Chaplain Jeremy Sher outside the emergency room at UCSF Parnassus Medical Center.
photo credit: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle
On behalf of the OGMC, we would like to say thank you to our members that are on the frontlines helping the community during COVID-19. Jeremy Sher is one of our members doing just that. Please click the read more link that takes you to the San Francisco Chronicle
article about Jeremy Sher and others.
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One of the most difficult adjustments for the Rev. Claire Bohman during the pandemic has been not being able to be in the rooms of patients dealing with the virus. Sometimes the work of chaplaincy can be about a gesture as small as a caring touch on a patient’s shoulder, she says.
As a chaplain at San Francisco General Hospital, part of Bohman’s job is to minister to sick or ailing patients. For some that involves prayer and spiritual care, and for others it’s about just being in the room to listen, both of which she now does remotely. But, Bohman admits, it can be difficult to be a compassionate presence when you’re not able to be physically present.
“I’m so grateful for the technology of cell phones and iPads, but there’s something lost not being there for them to cry on,” says Bohman, who is also the executive director of the hospital’s Sojourn Chaplaincy services. “Part of the pain of the pandemic is fearing touch. I’ve had to learn how to do my job without physical contact.”
Like everyone in a hospital’s ecosystem, chaplains are adjusting to work during a public health crisis — with new rules on personal protective equipment and using technology to prevent physical contact. And like many doctors, nurses and other health care workers, chaplains are finding their skills are in as much demand as ever, providing spiritual and emotional care to patients and their families. As hospital staffs are under unprecedented stress during the pandemic, chaplains are also finding their workloads increased by caring for workers on the front lines.
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