Though research suggests that fewer people are religious now than in the past, many patients still want chaplain and spiritual services.

In Sacramento, California, for example, every area hospital offers such services and Sutter Medical Center will open a new prayer room this summer. Patients value chaplains’ support for themselves and loved ones, and even the irreligious will seek one out for someone to talk to.

Chaplains undergo rigorous training before taking on hospital jobs, and many bring an interfaith approach to their work. “We don’t force ourselves on anybody, but we’ll check in and see what we can do to help them cope through their illness or whatever is going on in the hospital while they’re here,” said Greg Rold, the spiritual services director at Dignity Health’s Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California. (The Sacramento Bee)

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