Pastoral Care
At Children's Medical CenterAbout Pastoral Care
The Pastoral Care department at Children's encourages families to draw on faith. When children come to the hospital, they and their families have many questions. Why is my child ill? Why did this happen to our family? What did I do wrong?
Chaplains in the hospital's Pastoral Care department listen to these questions daily, and offer spiritual guidance, emotional support, hope and compassion.
The Pastoral Care department, which began in 1983 with guidance and encouragement from religious members of the Dallas faith community, is designed to offer ecumenical spiritual support for children and families in crisis. The department offers one-on-one counseling, traditional rites, prayers and sacred play with age-appropriate stories. Daily devotionals and Sunday worship services also are held in the hospital chapel and are broadcast on closed circuit TV to all patient rooms.
In addition, chaplains support hospital staff with anxieties they may be feeling, ethical questions involving patient care as well as with grief counseling.
Chaplains are available at the hospital around the clock, seven days a week. The unit chaplain may be contacted by calling the Pastoral Care department at 214-456-2822 or by asking the operator to page the chaplain.