Spiritual Care for Patients & Families
At Swedish, we recognize that meeting our patients’ spiritual and religious needs is an important part of caring for the whole person. We understand that healing involves body, mind and soul.
The Spiritual Care Department is committed to providing spiritual care to patients and their families while considering the diversity of spiritual and religious expressions. Spiritual care is available to people of all faiths as well as those of no particular affiliation 24 hours a day, every day.
Our professionally-trained chaplains, representing a broad array of religious faiths and cultural backgrounds, function as an integral part of the medical team. They are available to offer supportive companionship and care for you on your journey at Swedish from diagnosis to healing, from birth to death.
If you need spiritual care services, please call the hospital operator, 206-386-6000, and ask to be connected to a chaplain.
Chapels are sacred spaces dedicated to spiritual healing. They are available for prayer, meditation, or simply quiet places to find respite or collect one’s thoughts. Each Swedish campus has a chapel open to people of all faiths or none, 24 hours a day, every day.
- At Swedish First Hill and Cherry Hill, the chapels are located near the lobby
- At Swedish Issaquah, the meditation room/chapel is located adjacent to the center of the main floor of the hospital
- At Swedish Ballard, the chapel is located on the third floor near the skybridge
Religious materials are available in the chapels while others are available from the Spiritual Care Department by calling 206-386-2082 (First Hill, Cherry Hill, Issaquah, and Ballard campuses) and 206-386-6000 (Edmonds campus).
Chaplains offer consultation and counsel regarding spiritual, emotional and ethical matters. Chaplains are available to support those of any faith tradition, or none.
Religious services can be arranged through the Spiritual Care Department for baptisms, weddings, memorials, rituals and religious day observances. Sacraments and prayers for healing are offered upon request.
Spiritual care of patients and their families are always done in collaboration with the medical team. Chaplains attend rounds, participate in team and family meetings, and contribute a spiritual perspective to the patient’s particular situation and plan of care. They then develop a plan of care to address spiritual/religious issues and provide for continuity of care, collaborating with the medical team to implement the plan.
At Swedish, all chaplains are board-certified. Chaplains follow a code of ethics that requires respectful care for all persons and have specialized training in caring for hospitalized patients. They observe standards of practice developed by the Association of Professional Chaplains for use in acute care settings.
The loss of a loved one is always difficult 7ndash; if not painful – to those left behind.
The Spiritual Care Department is available to provide bereavement support. Chaplains can provide guidance as families and friends process their grief and can connect them to various community resources as needed. Grief may not go away, but it can soften and give way to opportunity for healing.
There are also several support groups where participants can collectively grieve in safe, creative and healing ways. These support groups are led by experienced professionals who can provide the appropriate guidance needed.