Chaplain services

Chaplain services and interfaith chapels

Goal: Provide patient-centered care by nurturing the living, caring for the sick, and honoring the dead.  This is strategically aligned and integrated with VHA mission, vision and values by (1) taking the best possible care of Veterans and families; (2) creating healthy communities; (3) measuring and reporting meaningful metrics that quantify performance, process and programs; and (4) communicating value to stakeholders.

Scope of Service: (VHA Handbook 1111.02., 2016)  Chaplain Service provides spiritual and pastoral care to Veterans.  The type and extent of spiritual and pastoral care provided must be commensurate with the needs, desires, and voluntary consent of the individual Veteran.  Each Veteran’s preference for spiritual and pastoral care is assessed as part of a complete evaluation of the individual’s health care needs culminating in a spiritual care plan which is available to other VA health care professionals involved in the Veterans care plan.   Chaplains do not incorporate religious content into either their pastoral care or spiritual counseling, unless that is the Veteran’s wish.  Chaplains provide spiritual and pastoral care to both religious and non-religious patients, but only if Veteran desire such services.  In accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7301, VA Chaplains: (1) Ensures every Veteran’s constitutional right to free exercise of religion: (2) Provides opportunities for religious worship, sacramental ministry, pastoral counseling, and clinical pastoral care; and (3) Protects all Veterans from proselytization from any source while in a VA medical facility

VA Chaplains are the professional health care providers on the interdisciplinary team that are qualified, employed, and authorized to provide spiritual and pastoral care.  Chaplains are the only health care professionals authorized to conduct official Spiritual Assessments and to provide religious, pastoral and spiritual interventions at any VA facility.  Chaplains are extensively trained in Clinical Pastoral Care and endorsed by their religious denomination to provide clinical pastoral care within VA medical facilities.  The Chaplain is a subject matter expert in their religious tradition and practices while respecting the rights of all to hold practices different from their own.  Each Chaplain is responsible for maintaining or exceeding the professional and ethical requirements established by professional certification bodies as specifically applied to VA Chaplains.  Both VACO and The Joint Commission recognize the standardized VA Spiritual Assessment to be an integral part of a Veterans treatment plan.

Chaplains provide the traditional religious ministries of worship, prayer, sacraments, graveside services, and memorials.  The Chaplain Service coordinates with community faith leaders when unable to provide specific religious ministries requested by a Veteran or family member.  Surprisingly, traditional ministries comprise a small percentage of a given Chaplain’s total clinical workload.  Most of a Chaplains clinical time is allotted to coverage of admissions, bereavement support, conflict resolution, end of life, ethics, family engagement, groups, interdisciplinary team meetings, inpatient consults, long-term care, mental health, moral injury, outpatient consults, palliative care, patient education, PTSD, substance abuse recovery and suicide prevention.  The primary focus of Chaplains is to help each Veteran identify and affirm that which provides them meaning and purpose and to develop spiritual practices by which meaning, and purpose can be integrated into their care plan.

Worship services

People of all faiths and traditions are invited to attend:

• Worship services are televised every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. to all VAIHCS Inpatient areas on Digital channel 19.20 and Analog channel 29.

Benefits

Research shows that spiritually active patients experience or report:

• Faster healing
• Greater coping skills
• Reduced pain
• Better quality of life

Contact a chaplain

Chaplains are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including in urgent situations and emergencies. When you are admitted as a patient, you will be asked if you want to receive visits from a chaplain. For more information, please call our chaplain service. 

Phone: . 

Chapels

The chapels are open to anyone at any time for quiet meditation and reflection. Religious or spiritual literature will be provided to you at your request.

Interfaith Chapel

Danville VA Medical Center - (Building 98, Room 125)
Map of Illiana campus
Hours: Open 24/7

Standalone Chapel

Building 49
Map of Illiana campus
Hours: Closed due to seasonal COVID-19 Precautions

Primary Chaplain Service

Building 101, Room 102d
Map of Illiana campus
Hours: Open Sunday-Friday 0730-1600. On call chaplains are available after hours.