Spiritual Care Services
Chaplains work closely with our healthcare teams to support patients, families and staff. At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), chaplains provide spiritual care to persons of all faiths or no faith, 24/7. They also educate and support staff and serve as a liaison between families and their local clergy. Chaplains support the diverse spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of patients and families as they cope with the trauma, stress and challenges of illness and hospitalization.
Chaplains offer:
- Compassionate listening and nonjudgmental presence
- Prayer for healing, hope, reconciliation or any other spiritual needs
- Bereavement support
- Support prior to, during and after surgery, as well as in family meetings
- Decision-making support and consultation on religious/ethical issues
- Guidance with spiritual questioning and issues of faith and meaning making
- Ritual and sacramental support
- Connections to and facilitation of visits with outside clergy or spiritual advisers on a families’ behalf
- Access to Bibles, Qurans’, Siddurim, Prayer Books and other religious items like Shabbat candles, rosaries and prayer cards, etc.
- Support for religious holidays throughout the year
How to contact a chaplain
- Chaplains are available 24/7. Ask a member of your care team if you’d like to speak to a chaplain.
- Chaplains are in-house from 7:30 am – 7:30 pm, Monday through Friday.
- On-call coverage is available at all other times. Outside of regular hours, you can ask a CHOP team member to page the on-call chaplain.
Meet our spiritual care team
Manager of Spiritual Care and Education
- Rev. Dr. Liam Robins, ACPE Certified Educator
Staff chaplains
- David Bradley
- Cantor Rebecca Carl, MSM, BCC
- Verna Hutchinson-Toler, MDiv (KOPH)
- Dexter Lanctot, MDiv
- Emerald Peake, MDiv.
- Kelly Jean-Philippe, MDiv
Per-diem chaplains
- Johanna Berrigan
- Peter Clement
- Rev. Nikki Kleinberg, MDiv, BCC
- Cassandra Ogbevire, MDiv.
Reflective and religious spaces
The Schlimm Center for Prayer and Reflections represents a place of celebration and comfort, whatever your spiritual needs or beliefs may be or not be. It is located on the first floor of the Main Hospital just off the Rotunda. Three rooms, one larger and two smaller, provide quiet and reflective spaces where all are welcome to pray, reflect, rest and meditate.
Kosher pantries are located within the Main Building near the Food Court and the Buerger Center inside the Welcome Center. A chaplain can provide access.
In addition to the three quiet spaces for prayer and reflection, Spiritual Care Services also provides religious texts and prayers from a variety of faith traditions. Next to the bookshelf, you will find a wooden box into which all patients, families and staff may place prayer requests for loved ones. Non-urgent requests for chaplain visits can also be left in this prayer box.
Kosher pantry
CHOP has three Kosher pantries. One is located in the Main Hospital building near the food court; one in the Buerger Center inside the Welcome Center; and one at King of Prussia Hospital’s Middleman Family Pavilion, near the food court on the first floor. A chaplain can help provide access.
Clergy visits
CHOP Chaplains and interns are happy to coordinate with you and assist in facilitating visits with your home clergy and/or visiting community clergy from various faith traditions to assist in providing religious rituals when requested.
Roman Catholic Sacraments may be provided by a priest from our local parish St. Agatha and St. James Parish. Catholic Communion (Eucharist) Rounds take place on most Sunday afternoons. If you wish to receive communion, please reach out to the Spiritual Care Team before 11am on Sunday mornings.
Please contact a chaplain to help facilitate a visit with your home clergy or a priest visit for any other Catholic Sacraments.