EDITED: Extraordinary Minister [to the sick] Questions

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ProVobis said:
No, but if that had been the case, rest assured I would have asked for a priest to hear my confession. You see, I’m still of the -]old/-] school, confession before communion.
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I’m not certain which “garden city” you live in, but in the U.S., hospitals generally ask about one’s religion at the time of admission. That’s the only way that they know your faith; and, that’s the only way that they can know how to direct Catholic EMHCs to your room for communion calls. You can ask for a priest all day long, but a (U.S.) hospital cannot call your parish to identify to them that you’re there (that breaks HIPAA regulations, dontcha know!).

Of course, when an EMHC shows up at your bedside, you can certainly decline – and ask for a priest to come for a visit. Whether the processes are in place to make that happen…? Well, that’s another question entirely. However, unless you’re living in Mayberry, chances are that the EMHC didn’t pop in simply because he recognized your name as a Catholic from his parish. 😉
 
Gorgias said:
Of course, when an EMHC shows up at your bedside, you can certainly decline – and ask for a priest to come for a visit. Whether the processes are in place to make that happen…? Well, that’s another question entirely. However, unless you’re living in Mayberry, chances are that the EMHC didn’t pop in simply because he recognized your name as a Catholic from his parish. 😉
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Spot on. Our area has five teams from five different parishes, and each team goes to the hospital on a certain day of the week. That way, all the days are covered by one parish team or another. Unless the patient belongs to one of the five parishes where the EMHC would recognize the person, they are usually unknown to the EMHC.

The reason for the EMHC’s in the first place, I’m sure is well known – priests cannot handle this, as was done in older times when members of the clergy were plentiful. Praise be to God that we have these volunteers willing to bring Christ Jesus to all those who are in deep need of receiving Him. NEVER have I seen anyone be nasty to those who come in the name of Our Lord to feed them with this heavenly gift.
 
Gorgias said:
… in the U.S., hospitals generally ask about one’s religion at the time of admission. That’s the only way that they know your faith; and, that’s the only way that they can know how to direct Catholic EMHCs to your room for communion calls.
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Don’t know why not. Guess they were more concerned about my ultrahigh pancreas enzyme counts. And I was worried about who would watch my cat for a week. I was immediately put on IV liquids and not given anything to eat or drink for a couple of days, not even water. Given this scenario I probably should find out who gave the okay to allow an EMHC to my room. Heck I’m not even sure in which diocese the hospital is, as it’s right on the border between two of them.

I have to go back there in a few weeks and I’ll see what I can find out. BTW, this was my first hospitalization ever so I don’t know what the normal procedures are. I’ll take your word for it, though.
 
Sirach2 said:
Spot on. Our area has five teams from five different parishes, and each team goes to the hospital on a certain day of the week. That way, all the days are covered by one parish team or another. Unless the patient belongs to one of the five parishes where the EMHC would recognize the person, they are usually unknown to the EMHC.
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Our local hospital asks your religious preference. It is right along with the questions that ask, “are you allergic to any medication.” It certainly isn’t a stand out question, just one of the many that they ask.

These are questions that they ask everyone, regardless of your reason for admission. They even asked my husband, who was being admitted for a heart attack. And they asked me, when I was admitted through the emergency room for my gall bladder.

And even though I was not given anything to eat or drink, until well after my surgery, If I had been interested, I was allow to receive Communion. (I wasn’t because I hadn’t kept anything down. 😊)
 
Hospitals differ in this but they should not be calling anyone in without patient permission. They ask preference at admission and should also ask about spiritual needs, like Communion and Anointing or Confession. Depending on the location, a priestmay not be available until evening or the next day. In that case a lay minister is the most that can be expected, if desired.

Once you give permission to have someone bring Communion you are on the daily communion list. It might be a different minister each day.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Hospitals differ in this but they should not be calling anyone in without patient permission. They ask preference at admission and should also ask about spiritual needs, like Communion and Anointing or Confession. Depending on the location, a priestmay not be available until evening or the next day. In that case a lay minister is the most that can be expected, if desired.

Once you give permission to have someone bring Communion you are on the daily communion list. It might be a different minister each day.
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As others have indicated most hospitals include religion as a standard question (amongst a myriad of others) on the tick-box form and this information is used to generate a list for visits. Other times, a request is passed on the the chaplaincy team through staff, family or other people with the patient’s name subsequently being added to the list. Having said that, having worked as a chaplaincy assistant while dong CPE, I pretty much had free access to patient’s rooms without needing to be invited (unless of course they told me to go away). That said, this wouldn’t have been the case if I wasn’t part of the chaplaincy team.
 
ProVobis said:
I was immediately put on IV liquids and not given anything to eat or drink for a couple of days, not even water.
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Was your status “NPO” – that is, you were forbidden food & drink – when the EMHC visited you? If so, then that’s bad training for the EMHC. When I was trained, I was instructed to visit the desk at the ward and ask the nurse on duty which of the people I might visit were restricted from receiving Communion. That was just part of the normal procedures.
Given this scenario I probably should find out who gave the okay to allow an EMHC to my room.
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It’s not so much “given OK to enter the room” as it (potentially) is “given OK to give you Communion.” 🤷
 
Gorgias said:
Was your status “NPO” –
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I believe that’s what they wrote on the board, until they changed it to “low fat” some time later.

In any case, I wasn’t in the mood to have a theological debate with anyone, which is what I sensed would happen if I refused communion. There were enough nurses and doctors there to keep me from getting the needed rest, despite all the sleep-inducing and pain relieving drugs they had me on. I wasn’t a good patient probably in their book.

I guess I’ll know better next time. Sorry if my posts offended any EMHC’s out there. I’m sure you’re all well-intentioned. And I’m out of here.
 
ProVobis said:
In any case, I wasn’t in the mood to have a theological debate with anyone, which is what I sensed would happen if I refused communion.
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Well, if they were well-trained, they were told to offer communion, and if the response is “no thanks”, to move on. So, don’t be afraid to politely refuse, if you feel like you’re not properly disposed.
Sorry if my posts offended any EMHC’s out there. I’m sure you’re all well-intentioned.
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No offense taken!
 
InThePew said:
As others have indicated most hospitals include religion as a standard question (amongst a myriad of others) on the tick-box form and this information is used to generate a list for visits. Other times, a request is passed on the the chaplaincy team through staff, family or other people with the patient’s name subsequently being added to the list. Having said that, having worked as a chaplaincy assistant while dong CPE, I pretty much had free access to patient’s rooms without needing to be invited (unless of course they told me to go away). That said, this wouldn’t have been the case if I wasn’t part of the chaplaincy team.
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Are you serving now as a chaplain in healthcare? I am finding that the initial assessment is often inaccurate or unspecific. “Christian” doesn’t help much.
 
ProVobis said:
In any case, I wasn’t in the mood to have a theological debate with anyone, which is what I sensed would happen if I refused communion.
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Why would you think that? Has the Sacrament been pushed on you?
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Are you serving now as a chaplain in healthcare? I am finding that the initial assessment is often inaccurate or unspecific. “Christian” doesn’t help much.
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No I was just there for the summer but as far as initial assessments go, I’d say it depends on the hospital whether they break “Christian” down further on the form (I’m presuming that this is what you mean). That said you can of course ask to see a Catholic chaplain and the hospital should hopefully facilitate this. Often healthcare chaplains will refer on requests for a specific denomination (or religion) as well.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Are you serving now as a chaplain in healthcare? I am finding that the initial assessment is often inaccurate or unspecific. “Christian” doesn’t help much.
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That’s interesting; in my neck of the woods, the question of religion is asked, and “Catholic” is one of the standard choices. In fact, at one hospital at which I volunteered, it wasn’t just “Catholic” that was captured, but if the person mentioned a parish, that was entered as well, and was available on a report that the EMHCs utilized in order to know where to go on their communion calls…
 
It occurs to me that, if a person receives communion in a hospital (other than viaticum) it will in most cases be from an EMHC. The reasons for this are essentially twofold: smaller hospitals don’t tend to have a full time priest chaplain and so will only be visited by a priest a few times each week (emergency calls aside) for administration of the sacraments. Even is those larger hospitals which do have a full time priest chaplain, the number of communicants is often too large (and the hospital itself too big) for the priest to cover by himself (in addition to administering the other sacraments). Sundays may or may not be an exception to this but it’s particularly true of weekdays,
 
Gorgias said:
That’s interesting; in my neck of the woods, the question of religion is asked, and “Catholic” is one of the standard choices. In fact, at one hospital at which I volunteered, it wasn’t just “Catholic” that was captured, but if the person mentioned a parish, that was entered as well, and was available on a report that the EMHCs utilized in order to know where to go on their communion calls…
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Specific church is great, and whether or not to notify. Some people, even Catholics, want only certain priests or pastors to know.
 
InThePew said:
No I was just there for the summer but as far as initial assessments go, I’d say it depends on the hospital whether they break “Christian” down further on the form (I’m presuming that this is what you mean). That said you can of course ask to see a Catholic chaplain and the hospital should hopefully facilitate this. Often healthcare chaplains will refer on requests for a specific denomination (or religion) as well.
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Catholic hospitals need lay Catholics with some CPE to help provide spiritual care and are willing to pay a good salary.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Specific church is great, and whether or not to notify. Some people, even Catholics, want only certain priests or pastors to know.
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If someone does want a specific priest to visit the easiest way is to get a family member to ask the priest directly. The chaplaincy team can also usually arrange this but that said, it’s not always possible and, particularly after hours visiting is usually restricted to those with hospital ID. Remember that it’s the chaplains job (both lay and ordained) to minister to the sick in hospital - that’s what they’re there for! It’s also polite (if nothing else) for the priest to let the hospital chaplain know that they’re planning on visiting.
Michael_Mayo said:
Catholic hospitals need lay Catholics with some CPE to help provide spiritual care and are willing to pay a good salary.
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Absolutely. Completion of CPE is usually a requirement for both lay and ordained hospital chaplaincy work and, if they’re going to be full time or work a significant number of hours part-time, then they deserve a reasonable salary. Still, there are also many wonderfully dedicated volunteers in hospital ministry whose contribution shouldn’t be overlooked.
 
Sirach2 said:
When I received instruction, we were taught that some persons cannot receive a whole host, and we should ask at the desk if they need to take it on a spoon with a bit of water. We could then break it into a tiny particle. This would be unusual, however.
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I hope this is a golden spoon, consecrated and used only for the Eucharist, and properly purified afterwards.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Why would you think that? Has the Sacrament been pushed on you?
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I didn’t say that. My first post on this thread agreed with the poster that EMHCs shouldn’t be given out like candy. I apparently hit some nerves and again I apologize to EMHCs if I offended any.
 
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