Archdiocese of Denver
22
Children's Hospital Ministry
D
eacons have been providing Catholic
ministry at Children's Hospital Colorado
for several years. Many courageous and faith-
ful patients, families and staff have benefited
from 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
emergency baptisms, and bring them the
Eucharist. The deacon and the spiritual care
chaplain team have a wonderful, collabora-
tive relationship. Mutual support exists, which
makes this a deeply rewarding ministry for
the deacon and those who are served.
i
Deacon Thinh Le
servantthinh@gmail.com
303.668.5524
Deacon Huan Nguyen
stjohnbaptist123@outlook.com
303.506.3321
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 be-
lieve in empowering patients to fully partici-
pate in their program of care, from 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 from a
stroke. The deacon prays and distributes
Holy Communion with Catholic patients
individually, along with sharing how his faith
assisted in his healing process.
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Deacon Mladen Martinovic
makivfil@comcast.net
303.618.3564
