Cutting hospitals’ spiritual care blasted as ‘short sighted’

The people who provide spiritual guidance and counselling in Saskatchewan hospitals and longterm care facilities will soon be forced to look for employment elsewhere after the program fell victim to the provincial government’s sweeping budget cuts.

“They are saving $1.5 million in salaries and costs associated with this, but I mean, odds are it’s going to come back and cost many times that in terms of impact on the system,” said Philip Weaver, president of the Canadian Association of Spiritual Care.

“Studies have shown that spiritual care actually ends up saving money to the system rather than costing money to the system. So people who end up receiving spiritual care during their hospitalization generally have a shorter length of stay, fewer infections post surgery and shorter costs associated with their end of life process.”

Currently, there is no timeline on the government’s decision to pull funding from the program.

In an emailed statement, the Saskatoon Health Region confirmed spiritual care services in the Humboldt Hospital, Royal University Hospital, Saskatoon City Hospital and Parkridge Care Centre will be affected.

Although these facilities will no longer have dedicated chaplains, the health region expects volunteers and clergymen from various faith-based organizations who already visit patients will continue to do so into the future, it added.

The statement also clarified that chaplains at St. Paul’s Hospital are not publicly funded and the hospital will continue to offer spiritual care services to patients and staff. Cultural programming within the Saskatoon Health Region, which is available to First Nations and Metis patients, is not under the purview of spiritual care and will also remain unaffected by the budget cut.

Calling it “a short sighted attempt to save money,” Weaver noted Saskatchewan will be the only province in Canada that doesn’t provide this service to its patients and employees. He said the Fraser Health Authority in B.C., which removed funding from its chaplaincy program in acute care facilities late in 2009, has decided to reinstitute the program.

He was especially disappointed that people nearing the end of their lives in long-term care facilities may no longer have immediate access to spiritual support before they die.

Weaver said chaplains are there to help anyone who needs it, regardless of their spiritual or religious beliefs. He noted it’s not about dealing with physical injuries but helping understand and deal with emotional trauma and new situations, such as coming to terms with losing the ability to walk, putting a child up for adoption or dealing with the death of a loved one.

“If I lived in Saskatchewan, I would certainly want to complain about this,” Weaver said.