Archdiocese of Denver
24
Children's Hospital Ministry
D
eacons have been providing Catholic min-
istry at Children's Hospital Colorado for
several years. Many courageous and faithful
patients, families and staff have benefited
f rom this ministry and have been an inspira-
tion to the deacon.
The deacon leads a Communion service
once a week and assists a priest at Mass for
special occasions. These services are sched-
uled on the hospital calendar which has
attracted both regular staff attendees as well
as patients and family members, especially
at the Ash Wednesday service. Some families
and hospital staff will stay after the service to
talk and share some of their challenges, and in
some cases schedule a private conference.
The hospital chaplain team calls on the
deacon when they meet Catholic patients and
families so that he can visit with them, lead
prayers, provide blessings, perform emergen-
cy baptisms, and bring them the Eucharist.
The deacon and the spiritual care chaplain
team have a wonderful, collaborative relation-
ship. Mutual support exists, which makes this
a deeply rewarding ministry for the deacon
and those who are served.
Craig Rehabilitation Hospital Ministry
C
raig Hospital is a world-renowned reha-
bilitation hospital that exclusively special-
izes in the neurorehabilitation and research
of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and
brain injury (BI). At Craig Hospital, they believe
in empowering patients to fully participate
in their program of care, f rom planning and
scheduling to working hard to progress.
There's no passive-patient model of care at
Craig. It takes teamwork, and the patient is
the most important member of the team.
The deacon who ministers at Craig fully
understands the patient's needs because
of first-hand experience recovering f rom a
stroke. The deacon prays and distributes Holy
Communion with Catholic patients individual-
ly, along with sharing how his faith assisted in
his healing process.
i
Deacon Kevin Heckman
deaconkevin@comcast.net
Deacon Huan Nguyen
stjohnbaptist123@outlook.com
i
Deacon Darell Nepil
darell.nepil@gmail.com
