or early March and that has allowed them to adapt their work to meet changing protocols and workloads related to the pandemic. While the incident command groups are not meeting as often as in the past, when they do convene, chaplains are part of the conversation.

Rev. Beeler says though visitation has resumed to a limited degree — SSM Health St. Joseph allows one or two guests per patient per day for COVID-negative patients — many patients are still distant from loved ones, and so the chaplain presence remains crucial for emotional and spiritual support.

Deacon Potzman says in another effort to soften isolation, chaplains at Mercy St. Louis are in phone contact with patients quarantined at home.

Rev. Creasy says St. Mary’s Medical Center chaplains are using phone and video chats to check in with COVID patients’ loved ones as well.

Rev. Vander Lee adds that, during the strict visitor restrictions, Avera McKennan chaplains were communicating more frequently with the clergy of patients’ home churches. The hospital chaplains have found the clergy sometimes see the chaplains as ministering on their behalf, including by assuring the patients their fellow parishioners had not forgotten them during the visitor prohibition.

Presence — live and virtual The chaplains say their hospitals have kept a live chaplain presence even when chaplains’ in-person visits to patients were paused. Now their reliance on telehealth equipment and personal technology is lessening as they resume in-person visits. But the experience with virtual visits showed that interpersonal communications skills play differently via video than they do face to face.

James Austin is a chaplain with Mercy

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Rev. Beverly Stith, left, and Rev. Gail Holstein converse at SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital – St. Charles in Missouri, where they are chaplains.

Virtual Care in Chesterfield, Missouri. His usual role is to provide tele-chaplaincy throughout Mercy’s four-state network.

Since the pandemic’s start, in addition to that responsibility, he’s been coaching chaplains and other colleagues throughout the system to adjust their communication style to the virtual environment.

He says, “When pastoral care cannot rely on being physically present in the room to provide care, other gifts and talents must be brought to bear — listening skills, match and pacing, eye contact, visual cues, etcetera.” For instance, he says, the “sacred pause” — the silence that chaplains and therapists often use in-person to invite input from their clients — does not work as well in a virtual format. Learning how to “fill the space while keeping it open” is a skill that some chaplains are having to develop. jminda@chausa.org

“Guidelines for Sacramental Celebrations in a Health Care Setting During COVID-19” has a grid format that sets out safe practices during COVID-19 surges when contagion risk is extreme, during periods when there are both COVID-positive and COVID-negative patients in a facility, and during periods when a facility may have no known COVID positive patients and remains on guard against contagion.

“Reminder of the Fundamentals for the Sacrament of Anointing the Sick,” another joint resource from the associations, encapsulates Catholic teaching on end-of-life rituals during exceptional circumstances including the current pandemic. There also is a Q & A on sacramental practices during the pandemic. All the resource materials can be found at chausa.org/pastoralcare/overview.

The documents incorporate input from infection control specialists and from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Urgent response CHA pastoral care committee member Tim Serban is Providence St. Joseph Health’s regional spiritual health officer for Oregon and the system’s disaster spiritual response leader. He said the committee members had a shared sense of urgency about the work that overSerban came their apprehension over offering guidance on the distribution of Holy Sacraments in health care settings.

“This resource needed to be available to health systems who have had to confront these challenges in real-time,” he said. The guidance resources were distributed by email to CHA members in late June.

As part of its research, the committee reviewed a variety of guidelines related to the pandemic from multiple dioceses. Serban said, “Guidelines which were being developed in dioceses were primarily focused on reopening parishes, with the direction that anyone who was ill should remain home.” There was little to no specificity about sacramental protocol in health care settings where visitors and pastoral staff could be a source of contagion, or at risk of

Made to order Deacon Tom Avery, palliative and hospice spiritual care coordinator for Trinity Health at Home, said each interaction with a patient or family leads to new learnings about what best suits their particular needs.

“One size fits all is not in my vocabulary any longer.”

Before the pandemic, Avery Avery said he felt that being physically present with a patient was foundational to his spiritual work. But now, having prayed with and for patients over a telephone, he understands that God’s presence does not depend on the physical proximity of believers to each other.

Fr. Lawrence Chellaian, a CHA pastoral care advisory committee member, is vice president of mission integration at CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas. Fr. Chellaian said when one of his directors was having conversations with a local clergy member who requested unrestricted access to all units in the hospital in order for him to provide sacramental services, the guidelines helped the director highlight the importance of safety considerations and the opportunities to provide pastoral services in nontraditional ways.

Dynamic learning David Lichter, executive director of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains, said respective professional competencies commissions — including his organization, the Association of Professional Chaplains and Lichter Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains will assess whether chaplains continue to routinely provide virtual spiritual care post-pandemic, and, if so, whether that shift will require more professional preparation.

“As you can imagine, we are still in the midst of providing such service, and our members are sharing and learning from each other best practices while being creative and responsive. It will take some time to determine what will be the enduring practices that will be core practices,” he said.

Serban said Catholic health care will emerge from the pandemic with new concepts of care delivery and new ways to imagine pastoral and sacramental ministry.

“As we come through this living storm,” Serban said, “I pray we will emerge with a deeper understanding of the value chaplains are as essential meaning makers in the journey of life and death.”

Julie Minda contributed to this report. kvanoosten@chausa.org, jminda@chausa.org

HOSPITAL CHAPLAINS AND COVID-19 In CHA’s podcast “Hospital Chaplains and COVID-19” CommonSpirit Health Chaplain Chelsea Leitcher and SSM Health Chaplain Jane Levdansky talk about providing emotional and spiritual support during the pandemic.

Listen to it at chausa.org/newsroom/podcast

6

CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD September 1, 2020

CHA webinar series offers fundamentals and advanced instruction in sponsorship Participants can attend select episodes or the series

CHA has launched a webinar series for potential and current sponsors — as well as for other ministry and church leaders to offer a solid foundation in the theoretical and practical dimensions of sponsorship models that increase the role of the laity in sustaining Catholic health care and other vital ministries of the Catholic Church.

“Sponsorship: Sustaining the Ministry” is made up of two sections: The first six webinars cover the fundamentals of sponsorship, and the second six address advanced issues in sponsorship. People can attend all installments of either or both series, or they can pick and choose which sessions to attend. Participation is free to CHA members and $100 per session for nonmembers.

To get the most benefit from the comprehensive curriculum, CHA recommends that participants attend all six webinars in the “Fundamentals of Sponsorship” series.

Each session is being recorded, to serve as

a resource for participants and for ministry organizations, their sponsors, board members, chief executives and others.

CHA will broadcast the webinars from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET on the second Wednesday of the month, except for December. The first episode in the fundamentals series aired Aug. 12; that series runs through Feb. 10.

The second series runs March 10 through Aug. 11, 2021.

The sessions, which are conducted over the Zoom videoconferencing platform, include presentations by sponsorship experts, discussion among participants and breakouts for small-group dialogue and interaction.

CHA offers an intensive, two-year formation program to help Catholic health ministry sponsors to prepare for and acclimate to their role. Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP, CHA senior director of theology and sponsorship, said this new webinar series fills a need for foundational information about the shared roles and distinct responsibilities vested in sponsors of sacred works.

From the founding of Catholic health care ministries, congregations of women

and men religious served as those facilities’ sponsor, overseeing how the facilities lived out their Catholic identity and how they continued the healing ministry of Christ.

As memberships in the congregations declined and out of the desire of the congregational sponsors to involve lay leaders in the sponsorship of their ministries, the ministry began to use the ministerial juridic person model of sponsorship. The model was first used in this way beginning in 1991, when the Vatican approved Catholic Health Care Federation as the ministerial juridic person of a predecessor of Catholic Health Initiatives. (That entity became the sponsor of CHI when that system was formed through merger in 1996.

Catholic Health Care Federation now sponsors CommonSpirit Health, the organization formed by the merger of CHI and Dignity Health.)

Fr. Bouchard said since Fr. Bouchard the ministerial juridic person sponsorship model is relatively new in the history of the Catholic health ministry, a

lot of people still do not have a good understanding of what it is and how it functions.

The webinar series is meant to bridge that knowledge gap.

Fr. Bouchard led the first webinar, explaining how health care is a church ministry and inviting participants to describe their personal call to ministry. In the Sept. 9 session, Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, CHA’s president and chief executive officer, will discuss how sponsorship evolved to its current structures. In subsequent sessions, guest experts will examine different sponsorship models, explain canonical aspects of sponsorship, cover the relationship between sponsors and top executives of health systems from the executives’ perspective and delve into the relationship between sponsors, local ordinaries and the Vatican.

The second series of six webinars will cover more advanced sponsorship duties including ecclesial relationships and recruitment and formation of sponsors.

People can register at any time for one or multiple sessions at chausa.org/ sponsorwebinars. As of early August, nearly 200 people had registered for the webinars.

Sisters transitioning sponsorship of Holy Redeemer Health System

By JULIE MINDA

The Sisters of the Redeemer of Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania, are transferring their sponsorship of the Holy Redeemer Health

Members of Redeemer Ministries Members of the new Redeemer Ministries public juridic person are:

Dan Gallagher, who will be president of Redeemer Ministries, is a vice president of Waste Gas Fabricating Co. Timothy Abell is president of Firstrust Bank.

Sr. Anita Bolton, CSR, is province assistant, Sisters of the Redeemer.

Sr. Anne Marie Haas, CSR, is senior vice president of Holy Redeemer Health System.

Filomela “Phyllis” Marshall is dean of the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing, Thomas Edison State University Sr. Ellen Marvel, CSR, is province leader, Sisters of the Redeemer.

James Paul is president of Thomas J. Paul Inc. Members serve three-year terms that can be renewed.

Bishop Rozanski appointed USCCB liaison to CHA The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has appointed ArchbishopDesignate Mitchell Thomas Rozanski as the bishops’ conference liaison to the CHA Board of Trustees.

Bishop Rozanski was to be installed as the Archbishop of St. Louis Aug. 25. He has Bishop Rozanski served as the bishop of the diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts, since August 2014.

On the CHA board, Bishop Rozanski succeeds Archbishop Samuel Joseph Aquila of Denver.

The episcopal liaison helps support the relationship between the bishops’ conference and CHA, including by providing the perspective of the bishops’ conference to CHA and by helping the bishops to understand the needs of Catholic health care.

“Our CHA members from Springfield, Massachusetts, have shared what a gift he has been to their diocese and how fortunate St. Louis and CHA are to have him,” said Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, CHA president and chief executive officer.

System of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, to Redeemer Ministries, a public juridic person.

The Vatican recognized the new juridic person on June 10. The congregation and the juridic person are in a transition period that will last several months, according to the congregation. There will be a celebration and Mass to mark the official full transfer, when it is safe to hold such an event, given the potential of COVID-19 contagion.

According to the congregation, the transfer will help ensure the health system maintains its Catholic identity well into the future. Used by numerous Catholic health systems, the juridic person sponsor model allows for laypeople to have oversight when it comes to health systems’ adherence to church teachings and their promotion of Jesus’ healing mission. In the case of Holy Redeemer Health System, the juridic person also will ensure the preservation of the charism and spirit of the Sisters of the Redeemer.

The health system includes a hospital, four continuum of care campuses, a network of outpatient facilities, home care and other programming.

“We have always recognized and valued the critical role lay partners in mission play within our ministries,” said Sr. Ellen Marvel, CSR, leader of the Redeemer sisters’ U.S. province.

According to information from the congregation, 12 Sisters of the Redeemer arrived in the U.S. from Germany in 1924, and at the height of the congregation’s membership in 1938, there were 141 sisters.

Currently there are 16 Redeemer sisters in the U.S. Sr. Marvel said a decade-plus of planning preceded the Vatican’s approval of the PJP. In 2011, the sisters established a pilot sponsor model and invited laypeople to discern a call to serve in sponsorship and to commit to formation to do so.

Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP, CHA’s senior director of theology and sponsorship, said, “The Sisters of the Redeemer did it right.

They started with a pilot sponsor model and prepared future sponsor members. Then they sought formal establishment of their new juridic person. This is the best way to ensure a smooth transition and allow the sisters to have maximum influence and participation in the new entity.”

He added, “The importance of this new sponsor entity cannot be overestimated.

It provides a way to continue a ministry of health care and the spiritual tradition of the Redeemer sisters, but it also enables laypeople to assume responsibility for a ministry of the church in an entirely new way.

Members of the new Redeemer Ministries public juridic person are, from left, Filomela “Phyllis” Marshall; Timothy Abell; Sr. Anita Bolton, CSR; Sr. Ellen Marvel, CSR; Sr. Anne Marie Haas, CSR; Dan Gallagher; and James Paul.

“They will no longer be just assisting the sisters with their ministry, they will be fully accountable for this ministry to the church,” Fr. Bouchard said.

Share the joy of the season with a Christmas message to the ministry

While the congregation no longer will have a formal sponsorship role after the transition, individual sisters will continue to serve on the juridic person as well as in

Include your organization’s Christmas message in the Dec. 15 issue of

Catholic Health World invites you to extend a holiday greeting to your employees and to colleagues in the Catholic health ministry.

Visit chausa.org/Christmas for more details. Send an email to ads@chausa.org to reserve your ad space.

Ads are due by Nov. 20.

September August 1, 2020 CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD

The

The Symposium is Virtual. The Hunger is Real.

FACE

of the Person Who is

HUNGRY

Community Benefit 101 is Going Virtual in 2020!

VIRTUAL

The Eleventh Annual

McGinley-Rice Symposium

October 22-23, 2020

Each day from 2 to 4:45 p.m. ET

CHA is transforming its highly regarded CB 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Planning and Reporting Community Benefit program into a virtual conference that will provide new community benefit professionals with the foundational knowledge and tools needed to run effective community benefit programs.

What you will learn:

Register at

duq.edu/social-justice

Community Benefit 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Planning and Reporting Community Benefit OCT. 27, 28 & 29, 2020

on Social Justice for Vulnerable Populations: A Virtual Symposium A national forum focusing on critical issues in health care practice and policy through the lens of social justice.

7

Through video presentations, live chat and commentary provided by community benefit leaders, online opportunities to connect and more — CHA will provide the basics of community benefit, access to practical tools and resources, as well as timely public policy updates.

Who should attend: While it is designed for new community benefit professionals, the new virtual format now makes this meeting accessible to a wider audience, including:

vv Staff in mission, finance/tax,

population health, strategic planning, diversity and inclusion, communications, government relations, and compliance who want to learn about the important relationship between their work and community benefit/ community health.

vv Veteran community benefit staff

who want a refresher course to update them on current practices, inspire future activities and connect with others in nonprofit health care doing this work.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! CONTINUING EDUCATION CONTACT HOURS FOR NURSES AND OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS Duquesne University School of Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

LEARN MORE AT CHAUSA.ORG/COMMUNITYBENEFIT101

Strength.

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Welcome to a caring community of older adults living safely in company with others. Welcome to Benedictine, an organization bringing its mission to life through serving communities, now with a new name and look.

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8

CATHOLIC HEALTH WORLD September 1, 2020

Kind acts from staff help eldercare residents feel loved, valued

By JULIE MINDA

To prevent coronavirus contagion, D’Youville Life and Wellness Community in Lowell, Massachusetts — like virtually every other eldercare campus across the U.S. — put in place lockdown and quarantine protocols in March that in effect ended all nonessential visitation for residents.

This shutdown meant that the hairdresser who normally comes to the continuum of care campus to coif residents’ locks no longer could do so. Recognizing how much her clients missed the services that helped them feel polished, two certified nurse aides took it upon themselves to set up a rolling salon.

Their cart contains all that Coryn Adams and Caitlin Ashe need to style men’s and women’s hair. They apply makeup for women who want it. Adams and Ashe wear protective gear as they set and comb.

“We are like a family, and this is how Coryn and Caitlin would want their own family members treated, so that’s what they did,” says Debbie Scionti, D’Youville director of mission and values.

Throughout eldercare facilities ministrywide, staff like Adams and Ashe have been finding ways to provide emotional support and lift residents’ spirits.

It’s amazing to see how the kindnesses impact residents, Scionti says. “They know they are loved.”

Long months The protocols put in place nationwide in the spring that allow only essential personnel to enter eldercare facilities, while necessary to help prevent viral spread, have

Entertaining elders From page 1

residents responded with glee.

Many families had decked out their cars with balloons, streamers, posters — and in one case, a giant stuffed toy tiger. One family ambushed their beloved grandmother with silly string.

“It was very heartwarming and overwhelming to witness the reactions of the residents and families to one another,” says Samantha Beaton, St. Andre recreation therapy director. “They all got so much out of it.”

Beaton and her colleagues spent many hours planning, setting up for and staffing the parade. Like many of their peers in ministry eldercare facilities, the folks in St. Andre’s parade crew are determined to ensure that the joyful, stimulating environment that they had cultivated before the pandemic would continue under lockdown. With a lot of imagination and heart, these staff members have pulled off some fun events to keep residents smiling and on their toes.

“Those of us who work in long-term care — we think about what would benefit residents, and how we can make things better for them, and how can we make that happen,” says Beaton.

Fun and games The protocols that long-term care facilities across the U.S. have put in place have been necessary to help prevent coronavirus spread, but they have come at a price, says Sondra Norder, president and chief executive of St. Paul Elder Services of Kaukauna, Wisconsin, part of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries. “We know that isolation is bad for people’s health and that socialization is good for people’s health. It’s part of our mission to keep residents engaged, and it’s the right thing to do.

“But we also really enjoy it and know the positive impact it has on people’s lives.”

When the pandemic hit, St. Paul replaced its usual communal happy hours

vidually or in small groups while maintaining a safe social distance of 6 feet or more.

On March 13, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued coronavirus infection control guidelines for long-term care facilities nationwide that effectively barred visitation, with the possible exception of limited compassionate visitation at the end-of-life.

On May 18, CMS released multi-phased guidelines to enable the safe resumption of visitation. Some nursing homes now allow visits on a narrow basis, with social distancing and other precautions in place.

Pre-pandemic, Bon Secours St. Petersburg Health System in Florida regularly welcomed over 100 visitors daily to its skilled nursing facility. Since March, only Certified nurse aides Coryn Adams, right, and Caitlin Ashe style the hair of a resident of D’Youville Life and Wellness Community in Lowell, staff and people providing essential medical services Massachusetts. The aides, who work in the facility’s dementia care can enter the building, says unit, set up a rolling salon service after coronavirus precautions Kip F. Corriveau, Bon Secprevented visits from the beautician. ours St. Petersburg director greatly constricted the lives of residents. In of mission. As Catholic Health World went some facilities, residents largely have been to press, Gov. Ron Desantis’ emergency confined to their rooms or to restricted order restricting visitation by family memareas where the number of people is con- bers remained in effect.

Maria A. Miranda, vice president of pubtrolled. Residents’ socialization, recreation, dining and excursions have been sharply lic relations for Catholic Health Services limited to activities that can be done indi- of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, says nursing

with a traveling happy hour. Staff members deliver favorite spirits — plus some lively banter — to each resident in their rooms.

Norder says the happy hours are a hit. “Our mission is to enrich lives, and we are dedicated to doing that, even in the pandemic, even in super nonideal circumstances.”

St. Paul staff also have started an interview project that has become very popular. An interviewer asks residents a question related to a lighthearted subject. The videographer, Sr. Cecilia Joy Kugel, OSF, a communications specialist at St. Paul, creates a video montage of the replies. The end product gets shared with residents and their families.

One set of video shorts has residents reliving favorite summertime memories which have included camping, riding bikes, swimming and “fighting with my sister.”

To further reassure worried families, St. Paul produced — and uploaded to YouTube — a 19-minute video documentary to show what life is like inside the facility during the lockdown.

St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion in Lewiston, Maine, which like St. Andre is part of Covenant Health, celebrates theme days.

On Bahamas day, staff sported floral attire and served residents tropical smoothies to the boppin’ rhythms of beach music. The facility also is doing up birthdays in a bigger way than usual. In addition to songs and treats, St. Mary’s staff organized window visits and videoconference chats with their loved ones.

Shelly Katula-Blais, director of St. Mary’s therapeutic recreation program, says the entertaining activities are welcomed by staff and residents alike, in part because “they keep our minds off all the negative things going on in the outside world.”

Hearts a pumping Esther Zimmerman directs recreation therapy at Benedictine Living Community – Winona in Minnesota, a long-term care campus. She’s been adjusting physical fitness activities so that they are in line with

infection control protocols and finding new activities to replace those that no longer can be done safely.

Since many residents enjoy getting out in the fresh air, Zimmerman moved many activities outdoors with the onset of Minnesota’s spring temperatures. One man who hadn’t been doing well under the novisitors policy, “was the first one out on the patio, and the last one to go back in” when she staged a cardio drumming circle.

Residents socially distanced on the patio and beat out the rhythm of the tune playing in headsets they all wore. The playlist included “Hit the Road Jack” and “Runaround Sue.” “They thoroughly enjoyed it,” says Zimmerman. “They were really engaged.”

Zimmerman also staged a “giant ax throwing” event — participants hurled a Velcro ax at a target — which she calls a “huge hit.” (No pun intended.) She’s used Zoom conferencing to host a Family Feud style competition between residents. And she has a few more surprises up her sleeve to keep recreation interesting. She’s looking into squirt gun painting and scavenger hunts.

home staff have made kindness a priority despite having had extra duties added to their responsibilities, including tasks and responsibilities connected with implementing stringent infection control measures. Some long-term care staff are getting weary as the months of lockdown drag on, says D’Youville’s Scionti.

Poignant gesture Jeanne Heid-Grubman, administrator of The Village at Victory Lakes continuum of care campus in Lindenhurst, Illinois, says she’s witnessed profoundly meaningful gestures by the staff of that facility, which is part of Franciscan Ministries of Lemont, Illinois.

In one instance, a nurse aide bought a wedding anniversary card and flowers for the wife of a hospice patient knowing the couple could not mark the occasion together because of the lockdown and that the man would not survive until his next anniversary. The aide had the patient sign the card and made the delivery to the wife at her home. “That card was the last thing his wife had with his signature on it, because he died the week after the anniversary,” Heid-Grubman says.

She says, “It’s painful for these families to be separated from someone they love more than anyone on earth,” and so the aide’s kindhearted act “was meaningful beyond what I can imagine, and I’m sure the resident’s wife will never forget this.”

By tradition at Victory Lakes, nurses escort the body of a deceased patient to the funeral home hearse, intoning prayers for their eternal rest. The nurses made a pact with one another to maintain that custom amid the pandemic. So, earlier this year, when a woman was actively dying on a Saturday night, four or five day-shift nurses and nurse aides set up a phone chain so that they could be alerted — when they were home and off the clock — that it was time to come back to the facility and escort the resident’s body. All of them came in after getting their phone call, and they waited four hours for the funeral home director’s arrival, so that they could join the six or seven associates who were on shift to honor the deceased woman.

Seasonal greetings Roberto Salvador is activities director at St. Anne’s Nursing Center and Residence in Miami, which is part of Catholic Health Services of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. He says that knowing what a strain it has been for residents to be cut off from in-person contact with loved ones, he has been investing more time and effort into occasions that are important to residents.

For Mother’s Day, he helped residents’ families create custom videos and coordinated virtual gatherings for families separated because of visiting restrictions. He handed out flowers and cards to the moms in the facility. He repeated the gestures on Father’s Day. “It’s our responsibility to love our residents as our families,” he says.

Human contact Even simple, seemingly mundane acts by staff can have much importance for residents and their families. Corriveau of Bon Secours says Sr. Dolores O’Brien, OSF, a chaplain at that long-term care campus’ assisted living facility, has been serving as an informal secretary for residents who can’t use email. She prints out greetings and messages from friends and loved ones and reads them to the intended recipient.

She writes a short note back to thank the sender, sharing anything the resident said in the reply.

Corriveau says, much like the chaplain, many staff members are “consciously slowing down and taking the time to listen,” to residents.

Roberto Salvador, activities director of Catholic Health Services’ St. Anne’s Nursing Center and Residence of Miami, says he and his colleagues on the activities team visit most residents on a daily basis, and they have been making an extra effort to engage them in longer conversations and to provide them with extra emotional support.

He says the visits are “serving a higher purpose, showing God’s love to each one of our residents during these rough times.”

Corriveau says by paying attention to the individual, staff help residents feel valued.

“This fundamentally starts with Catholic identity, and Bon Secours Mercy Health values human dignity. We see each person is precious, each person is an individual with a history and a story.”

jminda@chausa.org

jminda@chausa.org