The provincial lockdown which began in March has curtailed in-person visits with patients at the Ottawa Hospital (TOH), which means that both campuses are off-limits for our team of Spiritual Care volunteers for health and safety reasons.
Much of our needful work, such as in-chapel worship and bedside Eucharist, has been suspended at both the Civic and General campuses, but one ministry is alive and active—that of our On-Call Clergy.
While our Diocese’s team of nine clergy cannot visit in person, they can and do visit by Skype, Zoom, or whatever the nursing staff have on their smart phones. When a patient is very ill and/or dying, the nursing staff is willing to set up a phone call or an online meeting for clergy and the patient. A phone call request from patient or family to the Spiritual Care Department at either the Civic or General campus is all that is needed to arrange this ministry of presence and prayer.
Please let your family and friends know that there are clergy available at TOH to help you or a loved one connect to God.
Life goes on at TOH as patients receive life-saving treatment from the hospital’s skilled team of doctors, nurses, surgeons, and other care-givers. And our Anglican Diocese of Ottawa is there for all of them.
While it shall still be some time before TOH is open for the rest of our ministries, we are already seeking new volunteers to bring prayer and caring presence to all who need us.
St. John, Antrim — Deanery of the Southwest