New normal: Pastoral care turns virtual at UNC Rex

Gyasi Patterson says his and his chaplains face difficult challenges in offering spiritual support for patients, their family members and for hospital staff

Posted 10:15 a.m. May 7, 2020 — Updated 10:31 a.m. May 7, 2020

Jeff Hogan, anchor/reporter,

and

Rick Armstrong, producer

RALEIGH, N.C. — With COVID-19 restrictions in place, many hospital chaplains are now serving patients, family members and staff from a distance.

The pandemic now impacts how health care and personal services are delivered.

"COVID-19 took a lot of us by surprise," said Gyasi Patterson, the director of pastoral care for UNC Rex Healthcare in Raleigh.

In November, WRAL featured the upcoming retirement of Logan Jones, Patterson's predecessor. At that time, chaplains freely roamed the halls on UNC Rex, offering spiritual counsel and sometimes a hug.

Chaplain at UNC REX Healthcare in Raleigh retiring after 25 years

Now the need for nearness and a personal touch has never been greater, nor more distant due to social distancing measures.

"It's heartbreaking," Patterson said. "It's not many days that I wake up before I come into work that I'm not tearful about what's going on and about the impact it's having on families."

Patterson says he has seen the stress and anxiety in the faces of the staff as well "because they are in some regards risking their own safety and safety of their loved ones."

In order to reduce the risk of infection, Patterson's chaplains now work in separate parts of the hospital, although they remain in regular communication and share the same commitment to spiritual service.

"We've been offering corporate blessings and virtual blessings," Patterson said. "We've been doing rounds with all the units, offering snacks and offering handwritten blessings. We're all just trying to adjust to the new normal."

Patterson said an important part of a chaplain's work is in helping to connect family members with their loved ones through teleconferencing. However, due to high demand for that service, Patterson said technical challenges like bandwidth limitations often keep them from being able to accommodate those requests.

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