Newsletter - Pacific Health Ministry

2012
3rd Quarter Newsletter
PACIFIC HEALTH MINISTRY
Providing Spiritual Care and Education
1245 Young Street, Suite 204, Honolulu, HI 96814
Website: www.phmhawaii.org
Telephone: (808)591-6556 Fax: (808)593-9206
Email: admin@phmhawaii.org
Dear Friends of PHM,
Do you know how Pacific Health Ministry got its start in 1986?
In the early 1980s, there was rising interest in the value of spiritual care
in healthcare institutions. Community leaders gathered to seek ways to
address challenging concerns of complex bio-ethical and end-of-life issues.
Models were formulated to develop a spiritual care and education program
within the unique multi-cultural, multi-religious context of Hawai‘i. In short,
PHM began in the hearts and minds of healthcare and religious leaders as an
idea that grew into a not-for-profit organization to develop Hospital Ministry
and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programs in Hawai‘i.
Twenty-six years later, the service areas of Pacific Health Ministry continue to be Institutional Spiritual Care – the
placement of board certified Professional Chaplains in hospitals and health-related organizations, and Clinical Pastoral
Education (CPE) – programs that provide post-graduate education, residencies and specialized training in the healthcare
environment. PHM is the only accredited provider of CPE programs in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.
Our mission remains steadfast, yet so much has changed! From humble beginnings we have grown into an agency with
18 chaplains, seven pastoral residents and four summer seminarians placed at 12 healthcare related organizations in
Hawai‘i. Each year our ministry staff makes over 47,000 visits to patients, long-term care residents and their family
members, and has over 10,700 contacts with healthcare staff.
We are ever mindful that these accomplishments have been made possible by your contributions and support.
Also important to us, is that you – our community – are kept informed and up-to-date on the work of PHM. In our last
newsletter, you heard from Board President Mernie Miyasato-Crawford and Executive Director Rev. Deborah Whisnand
and met our CPE residents, Class of 2011-2012.
Now we are pleased to announce our newest staff member, Rev. Dr. Sergei Petrov, CPE Director & Community Educator.
This new position demonstrates the Board’s commitment to expand and strengthen our CPE program and education for
the community. Under Sergei’s leadership, our vision is to offer more training opportunities for clergy, other religious
professionals and qualified lay persons.
In this issue we’d like to share the stories of two of our chaplains, Danette Kong and Joshua Almanza, graduates of PHM’s
CPE Residency program. While their stories are their own, they are typical of the dedication, compassion and professional
training demonstrated by all PHM chaplains.
We thank you for your past support and ask that you continue to generously support Pacific Health Ministry in its
mission to provide the highest quality interfaith spiritual care to the people of Hawai‘i.
Blessings this Holiday Season and Always,
Mernie Miyasato-Crawford
President
Board of Directors
Rev. Deborah Whisnand
Executive Director
Rev. Dr. Sergei Petrov
CPE Director
& Community Educator
Page 2
Chaplain Danette Kong
Born and raised on Oahu, Danette Kong graduated from college in Oklahoma and continued
her studies at a seminary in Kentucky. There she earned a Master of Church Music and a
Master of Divinity.
As part of the requirements for her Master of Divinity degree, Danette completed her first
unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Louisville, and describes it as “a powerful experience in self-understanding and being trained to minister within the arenas of death, grief,
illness, medical ethics, as well as the celebration of life.”
2012 Staff
Rev. Deborah Whisnand
Executive Director
Rev. Dr. Sergei Petrov
CPE Director &
Community Educator
Chaplain Charles Card
Chaplain Susan Gaffney
VA Community Living Center
Chaplain Amy Crowe
Maui Memorial Medical Center
In 1988, while working in Georgia, Danette received a phone call from Rev. Glenn Harada,
informing her that Interfaith Ministries of Hawaii (later renamed Pacific Health Ministry)
was ready to launch its first class of residents in the Clinical Pastoral Education program, to
be supervised by Dr. John Moody. Would she be interested in moving back to Hawai‘i to be
part of this initial group?
“What a thrill it was to join Gail Sugimoto-Leong and Susan King at The Queen’s Medical
Center in September 1988. My theological and emotional perspectives on humanity were
thoroughly confronted during that remarkable year. In addition to my clinical work on the
Trauma Units, I focused on the patients in Kamehameha III Wing, which at the time was
primarily assigned to persons with AIDS. Cultural and interfaith issues that could not be
addressed anywhere else in the world occurred daily.” Upon completion of her residency,
Danette was placed at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children, where she
shared the position of Coordinator of Hospital Ministry with her dear friend and colleague,
Gail Sugimoto-Leong.
Chaplain Phyllis Hormann
Hawaii State Hospital
Chaplain Nathan Kohashi
Pali Momi Medical Center
Chaplain Danette Kong
Good Samaritan
Pohai Nani
Chaplain Jessica Gibo
Chaplain Nayer Taheri
Hospice Hawaii
Chaplain Al Miles
Chaplain Walter Stevens
Queen’s Medical Center
Chaplain Joshua Almanza
Chaplain Angela Smerz
Kapiolani Medical Center
for Women & Children
In 1994, Danette gave birth to her only child, Riverson, who was delivered ten weeks
prematurely and cared for in Kapi‘olani’s Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. It was only when
Riverson was discharged and his pediatrician advised that he should be kept at home for his
first year, that Danette realized she would have to resign her position. For the next 16
years she raised her son, worked in a variety of part-time positions, attended classes and
spent a clinical unit as a nursing student at Pohai Nani. All the while, God’s call to ministry
continued to tug at her heart.
In 2010, Pacific Health Ministry asked Danette to consider the
chaplaincy position at Pohai Nani. Now that her son was a
healthy teen, it didn’t take long for Danette to come to a
decision. “Here I am again, this time pastoring the flock of
residents and staff at Pohai Nani Retirement Community in
Kaneohe. Since my former affiliation with PHM, the number
of facilities with which we contract has grown from five to
twelve, and hundreds of ministerial students from across the
globe have undergone training to become effective ministers
in service internationally.”
Chaplain Ruth Peterson
Legacy of Life Hawaii
Chaplain J.P. Sabbithi
Chaplain Jessica Pomales
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
As chaplain, Danette also mentors Clinical Pastoral Education residents. “It’s exciting to see
the students at Pohai Nani try their hand at different approaches to ministry. The students
help us out by providing much needed assistance, but at the same time they are receiving
supervised opportunities for reflection and dealing with issues that ministers face –
especially those we confront on a personal level.”
Chaplain Anthony Silano
Straub Clinic & Hospital
Chaplain Gail Sugimoto-Leong
Kuakini Medical Center
Danette concludes, “I think of our role as chaplains as being the reminder that we are not
alone through the myriad of life’s experiences, even death. No matter what our religious
preferences, the forces of Love, Kindness and Compassion connect us with one another.”
Page 3
Chaplain Joshua Almanza
Ordained on October 14, Joshua Almanza is now “Reverend.” However, around
Kapi‘olani Medical Center he prefers to be called “Chaplain” as he ministers to the
spiritual needs of all people – patients, families and staff – from all backgrounds
and faiths.
Given the gift of faith as a young person, Joshua has always had a desire to learn
more in his own faith life. His younger brother’s death at age 22 did not start
Joshua on his path to serving God, but perhaps lit the way to hospital chaplaincy.
Joshua had already completed his undergraduate degree and was serving in
university ministry when his brother was diagnosed with cancer back home in
Hawai‘i. Plans to continue his studies at Princeton Theological Seminary put him
5,000 miles from home and his younger brother, but Joshua made the trip from
New Jersey to Honolulu as often as possible to be at his brother’s side during this journey.
The cancer had gone into remission, recurred and metastasized. Joshua would visit his brother as he received
curative care and palliative care, sensing “a need for deeper spiritual care in the hospital.”
Looking for ways to be closer to home, he learned that Pacific Health Ministry offered programs in Certified
Pastoral Education (CPE), a requirement for graduation. Joshua enrolled in the Summer CPE program while still in
seminary and following graduation with a Master of Divinity degree, returned to Hawaii to join the full-year CPE
Residency program.
Following CPE Residency, Joshua hoped to find a position as a hospital chaplain. “For a long time I worked as a part
-time, on-call and interim chaplain wherever I was needed. I felt that I was called to serve the people of Hawai'i
and to do that in a clinical setting, however, full-time positions were not available and with a wife and two young
children I finally made the decision to apply for nursing school.”
Soon after he was accepted into a nursing program, Joshua was asked by PHM to fill an interim position at
Kapi‘olani. Torn, he consulted with PHM Executive Director Deborah Whisnand and the interim offer turned into
an interview and full-time chaplaincy. Today Joshua serves as one of two PHM chaplains at Kapi‘olani Medical
Center for Women and Children.
“When I first came to PHM there was a small staff and a few residents. These past few years at Pacific Health
Ministry have been transformative – finding new leadership, expanding and improving CPE and seeking new
contracts to serve more people,” says Joshua.
“PHM has been a refuge for me. The CPE program prepared me to be chaplain and part of a multidisciplinary team
at Kap‘iolani where I often meet people in their hour or season of crisis. I learned to be fully present for patients,
families and staff to help them through their healthcare journey and to remind them that we are not defined by
our illnesses or death, but by the stories we share of our lives and their meaning.”
And how does Chaplain Joshua replenish himself? “Remembering all those stories is what fills my cup. I truly
believe that I am called to this specific type of ministry. Another chaplain once told me that while we may have a
gift for something, it doesn’t always show until another person brings
it out in us. That’s what’s so wonderful about the CPE residency – you
are joined with others who desire to meet the spiritual needs of all
people, young and old, and at the same time they are helping you to
recognize your blessings and use your gifts. To be present and in the
moment for someone, to acknowledge their feelings and concerns, is
a privilege and a duty.”
Website: www.phmhawaii.org
2012 BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
President
Mernie Miyasato Crawford
Vice President
Ralph Aona
Treasurer
Tom Teson
Secretary
Gary Okino
MAKE A DONATION VIA OUR WEBSITE
MISSION STATEMENT:
Our mission is to provide the highest quality interfaith spiritual
care to the people of Hawaii, pastoral training to students around
the world and education for the community .
SERVICE FOCUS:
● INSTITUTIONAL SPIRITUAL CARE
● CLINICAL PASTORAL EDUCATION
Members of the Board
Patricia Camero
Alicia Damien Lau
Paul Goto
Mimi Harris
C. Mike Kido
Michael Magaoay
William W. Paty
Vicki Shim
Alice Tucker
Walter Yoshimitsu
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
1245 Young Street, Suite 204
Honolulu, HI 96814
Pacific Health Ministry
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HONOLULU, HI
PERMIT NO.1673