Hospital chaplaincy provides pastoral care to Catholic patients at 18 hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout South Jersey by providing compassionate, emotional and spiritual support to Catholic patients and their families.  The pastoral care team for each hospital consists of a priest with a deacon, a woman religious and/or a lay minister.  Their ministry includes the priest administering the Sacrament of the Sick and Sacrament of Penance, while all pastoral care visits offer Holy Communion, prayers and spiritual resources to patients and their families. A number of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion support the chaplains in their pastoral care. Additionally, our chaplains minister to the spiritual needs of the dedicated healthcare professionals who care for the sick within all of the hospitals we serve.

For more information, contact:

Deacon Joseph Janocha
Director of Hospital Chaplaincy
(856) 583-6130

2022 Spiritual Report

2022 was a year when the hospital/healthcare institutions began to lift restrictions for pastoral care visitations that were in place since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While continuing to adhere to all infection control policies and with adequate personal protective equipment, our chaplains were able to significantly increase the total number of pastoral care visits to patients/families/staff in 2022. Our team visited the sick and gave Holy Communion to an average of nearly 1,700 patients, families and staff each month. Our Priest Chaplains administered the Sacrament of the Sick to 3, 669 persons desiring this grace of the Lord’s healing mercy. These statistics show the ongoing commitment of our chaplains who remain present to those in need of pastoral care.

    Testimonials

    Testimony from a patient
    “I was a patient at Inspira Medical Center in Woodbury in September for a week.  Each day a Minister of the Eucharist came to bring me Holy Communion.  What a blessed ministry you afford your Catholic patients.  Receiving Jesus each day was the highlight of my hospital stay and I would be remiss if I did not write to thank the volunteers who made this possible. Quite frankly I was amazed this program is in place and works so well.

    I met one of your associate chaplains, Nancy from Holy Family Parish, and she even arranged for your Chaplain to offer me the Sacrament of the Sick….  Nancy also brought me a prayer shawl hand made by members of a local parish. UNBELIEVABLE KINDNESS!!

    Be assured that I will remember the Vitality Ministry, all its good works, and your volunteers in my daily prayers.”

    Testimony from an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion

    “I have been blessed to be given the opportunity to bring the Holy Eucharist to the Catholic patients, their visitors and the staff who wish to receive.  I meet people where they are in their hospital stay and sometimes in their faith journeys….  Sometimes a patient wants to pray and sometimes I just sit with them and share conversation.  I sometimes sense that I may be the only non-professional visitor that might be part of their day….  Experiencing these grace-filled days as the “hands and feet of Jesus” is both humbling and rewarding.  I try to remember that it is not what I do, but how I do it, always with love and compassion.”


    RENEWED APPROACH TO PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK

    The Diocese of Camden has implemented a comprehensive approach in its ministry to the sick and disabled. The Hospital Chaplaincy Program is at the center of our efforts designed to better meet the needs of those parishioners finding themselves hospitalized throughout South Jersey.

    Hospital chaplains provide a wonderful ministerial outreach to those who are acutely ill and are inpatients in the many hospitals here in the diocese.  This valuable ministry is just one of the many ways that the Diocese of Camden cares for its people. Our approach ensures the fullest availability to our parishioners and provides the best use of experienced priests and deacons for this most important pastoral work.

    Under the auspices of VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services, Hospital Chaplaincy is linked with the totality of healthcare services and plays a vital role in outreach efforts to bring the healing hands of Christ present to those in need.

    Deacon Joseph Janocha serves as the Diocesan Director of Hospital Chaplaincy.  His experience and enthusiasm supports the work of these chaplains and provides the day to day responsibility and accountability for the coordination and operation of this ministry.

    In order to assure that all our parishioners have timely access to pastoral care while hospitalized in these times of often very short stays, the Diocesan Chaplaincy Program partners a priest chaplain with a deacon or lay minister to serve as an associate chaplain, along with women religious pastoral associates.  The diocese has created six “hospital clusters,” arranged by their geographic proximity and size.  A chaplaincy team is assigned to each cluster and works with the local surrounding parishes to recruit volunteer Eucharistic Ministers who assist them in bringing Holy Communion to our Catholic parishioners.

    These chaplains are well experienced in this ministry and work together as a team to serve our parishioners’ needs while hospitalized.  They administer (or arrange for the administration of) the Sacrament of the Sick, conduct pastoral visits for patients, families and hospital staffs, help coordinate the visits of parish Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist and assist in a diocesan-wide effort to better inform and teach our Catholic faithful about the Sacrament of the Sick and its most practical application, effects and timing.  We need to catechize our Catholic parishioners about this Sacrament of Healing and its positive effects, and dispel old thinking of it as only the Sacrament of the Dying (Extreme Unction).

    In addition, the associate chaplains assist in the communication to the local parishes and pastors, informing them of parishioners who are hospitalized (with the permission of the patient) and assist patients being discharged to link into the other health-related services that the diocese is offering within Vitality Catholic Healthcare Services.  This eases the transition home and facilitates other outreach efforts of the parish to connect with its members who are ill and/or recovering from sickness.  They also take on the responsibility to review and evaluate our Catholic presence in the many long term care facilities in the region to assure that our Catholic parishioners residing there remain connected to their local parish through Mass and prayer services being offered on a regular basis.