For Visiting Clergy

Dear clergy colleagues,

Welcome to Harborview and the University of Washington Medical Center!

The care you offer to members of your faith community is irreplaceable.  As your partners in ministry, we want to support you in every way we can.  We hope the information here will be helpful to you as you visit your hospitalized members.

About Our Spiritual Care Providers

Our multifaith core team of spiritual care providers are trained as specialists in healthcare ministry, caring for people in the unique environment of the hospital.  They are interns, residents, or past participants in our CPE program which is accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. We care for patients, loved ones, and staff, of any faith tradition or no faith tradition.

Please let us know how we can partner with you in supporting your members.  We may be able to:

• Visit a patient when you are not available
• Collaborate with you to create the best possible spiritual care plan for a patient
• Help you convey information to the medical staff about issues relevant to the patient’s spiritual condition
• Pray or reflect with you for your own support

Please be aware that while you may share your members’ needs with us, we may not be able to share information with you because of confidentiality rules mandated by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 2003).  Similarly, please respect your members’ wishes and ask them before you share information about their hospitalization with others in your congregation.

To Contact a Spiritual Care Provider

Harborview: We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  To contact us, call the hospital operator at (206) 744-3000 and ask that the chaplain be paged directly.

UWMC: We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To contact the us, please call (206) 598-9174. If there is no answer, you may leave a voice mail. 

Visiting Your Members in the Hospital

Solicitation: Harborview and UWMC do not permit proselytizing or solicitation of any kind.  Visiting room-to-room or visiting patients who are not members of your faith community is not permitted.  Similarly, distributing literature or leaving materials in waiting rooms, restrooms, or other public areas of the hospital is not permitted.  Of course, you are always welcome to use appropriate religious literature when caring for members of your congregation.  The spiritual care office also has a selection of sacred and devotional materials available.

Parking (Harborview): Park in the View Park parking garage to the west of the main hospital.  You may have your parking validated at the Admissions office in the Ground West lobby.  You will be asked to show a photo ID and provide a business card and the name of the patient you are visiting.  If it is after hours and there is no one at the desk, please page the on-call spiritual care provider to validate your parking.

Parking (UWMC): Park in the Triangle Garage, located across the street from the hospital entrance.  Keep your ticket with you.  When you leave, you may present a business card to the attendant at the payment kiosk to have your parking validated.

During the Visit: The Information desk in the lobby can help you find a patient’s room number.  Before going to the patient’s room, please check in at the nursing station on the unit.  Staff there can help ensure that the patient is ready for your visit.  Please wash your hands (or use hand sanitizer) before and after each visit and observe any other precautions posted.

Other Useful Areas (Harborview): The hospital Meditation Room is located on the first floor in the East Clinic wing.  A 24-hour espresso and snack bar is located next to the Cafeteria in the basement, in the West Hospital wing.

Other Useful Areas (UWMC): The hospital Meditation Room is located on the second floor near the Pacific elevators.

Further Reading: The following books address various aspects of ministry in the hospital.  (They do not necessarily represent the views of HMC Spiritual Care, but may be useful in your work.)

• Biddle, Perry H., Jr.  A Hospital Visitation Manual.  Updated and revised ed.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994.
• Kirkindoll, Michael L.  The Hospital Visit: A Pastor’s Guide.  Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001.
• Reimer, Lawrence D., and James T. Wagner.  The Hospital Handbook: A Practical Guide to Hospital Visitation.  Foreword by Wayne E. Oates.  Wilton, CT: Morehouse Barlow, 1984.
• Holst, Lawrence E., ed.  Hospital Ministry: The Role of the Chaplain Today.  Foreword by Martin E. Marty.  New York: Crossroad, 1985.

Other Opportunities: If you are willing to serve as a resource for patients of your faith tradition, please contact us at (206) 744-2757 or chaplain@uw.edu.