Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from the chaplain team at John Muir Health! I hope and pray that this note finds you well.

You might have heard that John Muir Health along with other healthcare systems in the region has limited visitors to the hospitals in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19. Currently, only pediatric, labor-and delivery and end-of-life patients are allowed one visitor at a time. In order to help us keep our patients safe, John Muir Health has determined that for the time being we need to suspend routine pastoral visits from clergy members. If your visit with your congregant is very urgent or an emergency, please come to the main entrance of the hospital and let the lobby staff know who you are here to see. The lobby staff will then call the hospital supervisor and together you will determine how to safely proceed.

We understand that this temporary arrangement might cause challenges. Be assured that we will reverse this procedure as soon as it is safe to do so. Please know that the John Muir chaplains are here for your congregants and we will do everything in our power to bring spiritual solace to them. If your congregant (or their family) specifically asks for us to contact you, we will continue to do so. If you would like us to see a particular congregant who is hospitalized, please do not hesitate to email me at birte.beuck@johnmuirhealth.com or call JMH Concord Medical Center Spiritual Care (925) 674-2629 or JMH Walnut Creek Medical Center Pastoral Care (925) 647-5281.

Our religious traditions remind us that love is stronger than fear and that our strength is in coming together for peace, justice and compassion. May the bonds between us grow even stronger at this time. As you are supporting your parishioners in the midst of this time of heightened anxiety and stress, may you find refuges of peace and calm.

Sending Peace,

-Birte

Rev. Birte BeuckM.A., M.Div.
ACPE Certified Chaplain Educator and APC Board Certified Chaplain
Director, Spiritual & Pastoral Care Services| John Muir Health
Phone: Concord (925) 674-2245—Walnut Creek (925) 947-5265 |  Mobile:
(925) 286-5206 Fax: (925) 674-2147 

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. – John Muir
     John Muir Health –   A magnet recognized hospital 

 

March 19, 2020

Dear friends and colleagues at the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County:

I’m sending greetings from the spiritual care departments at Kaiser Permanente in Walnut Creek and Antioch.

Please know that during this time of shelter-in-place Kaiser Permanente facilities in Contra Costa County remain open and we provide safe care to those who need it. In order to prevent and slow the spread of infection, we have implemented a no visitor policy at our Walnut Creek and Antioch hospitals, with a few exceptions, such as for labor and delivery or pediatrics, where one visitor is allowed.  During end-of-life care, one visitor is allowed (unless by special arrangement).

Per these visitor policies and to prevent or slow the spread of Covid-19, clergy are not able to visit patients in the hospital for routine visits at this time. We ask for your understanding. 

However, when you need to provide pastoral care to a patient at the end-of-life, we may be able to accommodate this visit. You may come to the single point of entry we have established at each hospital and talk to the ambassador at the entrance. 

Please consider providing spiritual care to your hospitalized members when needed by phone. You can call the operator and ask for the patient by name:

Kaiser Walnut Creek Operator: 925-295-4000

Kaiser Antioch Operator: 925-813-6500

Please know our chaplains provide support to patients, though possibly in modified ways such as by phone or video visit. To make a referral, please call:

Kaiser Walnut Creek Spiritual Care: 925-295-6841

Kaiser Antioch Spiritual Care: 925-813-3267

For any spiritual care questions, please feel free to contact me at Jurgen.Schwing@kp.org or by phone at 925-295-6945. 

Thank you and be well,

Rev. Jurgen Schwing
Director of Spiritual Care

 

Sutter is committed to the health and well-being of our patients, caregivers and community. In light of the COVID-19 public health emergency, we are taking extra precautions to reduce the risk of the spread of the disease, especially as we anticipate an increased volume of COVID-19 patients in the coming days.

During this time, it is critical that we protect vulnerable patients in our hospitals, as well as our healthcare workers and providers. Visitors may unwittingly pass the virus on to staff and patients, even when they aren’t showing symptoms of the illness. Therefore, we are restricting all visitors from our hospitals, effective immediately and until further notice.

If you wish to visit a patient, please consider other means like telephone or videoconference. This will prevent the patient from in-person contact.

NOTE: We will allow the partners of laboring persons to the delivery room, and visitors in end of life situations. We also allow support for minors and people with disabilities.

We are doing this to protect the health and safety of our patients, staff, clinicians and community. Thank you for your understanding.

For future reference, visit https://www.sutterhealth.org/delta/for-patients/health-alerts/2019-novel-coronavirus to see updates to the visitation policy.

 

Contra Costa Regional Medical Center

Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center (CCRMC) is committed to protecting our patients, our employees, and our community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective March 17, visitors to the hospital will not be allowed without an extenuating circumstance. Talk to your patient’s nurse if you have questions.

Greeting Cards

Through our website, you can send a real greeting card to patients at CCRMC. There is no charge, and your card will be hand-delivered by a hospital volunteer.

 

 

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New Posters on Covid-19 Testing from the County.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID Testing Flyer English

 

COVID Testing Flyer Spanish