New Space for Clergy at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Monday, December 13, 2004

New Brunswick - A new Pastoral Care office with space for area clergy, congregational visitors and chaplain education opens this week at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as the Pastoral Care program celebrates 20 years of service.

"We greatly appreciate the dedication of our chaplain staff and the area clergy who provide emotional and spiritual support to our patients and their families 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Reverend John deVelder, Director of Pastoral Care, who started the program at Robert Wood Johnson. "As we celebrate our twentieth anniversary, we want to recognize all those who have helped bring pastoral care to be part of the healthcare team."

The new office provides clergy with a computer to seek patient information and space for their personal belongings. It also includes a seminar room and workspace for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Residents, who are clinically trained to minister to people of various faiths, including Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist. Each resident gives 400 hours of service to patients. Over the last twenty years, the hospital has trained 900 CPE residents, and was the first hospital in the state to create a year-long residency program for chaplains.

Click here for more information on Pastoral Care Services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Selected as one of four hospitals nationwide to offer the world's first self-contained implantable artificial heart, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.rwjuh.edu) is a 600-bed academic medical center and the principal hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. Robert Wood Johnson is an innovative leader in advancing state-of-the-art care in medicine. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, and women's and children's care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). The hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center and serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.

The hospital has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is ranked among the top 50 hospitals in the nation for both heart and heart surgery and respiratory disorders, according to U.S.News & World Report's 2008 ranking of "America's Best Hospitals." The American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer has rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital among the nation's best comprehensive cancer centers. The Leapfrog Group rated Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the 50 exceptional U.S. hospitals, as published in Consumers Digest magazine. Harvard University researchers, in a study commissioned by The Commonwealth Fund, identified Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation for clinical quality. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is also a recipient of the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence for more than 10 consecutive years.

Attention members of the media: For more information on this release, please contact the Department of Public Relations (732) 937-8521.