Highlights from 50th Anniversary Convocation

The commissioned chaplains and their faith representatives on the bema of Congregation Emanu-El.

On May 10th, hundreds of people gathered at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York to celebrate HealthCare Chaplaincy’s 50th Anniversary.

T. Michael Long, chairman of HealthCare Chaplaincy’s board of trustees, welcomed all, and Dr. David Posner, senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, delivered the invocation.

Three chaplains who have joined HealthCare Chaplaincy over the past year were commissioned and installed in a ceremony that included a representative from the hospital or medical center where they serve and each chaplain’s religious representative.

Lou Shapiro, president and CEO of Hospital for Special Surgery, congratulating Chaplain Judy Fleischman	Leora Lowenthal, director of patient-centered care at NYU Langone Medical Center, introducing Chaplain Holly Gaudette.	The Rev. Carol Hoidra of the Episcopal Church Center, and Chaplain Holly Gaudette	The Rev. Karen Jones of Winthrop University Hospital and The Rev. Martin Bentley, senior pastor, Antioch Baptist Church.

Lou Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of Hospital for Special Surgery introduced Chaplain Judy Fleischman; Leora Lowenthal, director for patient-centered care at NYU Langone Medical Center introduced Chaplain Holly Gaudette, and Claire Altman, HealthCare Chaplaincy executive vice president and chief operating officer introduced the Rev. Karen Jones, on behalf of Winthrop-University Hospital vice president for administration Barbara Kohart-Kleine.

Joining HealthCare Chaplaincy president and chief executive officer the Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J. in commissioning the three chaplains were Sensei Julie Myoko Terestman of the Village Zendo; the Rev. Carol Hoidra, associate director, office of mission funding for the Episcopal Church Center; and the Rev. Martin Bentley, senior pastor, Antioch Baptist Church.

	Kevin Flannelly receiving the Service Award from the Rev. Dr. Walter J. Smith, S.J.

Father Smith recognized for ten years of service to HealthCare Chaplaincy psychologist Kevin Flannelly, Ph. D., associate director of research.

The Convocation marked the inauguration of HealthCare Chaplaincy’s Pioneer Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Health Care.

The first recipient was Linda Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally-recognized scholar and clinician in the growing field of palliative care. Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients with a serious illness and their families, matches treatment to the patient’s values and goals, reduces suffering, and treats the whole person – body, mind, and spirit.

Dr. Emanuel is Buehler Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Director of the Buehler Center on Aging, Health and Society at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. She also teaches at Northwestern’s prestigious Kellogg School of Management.

Prior to joining Northwestern, Dr. Emanuel was vice president of Ethics Standards and Head of the Institute for Ethics at the American Medical Association. She serves as a principal investigator of multiple National Institute of Health and national foundation grants, including one funded by the American Cancer Society to evaluate the impact of a comprehensive palliative care assessment and implementation guide.

Dr. Emanuel was the founder and principal of the groundbreaking Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care project. Thanks to this project thousands of health care professionals in the U.S. and 16 other countries have learned palliative care skills and competencies.

Dr. Emanuel was trained at Cambridge University, University College London, Oxford University, Harvard Medical School and Harvard University. She is a board-certified general internist with fellowship training in public health research methodology and fellowship training in professional ethics.

She has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles in academic journals.

Pioneer Medal presented to Dr. Linda Emanuel by T. Michael Long, chairman of HealthCare Chaplaincy’s board of trustees, and the Rev. Walter J. Smith, S.J., president and CEO.

Five years ago Dr. Emanuel wrote, “The Hippocratic Oath and all other known declarations of medical professional commitment bind and adjure us to care for the sick. They do not stop at requiring attempts to cure; they require care for the suffering that results from sickness. No exceptions. So it is startling that, in an era when we are capable of alleviating so much suffering, much suffering still goes unattended.”

Thanks to the continuing work of Dr. Linda Emanuel the suffering of more and more people is being alleviated.

After receiving the award, Dr. Emanuel delivered the keynote address entitled “Palliative Care: Science and Spirit Together Again.”

You can find a video of her remarks here and slides here.

HealthCare Chaplaincy is grateful to our friends at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York for opening their hearts and doors to host this special event in our 50th anniversary year.

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