UR Medicine Thompson Health recently received the Excellence in Spiritual Care Award (ESCA) from the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN).
Thompson completed a three-step process to earn the award, which the HCCN says signifies an organization is committed to addressing patients’ spiritual and religious needs through the best practices in spiritual care.
The HCCN’s standards of excellence include employing an interdisciplinary approach to spiritual care, engaging in quality improvement projects and the strategic deployment of chaplaincy care resources.
According to the HCCN, Thompson is currently the only organization in New York with the ESCA, which remains in effect for two years.
“This award sends the message that Thompson Health is ensuring the delivery of effective professional spiritual care for patients coping with a health crisis,” said Rev. Eric J. Hall, HCCN’s president and CEO. “The work they are doing is appreciated and well received in the community.”
The director of Thompson’s spiritual care department is Rev. Janice Lum, a board-certified chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) who is ordained through the Nazarene denomination. She is also registered nurse who holds a Master of Divinity. Lum is assisted by three staff chaplains, each of whom has a Master of Divinity and at least four units of clinical pastoral education: Rev. Tory Bonners and Austin Turner are both seeking board certification while Rev. Alisa Unell is an APC board-certified chaplain.
Lum said the spiritual wellbeing of patients, residents, families, staff and community is integrated into her department’s mission, where there is an understanding that physical health is directly related to spiritual and emotional health. The department has been redesigned since the pandemic, Lum added, “with an emphasis placed on professionally trained spiritual caregivers who have endorsement from their governing authorities to practice as chaplains and the required specialty training for health care chaplaincy.”
For more information about the recent award, visit www.healthcarechaplaincy.org.