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Sentara School of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)
History of Chaplaincy and Clinical Pastoral Education at Sentara Southside Hospitals
In January 1982, Chaplaincy Services was established with the hiring of the hospital’s first chaplain, the Rev. Thomas Mainor, and a full-time secretary. In subsequent years, Chaplaincy Services grew as the department assumed responsibility for Decedent Affairs for Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and responsibility for pastoral care services to Sentara Leigh Hospital and Sentara Bayside Hospital.
For a number of years persons within the Chaplaincy Services Department, Sentara Healthcare, and the larger community held the dream of establishing a program of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The hospital was long viewed as an optimal setting for such a program of pastoral education for community clergy, seminarians, and qualified lay persons.
As a top healthcare facility offering the most advanced medical services, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has long been recognized as an optimal setting for training clergy to provide pastoral care across the full gamut of life’s experiences from birth to death.
Since its establishment in January 1982, the Chaplaincy Services Department has developed a strong staff of Clinical Chaplains that can serve as mentors and instructors to students in the CPE program.
Throughout its long history of involvement with community clergy, Chaplaincy Services has utilized clergy as Adjunct Chaplains to provide additional pastoral care services to patients and families in the hospital as well as providing continuing education for the Adjunct Chaplains and other community clergy.
During the early part of 2000, through a convergence of a number of factors the time seemed right to pursue the development of a program of Clinical Pastoral Education at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
Having experienced several staff vacancies, Chaplaincy Services was at an optimum point of re-evaluating its methodology for providing services to patients, families, physicians, and staff at Sentara Norfolk General.
Through the commitment and generosity of the leadership of the Burn/Trauma ICU and the Neuro ICU, a staff position had been transferred to Chaplaincy Services to expand the department’s services.
With the assistance of the Sentara Finance Department, it was determined that the Medicare pass-through reimbursement for CPE available to the hospital would cover all additional costs of providing the program of Clinical Pastoral Education and a Certified Supervisor.
Therefore, in the spring of 2000 a process was initiated to hire a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor certified by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) and develop an ACPE-accredited program of Clinical Pastoral Education in pursuit of the following goals.
 To enhance the quality of pastoral care services provided to the patients, families, physicians, and staff at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital,
To maximize the number of hours of pastoral care services and after-hours coverage through a cost-neutral Medicare reimbursement mechanism,
To provide quality clinical training opportunities for community clergy who will be providing pastoral services to their congregants both in our hospital and in the community,
To build positive relationships with community clergy through development of a cadre of alumni of the CPE program and through the provision of continuing education programs for community clergy,
To heighten the awareness of hospital staff, physicians, residents, and others in more effectively responding to the emotional and spiritual needs of their patients in providing wholistic care,
To enhance the connection between Sentara and the community through the involvement of clergy, physicians, and representatives of religious congregations and community agencies in a CPE Professional Advisory Group.
The vision of a program of Clinical Pastoral Education for Sentara Healthcare and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has been a long-standing one. Many persons both within the hospital and in the community have contributed to that dream over the years. It is a milestone in the continuing mission of the hospital and the department to provide quality spiritual care to patients, families, and staff, along with quality pastoral education to community clergy, seminarians, and others.
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