Spiritual Care & Education

Spiritual Care at BIDMC

Chaplains are care providers who are specially trained to assess and respond to the spiritual and existential concerns of patients, families, and staff in the healthcare setting. Chaplains care for people of all faith traditions, those who are non-religious, and those who draw meaning from other sources. We build caring relationships, offering compassion and support to patients and families as they navigate illness, reflect on their lives, celebrate milestones, or begin their end-of-life journey.

We respect and seek to understand the beliefs, cultures, and worldviews of those we serve and do not impose our beliefs or values on others. We help people to tap into their own spiritual resources in their quest for well-being- in addition to advocating for different cultural and religious practices. We also provide blessings, prayers, and sacramental care if desired.

We are passionate about broadening the knowledge among clinical staff and healthcare administrators regarding the benefits, and extent, of spiritual care. We also provide comprehensive training for student chaplains, as well as embrace our profession’s standard of continual learning informed by the latest writing and research in our field. 

Administration

Interfaith Places of Worship (Open 24 Hours a Day)

• Dooley Chapel, located on the West Campus in the Farr Building  
• Wolfson Chapel, located on the East Campus in the Feldberg Building  

The official worship spaces at the medical center – the Wolfson Chapel on the East Campus and the Dooley Chapel on the West Campus – strive to be spiritually and religiously welcoming. In each chapel, there are tradition-specific items that can facilitate observance (prayer rugs, rosaries, Jewish prayer books). During important religious holidays, religion-specific symbols can be displayed in the chapels for a limited period of time.

Visiting Clergy

Chaplains in department of Spiritual Care and Education believe a strong partnership with community clergy is crucial for the spiritual care of BID patients. If you have congregants who are hospitalized, please let us know how we might support them while they are here. We also warmly welcome you to visit your congregants, and are happy to subsidize your parking expenses when you visit.

Proper attire, clergy identification, and parking ticket must be presented at the parking cashier stations when signing out. Please note that subsidized parking will not be issued for the following:

• For personal medical appointments of clergy or for visiting family
• To people without proper identification or professional dress

Parking is a significant expense for the department and we ask for your cooperation. Any questions regarding this policy can be referred to 617-667-3043.