What Our Clients Say
"HealthCare Chaplaincy's professional chaplains are an important part of our health care team. I've worked with them for years and I'm convinced that they help improve outcomes in difficult medical situations. They bridge cultural gaps, and bring comfort and support to patients, families and staff who are dealing with great stress."
−Jim Foy, former President and CEO, St. John's Riverside Hospital, Yonkers, NY
“When we cannot cure, it is even more important to heal. HealthCare Chaplaincy reinforced this basic premise and gave us the tools to do so.”
− Daniel Z. Aronzon M.D. F.A.A.P. President and CEO, Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
“Professionally I have gotten to know the work and the people of HealthCare Chaplaincy over the course of many years. They do an extraordinary job and we are excited about the partnership. We know the caliber of the chaplains we are getting, and we can confidently provide this essential resource and service to our patients.”
– Cosmo LaCosta, former Senior Vice President, Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, Queens, NY
"The Rev. Simmons Gardner provided wonderful and comforting assistance to me and my husband during my late mother’s hospitalization in Lawrence Hospital Center.My mother had been ill for many years, and was confined in a nursing home for the last year of her life. Facing what turned out to be her last hospitalization was an almost unbearable ordeal for me. I am not a member of a specific religion, and have never considered myself religious. Even so, Chaplain Gardner’s wise, compassionate and practical ministrations gave me spiritual solace and helped me accept my mother's peaceful passing. Your organization is providing an immensely valuable service, and my husband and I wish you well."
− Name not shown to protect privacy
“When I first met Yusuf (Chaplain Al-Hajji Imam Yusuf Hasan), I was having a rough time. I had just found out that my son, who was two at the time, had a brain tumor. I was with my son in the hospital playroom at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center when Yusuf came over to us and started talking. I told him what was going on and he consoled me. He gave me the feeling that things were going to be okay and that my son was going to come through it. Every time I went to the hospital Yusuf was there to console me. My son did come through it. He’s seven years old now and doing great. When I take him to the hospital every four months for his check-up, we still see Yusuf. I’ll never forget that he was there for us at a very difficult time.”
− Name not shown to protect privacy
“On behalf of my family, I am writing to commend the work of Lyle S. Rothman of your staff. My mother was a patient at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in June 2009.During her hospitalization, my mother was paid a visit by Mr. Rothman in her hospital room. Mr. Rothman sat with my parents and talked to them and was a breath of fresh air as my mother awaited surgery. Following surgery, my mother was on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit and Mr. Rothman would regularly visit her.
“On her last day, we arrived at the hospital prior to my mother’s death and Mr. Rothman sat with my mother and was able to get a Catholic priest to the room in time to perform Last Rites prior to her death.We asked Mr. Rothman to stay with us as my mother passed from this life into the next. He sat with us and consoled us and even walked us to the parking garage.
“Since my mother’s death, Mr. Rothman has been in regular contact with our family and has been a great comfort to us. He is to be commended for his compassion, sincerity and maturity in assisting not only patients, but family as well. Although we are not of the Jewish faith, he connected with our family and truly helped us get through the most difficult period in our lives.”
(Note: Lyle Rothman, a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, completed a 400-hour unit of clinical pastoral education at HealthCare Chaplaincy during the summer 2009 semester for seminarians.)
− Name not shown to protect privacy
“In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with a recurrence of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system, which was first diagnosed and treated in 1992. I chose to undergo a stem cell transplant at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which involved a lengthy hospitalization. During this time, I was visited by a chaplain, who I later learned was a chaplain from Healthcare Chaplaincy.
“He had seemingly unlimited time to speak with me, find out my fears, and help me determine what was true to me at that difficult time. He contributed greatly to my healing and recovery.
“A short time after I was back at work, I was asked to join Chaplaincy’s Board of Trustees, which I did.
“After that I decided to I enrolled in clinical pastoral education, because I want to be certified as a chaplain someday, and make chaplaincy my vocation in my retirement. I want to walk the halls of a hospital, day or night, asking patients if they would like to speak with me; and I will listen, helping the patient speak about what is true and powerful in his or her life.
“Healing comes from speaking, sharing, and opening up. Healing and recovery is a process.
“HealthCare Chaplaincy is the premier organization in this country for training chaplains and advancing the study and academics of a discipline that truly helps a patient healing their spirit, mind, and body. Illness is terrifying; contemplation of death is overwhelming. A chaplain leads a patient through the darkness to a powerful awareness and awakening.”
– Howard Sharfstein, former Trustee
To learn how HealthCare Chaplaincy can help your health care institution, please contact:
The Rev. George Handzo, BCC, CSSBB (Board Certified Chaplain, Certified Six Sigma Black Belt)
Vice President, Pastoral Care Leadership & Practice
(212) 644-1111, ext. 234
ghandzo@healthcarechaplaincy.org
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