Baptist Health Pastoral Care Celebrates Milestone Anniversary

Jacksonville, Fla., August 1, 2005 - In September, Baptist Health Pastoral Care will celebrate 50 years of providing spiritual care to patients, families and staff.

"When Baptist Medical Center opened in 1955, a chaplain was included on staff," says Larry D. Wagoner, director of Pastoral Care and Education for Baptist Health. "The past fifty years have seen phenomenal change and growth for Baptist Health, and Pastoral Care has grown right along with it. Our chaplains play an integral role in fulfilling the hospital's mission of providing quality care for the whole person."

Wagoner noted that the anniversary will have a dual focus of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pastoral Care and the 25th anniversary of Baptist Health's Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program. As an accredited training center of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), the Department of Pastoral Care and Education provides an opportunity for theology students, parish clergy and area laypersons to receive holistic training in institutional chaplaincy. With three ACPE-certified supervisors and two supervisors-in-training, Pastoral Care trains more than 30 students per year, in addition to offering a year-long residency.

Although all chaplains employed by Baptist Health are required to have completed basic training and residency in CPE, many other Baptist Health employees, including A. Hugh Greene, president and CEO of Baptist Health, have participated in the training. "As a young seminarian I completed a unit of CPE, and it was a transformative experience in my life," says Greene. "I'm proud that for 25 years Baptist Health has been providing that same opportunity for training and transformation to so many others."