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History of Spiritual Care at Harborview The Spiritual care Program at Harborview Medical Center is the result a 23 year agreement between the First Presbyterian Church of Seattle, the Seattle Presbytery, and Harborview Medical Center. As an institution supported by public monies and owned by King County, Harborview was unable to fund a pastoral care presence because of limits set in the Washington State Constitution. In l978, Harborview became a specialized ministry of the Seattle Presbytery with funding supplied by the two Presbyterian partners. A Pastoral Care Advisory Board (later renamed the Spiritual Care Advisory Board) was configured to oversee the program. Each partner appointed three members to the board with ex-officio status being conferred on the Executive Director, Presbytery of Seattle, Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and the Associate Administrator, Patient Care Services, Harborview Medical Center. Reverend Cirilo DelCarmen was called to this ministry at its inception in l978. During his 18-year tenure as Director, pastoral care support for patients, families and staff was expanded through his development of a strong volunteer chaplaincy program. With the passage of HJR 4200 in l993, Harborview was permitted to use public funds to support spiritual care, and began contributing funds to Pastoral Care Services as a part of its operational budget. February l996, the Pastoral Care Board organized a retreat to evaluate the direction of the program and the future of the partnership. The three partners reaffirmed their continued commitment to the partnership agreement. A partnership agreement was signed, and continues to be signed each calendar year. The Agreement is renewable for successive one-year terms upon agreement of the parties. A vision statement for the Pastoral Care Program was developed and the Board committed itself to expanding its scope of services to include the development of a Clinical Pastoral Education program at Harborview. A commitment was made to develop a funding base to support
this effort in a sustainable way. The effort was made operational through
Harborview's commitment of Development Office support and the Board's
focus on fundraising as a new board responsibility. December of 1997, Harborview Medical Center notified the ACPE office in Decatur Georgia that it wished to begin the Accreditation process for a program of CPE. A Professional Consultation Committee was formed at the direction of the Associate Administrator for Patient Care Services, and work on the feasibility study began. To support Reverend Chamber's focus on this program development effort, a .50 staff chaplain was hired in January, l998. April of l998 the Board voted to change the title of the program to Pastoral Care and Education Program at Harborview Medical Center to acknowledge its commitment to the vision of CPE. May l998, the first CPE Unit was offered at HMC under a memorandum of affiliation with the CPE program of Virginia Mason Medical Center. Five students completed this program, and the Medical Center welcomed the additional pastoral care support provided by the students. October of 1999 the CPE program at Harborview was officially accredited by the ACPE. November of 1998 Harborview received the support of chaplain interns participating in the second unit of CPE. Four students completed this unit, and the hospital began to further understand the importance of spiritual care in the medical setting. January of 1999 the third unit of CPE began with eight students. June of 1999 the fourth unit of CPE began with six students. July of 1999 the department hired a part time evening staff chaplain to assist students and the director. October of 1999 the fifth unit of CPE began with five students. October of 1999 a volunteer Administrative Assistant (Laurene Shrauner) joined the staff to help with the day-to-day needs in the Pastoral Care office. January of 2000 the sixth unit of CPE began with eight students. January of 2000 the HMC Development Office began researching potential grants for the advancement of the CPE and future residency programs. February of 2000 the volunteer Administrative Assistant began as an hourly employee. April of 2000, Rev. George Grant from St. Elizabeth's Medical Center/Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA was hired as a consultant to work with the department on a grant proposal and to outline a direction for the future of the department. June of 2000 the seventh unit of CPE began with eight students. October of 2000 the eighth unit of CPE began with eight students. October the Advisory Board endorsed HMC's unilateral commitment to hire an Administrative Director of the department. In essence, this person would co-lead the department with the current but newly named Clinical Director Nancy Chambers. November the Advisory Board and Hospital officials interviewed three top candidates from around the country. On December 4, 2000, Rev. George H. Grant, a previous consultant to the department, was hired as Administrative Director of Pastoral Care and Education. February of 2001, the Advisory Board endorsed a name change to the department. With an eye toward inclusivity, the Department of Pastoral Care and Education became known as the Department of Spiritual Care. Components of the department were instituted as follows: The Harborview Chaplains, Clinical Pastoral Education, Spiritual Psychotherapy and Spiritual Healthcare Research. On May 1, 2001, the department announced the institution of a CPE Residency program (full -time one year) to begin with two students on August 10, 2001. This startup was made possible through a grant by the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church. June of 2001, a full-time Administrative Assistant was hired into the department. The ninth unit of CPE began in June 0f 2001 with nine student chaplain interns. The Spring and Summer of 2001 was a busy time for the Department of Spiritual Care. Preparations were made for a 10-year full Accreditation site visit by officials of ACPE, Inc. The site review is scheduled for October 15 and 16, 2001. Due to an illness on the Accreditation Site team and alternative date was established for the review. In January 2002, the team came to Harborview and made an affirming assessment of our CPE Center. A final vote on our center would not happen until November of 2002. Our center continued to thrive through the Spring of 2002. Ten CPE Interns and two Residents received training and education while also providing excellent spiritual care to patients, families, and staff. The year 2002 marks significant progress as we grow the discipline of clinical ministry at Harborview. In a little over one year, we have established a residency program, implemented spiritual care assessment into the electronic medical record, established a useful and exciting web-site, and reorganized the department for the future. On Novembr 15, 2002, Harborview's CPE Center was fully accredited by the National Commission for ACPE, Inc. This full accreditation will be active until the year 2012. Leslie meyer became the administrative assistant upon Patty Foster's leaving in 2002. John Kaufmann relieved Leslie Meyer (career move) as the Administrative Assistant for Spiritual Care in September of 2003. In April of 2004, it was agreed that the HMC CPE Center would expand its educational arena to include the University of Washington Medical Center. Rev. Dr. George H. Grant, Ph.D., Administrative Director of Spiritual Care at HMC and faculty member in the UW School of Medicine, was named Director of Spiritual Care for both Campuses. For the first time in its history, the UWMC finally enjoys professionally supervised spiritual care. Clinical assignments began in mid-August 2004. The two departments are joined as a UW Medicine system of Spiritual Care. In September of 2004 the clinical services and education expanded to UWMC with a full-time Chaplain Fellow, a Chaplain Resident, and six Chaplain Interns. 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