Ministry to the sick changing

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

Ministry to the sick is changing rapidly because of the coronavirus.
St. Vincent Hospital is not letting in outside visitors. The hospital’s chaplains are there to provide pastoral care for patients.
UMass Memorial Health Care was allowing priests to visit their parishioners in its facilities as of Wednesday afternoon, and the pastoral care team stood ready to help too.
On Wednesday St. Anne’s Free Medical Program at St. Anne Parish in Shrewsbury shut its doors until Shrewsbury’s public schools reopen. Current patients are to be informed about how to refill their prescriptions.

St. Vincent Hospital

The Diocese forwarded this message to priests from Msgr. Peter R. Beaulieu, director of Mission Integration at St. Vincent Hospital: “Due to various Department of Public Health (DPH) regulatory demands, visitors are not being allowed to come into St. Vincent Hospital for the safety of patients and clinical staff. In the event you have been asked to either anoint one of your parishioners who is an in-patient or to bring them Communion, please contact the Department of Pastoral Care directly at 508-363-6246.”
The hospital is continuing to host the daily celebration of Mass in its chapel - without a congregation - so it can be aired on closed circuit television in patient rooms, according to a statement.
Even though visitors are not allowed, “we will manage end-of-life requests individually with each family,” the statement said.
         
UMass Memorial Health Care

As of Wednesday afternoon, Catholic priests and other religious leaders were still allowed to visit patients at UMass Memorial Health Care’s facilities, said Catherine Pimley, supervisor of pastoral care at the UMass and Memorial campuses.
Religious visitors should call her at 508-688-2972 and tell her who they want to visit, and when, and should go in the front entrance.
“They will be screened” by being asked questions, and given a sticker to say they’re allowed to be there, she said.
Priests and patients’ families can also call her to ask that a member of the pastoral care team visit a patient, she said. The team includes Father Francis J. Roach, Jesuit Father Thomas Sheehan, and on-call per-diem priests.
“We can also pray with the families over the phone,” she said.                                                             
As of Tuesday afternoon other visitors were prohibited, with exceptions such as end-of-life situations, child-birth and parents of young patients, said Debora Spano, manager of media relations.
Pastoral care is a top priority “as we do holistic care for our patients at this time,” Chaplain Pimley said.
Ms. Spano said the facilities are also helping patients get electronic access to their priests, families and/or others with whom they want to communicate. The facilities provide the necessary devises and help in using them, free of charge, to patients who don’t have their own, she said.
“Our patients are in a very fragile place right now,” she said. “We need for them to have contact.”
Chaplain Pimley said patients can also use the electronic devises to log in to religious services. No Masses are being celebrated at the facilities now, she said.

Retired priests

Sister Mary Ann Bartell, a Carmelite Sister of the Eucharist, is a registered nurse who provides healthcare services to the diocese’s retired priests. She said she’s no longer allowed in some places where the priests live, unless it’s an end-of-life situation.
Facilities are being very careful in the face of the virus, and she admires them, she said.
“They’re not taking it lightly, nor should they,” she said, noting that the elderly are especially at risk.
“(As for) the nursing homes – I can’t even go in,” she said. “I’m not needed.” They have nurses, so her visit would just be social.    
On Tuesday she said she was still being allowed into elderly housing and assisted living facilities where residents can have health professionals from outside come in to assist them. But now she has to fill out papers about her health and travel, have her temperature taken and disinfect her hands.
She said she sent notes to retired priests living on their own in the community, asking them to contact her if they need anything, so they don’t have to go out and get it themselves. That might mean going to two or three stores before finding one where vitamin C or toilet paper is not sold out.
Sister Mary Ann said she has cancelled priests’ routine doctors’ visits, as she doesn’t want to take them into a healthcare setting unnecessarily.
Asked how the priests are doing with all this, she said, “They’re intelligent and they understand.”

St. Anne’s Free Medical Program

The decision to close St. Anne’s Free Medical Program was made Monday, said Father Enoch K. Kyeremateng, chaplain of the diocese’s African Ministry, which is responsible for the weekly Tuesday night clinic.  
Lisa Pinnow Izzo, director of operations, told him in an email Monday that a telephone number for Dr. Jane Lochrie, clinic medical director, would be posted on the front door of St. Anne Parish’s Father Smith Center, which the clinic uses. Present patients can call the doctor to inquire how to refill prescriptions.
“It’s not that easy to make such a decision – we are talking about the health needs of the people,” Father Kyeremateng said.
He said directives from Bishop McManus and the state were taken into consideration in making the decision, as there is a limit on the number of people allowed to gather in one place.
Another reason for the decision was that many students from UMass Medical School declined to continue volunteering at the clinic because of the virus, so “we lack the personnel to take care of the patients,” Father Kyeremateng said. And the clinic doesn’t currently have the necessary protective materials such as gloves and masks for volunteers, he said.
“So I think it’s the best decision for the patients themselves and for the workers,” he said.
“We pray for God’s intervention and Mother Mary to intercede for us,” said Father Kyeremateng, regarding the whole virus situation. “I know God will allow us to celebrate Easter.”