website<\/a> makes no apparent mention of the termination of its chaplain program. In response to a request from Mainstreet, the hospital released a statement saying it is not discontinuing \u201cpastoral care\u201d but is moving to a \u201cvolunteer\u201d program.<\/p>\n\u201cSpiritual care will continue to be available through a volunteer-based model, like many hospitals,\u201d the hospital said. \u201cWe will continue to help connect patients and families with pastoral support and, upon request, their preferred clergy or faith leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a memo to staff, obtained by Mainstreet, the hospital said its professional chaplain staff will end operations on Aug. 18. HCA did not respond to requests for more information, including how many staff positions will be eliminated, the reason for the program\u2019s demise and whether the decision is company-wide or limited to the Gainesville hospital.<\/p>\n
HCA Healthcare is the largest for-profit hospital owner in the nation. It operates some 50 hospitals in Florida alone, including two in Gainesville.<\/p>\n
HCA\u2019s new approach differs from other hospitals in Gainesville. Malcom Randall VA Medical Center offers professional chaplain services, and UF Health Shands Hospital has full-time chaplains on staff and available \u201c24 hours a day,\u201d according to the hospital\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
Kyle Christiansen, communications director for the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), told Mainstreet that volunteer priests, rabbis and ministers from the local community sometimes don\u2019t have the life-saving expertise of certified chaplains.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients should be concerned, and people who work in the hospital should be concerned\u201d when professional staff is replaced with volunteers, Christiansen said.<\/p>\n
The APC has more than 4,000 members, accounting for some of the nearly 10,000 certified chaplains working in U.S. hospitals, Christiansen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChaplains not only care for patients and families, but they are also involved with in-house ethics and issues of moral injury,\u201d Christiansen said. \u201cThey counsel nurses and doctors through very stressful times. When a patient gets worse or dies, caregivers can experience feelings of doubt or guilt and need skilled help in dealing with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christiansen said that, unlike some volunteer clergy, professional chaplains do not proselytize.<\/p>\n
At Baptist Health South Florida, which also offers professional chaplain services, its website says spiritual care can provide significant improvement among patients suffering severe depression, among other illnesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large body of evidence points to how spiritual health can lead to physical and psychological well-being,\u201d said Baptist\u2019s assistant vice-president for pastoral care, Renato Santos.<\/p>\n
Terri Yousse said a program that provides spiritual care \u201cupon request\u201d would not have helped her \u201clive with herself\u201d after her brother died.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a religious person. I don\u2019t go to church,\u201d she said. \u201cThe chaplain came and introduced herself. If it was a volunteer arrangement like they\u2019re going to, and I had to ask for help, it never would have come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Terri Yousse was in the grip of an emotional crisis. She was feeling conflicted and guilty\u2014second-guessing herself after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-332571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Terri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Terri-Yousse-needed-chaplains-help-after-making-anguished-decision-to-remove-her-brother-David-Ross-.jpeg\")
Photo courtesy of Terri Yousse Terri Yousse needed a chaplain\u2019s help after making an \u201canguished\u201d decision to remove her brother, David Ross, from life support. \u00a0<\/p>\n