PIH Health Clinical Pastoral Education Program Accredited by Association for Clinical Pastoral Education

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Jun 15, 2021, 15:12 ET

WHITTIER, Calif., June 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The PIH Health Clinical Pastoral Education Program (CPE)—an interfaith, professional education program—recently gained system accreditation by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). Building on the 15-year history of the PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital program and the five-year history of the PIH Health Whittier Hospital program, the new ACPE system accreditation enables operation of CPE programs at PIH Health Downey Hospital as well. Chaplain interns will have the opportunity to learn while serving diverse populations and playing an important role in providing the comprehensive spiritual care to patients, visitors, and hospital staff.

"PIH Health is blessed to have the support of generous donors, board members, and senior leaders who invest time, talent, and resources to ensure that spiritual care services are included in the high-quality healthcare we provide," said the Rev. Michael S. Bell, director of Spiritual Care Services for PIH Health. "Our CPE interns work in tandem with our hospital-based staff chaplains, palliative care and hospice chaplains, spiritual care providers from our local communities, and our pastoral care volunteers to offer pastoral care throughout the organization."

According to the Rev. Kraig Beardemphl, manager of Clinical Pastoral Education, "The Clinical Pastoral Education Program enables us to train the next generation of hospital chaplains and at the same time, expand our chaplain services into more areas of our organization." He adds, "As PIH Health continues to grow, the expansion of our Spiritual Care team helps us keep pace with the needs of our patients and staff."

Chaplain services are available in multiple languages, Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4 pm at PIH Health Downey Hospital, 9 am to 5 pm at PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, and seven days a week from 7:30 am to 6 pm at PIH Health Whittier Hospital. PIH Health also offers chapels at the three locations open 24/7 for prayer and meditation by all patients, visitors and staff. For more information regarding PIH Health's spiritual care services please visit PIHHealth.org/SpiritualCare.

Contributions to the PIH Health Foundation can be designated to help support spiritual care services. Please visit PIHHealth.org/Support.

About PIH Health

PIH Health is a nonprofit, regional healthcare network that serves approximately 3.7 million residents in the Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Gabriel Valley region. The fully integrated network is comprised of PIH Health Downey Hospital, PIH Health Good Samaritan Hospital, PIH Health Whittier Hospital, 35 outpatient medical office buildings, a multispecialty medical (physician) group, home healthcare services and hospice care, as well as heart, cancer, digestive health, orthopedics, women's health, urgent care and emergency services. The organization is recognized by Watson Health as one of the nation's Top Hospitals, and College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) as one of the nation's top hospital systems for best practices, cutting-edge advancements, quality of care and healthcare technology. PIH Health is also certified as a Great Place to Work®. For more information, visit PIHHealth.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

SOURCE PIH Health