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St. Peter's Hospital Spiritual Care

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315 S. Manning Blvd.
Albany, NY 12208

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518-525-1602

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A Healing Ministry

As a Catholic institution, St. Peter's extends Christ's mission of healing in the spirit of Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. The Spiritual Care staff is integral to the health care team and provides support and counseling to assist patients and families meet their spiritual or religious needs. Spiritual Care is characterized by a profound respect for human dignity and is an essential part of the healing of a person's body, mind and spirit.

Chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Patients and visitors are welcome to come to our chapel, which is adjacent to the Emergency Department waiting area and Jazzman's Cafe on the first floor. This is a quiet place, set apart for your own time of reflection, meditation and prayer.

Opportunities for Worship and Prayer

The celebration of the Eucharist is also televised on Channel 49 of the in-hospital television service.

  • Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel, St. Peter's Hospital
  • Monday at noon in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel, St. Peter's Hospital
  • Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Nursing & Rehabilitation Center
  • Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Mercy Life Center and
    noon in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel, St. Peter's Hospital
  • Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Nursing & Rehabilitation Center

Channel 75 Features 

Videos in a variety of religious traditions are shown on Channel 75 of the in-hospital television service.

  • 8:30 a.m.-Awaken to Hope
  • 3:15 p.m.-Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul
  • 7:15 p.m.-Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul
  • 8:15 p.m.-Be at Peace

Videos are also available on demand at any time on channels 57-66 of the in-hospital television service. To access, dial 6238 on your telephone and follow the prompts.

Channel 52 Features 

EWTN Global Catholic Network
If you desire a visit by a member of the Spiritual Care staff to help you meet your spiritual or religious needs, and/or if you would like to receive Holy Communion, Anointing of the Sick or the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you may contact the Spiritual Care office by:

  • calling the Spiritual Care office at 518-525-1602 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.;
  • requesting your primary care nurse contact the Spiritual Care office; or,
  • asking a patient representative, if you are visited by one, to contact the Spiritual Care office.

Please note: while chaplains are present on patient care units, they may not be able to see every patient. Please ask to see a chaplain, rather than waiting for a chaplain to come to you.

Spiritual Care Visitation

Members of the Spiritual Care staff are available to patients who are hospitalized and who have come in for outpatient treatments. You are encouraged to make your spiritual or religious needs known. Let us know if you would like a chaplain to visit you to:

  • help you get in touch with your inner resources to cope with your illness;
  • celebrate the sacraments with you; or,
  • contact a member of your faith community.

Visiting Clergy and Other Pastoral Visitors

In addition to the Spiritual Care staff, St. Peter's Hospital welcomes visiting clergy and other pastoral visitors from local faith communities. It is helpful if you inform your religious leader of your hospitalization. If you are of Jewish faith, you may have dietary laws fulfilled by making this need known to your primary care nurse. In addition, you can speak to the rabbi on our staff.

For more information, call 518-525-1602.

The Holy Eucharist

Reception of the Eucharist brings us into communion with one another, as we share and celebrate the Presence of Christ in our midst. Holy Communion is available to persons of the Roman Catholic faith while they are hospitalized at St. Peter's. Arrangements can also be made for those of other Christian denominations to receive Communion from members of their own affiliation or a similar tradition. Please contact the Spiritual Care office with your request to receive Holy Communion.

Anointing of the Sick

The Anointing of the Sick is available to our Roman Catholic patients. The Rite of Anointing is available to patients of other religious persuasions. The Anointing of the Sick strengthens and heals all who are ill in body, mind and spirit. You may wish to be anointed as a means to strengthen and aid you through illness and recovery. Please contact the Spiritual Care office with your request for anointing.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Reconciliation (Confession or Penance) is available for Roman Catholic patients and other Christians who celebrate ongoing conversion and God's forgiveness in a liturgical setting. To request this sacrament, please contact the Spiritual Care office.

Sacrament of Baptism

We administer the Sacrament of Baptism only when the need is immediate and critical. The most appropriate place in which to celebrate this sacrament is the public setting of your parish church in the presence of the assembled Christian community. Any member of the Spiritual Care staff would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry

The Prayer Shawl Ministry was established in November 2005 as a spiritually driven, community based, family focused project, to provide warmth, comfort, joy, peace and healing to patients and fragile people during bereavement, palliative care, hospice care, rehabilitation and convalescence.
 
Building on our strong heritage of mercy and compassion to all who are in need, the Prayer Shawl Ministry is a living example of spirituality wrapped within the workplace. While our primary mission is to serve our patient community, the prayer shawl ministry has also had an invaluable impact on building a community of caregivers who knit together, pray together and heal together. Building a community of caregivers benefits both St. Peter's Hospital and the individual by tapping into: a greater, deeper commitment to serve; and, a commitment that is rooted in our faith-based values, our search to find meaning and purpose in our work, and the presence of healing relationships. This simple yet powerful program is symbolic of our calling to be woven in unity and connected with God. Through the prayer shawl ministry, we can truly be a healing transforming presence, one heart at a time.

To obtain a prayer shawl or participate by making prayer shawls, contact Sister Mavis Jewell at 518-525-6678.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. Peter's Hospital is honored and privileged to provide the prayer shawls with a special blessing.

Chaplain Support

Chaplains provide services for patients' spiritual, emotional and social needs for prayer, counseling, crisis ministry, sacramental ministry and worship experiences. Chaplains also respond to needs for networking/referrals, education/support groups and consultations. Services include:
  • prayer: focused prayer shared with another, addressing the patient's issues and offered to God to facilitate the healing process;
  • spiritual counseling: counseling in conjunction with the patient's faith relationship to God, enabling the patient to deal constructively with illness and related problems;
  • crisis ministry: therapeutic spiritual care intervention when a patient is confronted with an acute problem; it offers quick response when assistance is requested;
  • sacramental ministry and worship experience: provides a patient with the means of building up the common life of the Body of Christ and offers support in the promise of God's healing presence in the sacrament;
  • networking/referral: accesses resources in the community, particularly the home parish or faith community, to meet the patient's needs;
  • consultations: provide theological, moral and spiritual guidance to other professionals and to patients and families in relation to spiritual and ethical concerns;
  • spiritual reading: prayer cards, bibles and other meditative books are available upon request; and,
  • support groups: members of the Spiritual Care staff can assist in making contact with support groups (perinatal loss, bereavement, cancer support, AA, etc.) sponsored by the Hospital and in the community.