{"id":26330,"date":"2017-01-30T05:24:44","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T10:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=26330"},"modified":"2017-01-28T08:25:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T13:25:21","slug":"spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program"},"content":{"rendered":"

When people come into the hospital with a physical trauma quite often their emotional traumas are triggered. We’re here to support people in those circumstances.Karen Hamra, Spiritual Care Practitioner for Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

When people enter one of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s (MAHC) hospital sites, it’s typically due to a physical injury. However, recovery can require more than just medical attention. Sometimes spiritual care is necessary, too. That’s where Karen Hamra, a spiritual care practitioner (chaplain) at MAHC, and a number of volunteers step in and help.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpiritual care supports people with what gives them hope, meaning and strength in the particular situation that they’re in,\u201d said Hamra. \u201cIf you have a faith background, that could mean supporting you within your faith background. It could be prayer, meditation, or many other things. What happens more often, even with people who do have faith, is that people need someone to hear them, hear what’s causing them the pain. Yes, they may have a broken femur or they may have had a heart attack, but what is the thing that is really troubling them at that moment? Quite often it’s more than the physical ailment. It could be a broken relationship, or they’re grieving the loss of a loved one. So when people come into the hospital with a physical trauma quite often their emotional traumas are triggered. We’re here to support people in those circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes staff at MAHC who may require help through dealing with trauma at work, such as the loss of a patient.<\/p>\n

Hamra is employed part-time through MAHC and visits each hospital site once a week. Her position is funded by MAHC, the Muskoka Chaplaincy Association and private donations. The association is hoping to educate the community on the spiritual care services offered at MAHC to help garner more donations, which would allow Hamra to visit patients more frequently.<\/p>\n

It’s a valuable component for patients, their family and staff, in order for patients to heal properly and for staff to feel supported so they can do their job well. So if it’s in place, ideally then all the components are being addressed and we’re working as efficiently and effectively as we can. Right now we’re not because we just don’t have enough support. We don’t have enough support because we don’t have enough funding.
\nKaren Hamra, sPIRITUAL CARE PRACTITIONER FOR MUSKOKA ALGONQUIN HEALTHCARE<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Karen Fleming, Chief Quality and Nursing Executive at MAHC, said information about spiritual care services is provided to inpatients at both sites. She said the direction of the spiritual care committee, however, is under review.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of the spiritual care committee was originally intended to facilitate process discussions around the community clergy function within MAHC,\u201d said Fleming. \u201cCurrently, the group is revising its terms of reference to clarify its role and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamra would like to see spiritual care incorporated into regular care within the hospital structure as an overall part of the team. But she recognizes there are challenges. \u201cIt’s a matter of funding, and it’s a matter of we can only do so many things so where do you prioritize the dollars,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Donations can be made by contacting the chair of The Muskoka Chaplaincy Association, Wilf Flavell, at fwilf61@aol.com.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free, twice-weekly newsletter here<\/u>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When people come into the hospital with a physical trauma quite often their emotional traumas are triggered. We’re here to support people in those circumstances.Karen Hamra, Spiritual Care Practitioner for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":26385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[26,1030,1031,1029],"class_list":["post-26330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-breaking","tag-chaplain","tag-karen-hamra","tag-spiritual-care-practioner"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSpiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program - Huntsville Doppler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Often when people enter the hospital with physical trauma, spiritual and emotional needs arise. The role of the spiritual care practitioner is important.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program - Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Often when people enter the hospital with physical trauma, spiritual and emotional needs arise. The role of the spiritual care practitioner is important.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Huntsville Doppler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-30T10:24:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"672\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mandi Hargrave\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Hville_Doppler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Hville_Doppler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mandi Hargrave\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mandi Hargrave\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/9411105d64e99263c7bfe9a8eb092ab4\"},\"headline\":\"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-30T10:24:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\"},\"wordCount\":591,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"breaking\",\"chaplain\",\"karen hamra\",\"spiritual care practioner\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\",\"name\":\"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program - Huntsville Doppler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-30T10:24:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"Often when people enter the hospital with physical trauma, spiritual and emotional needs arise. The role of the spiritual care practitioner is important.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg\",\"width\":1404,\"height\":672,\"caption\":\"Karen Hamra, spiritual care practitioner (chaplain) at MAHC\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\",\"name\":\"Huntsville Doppler\",\"description\":\"Read Local\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Huntsville Doppler\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg\",\"width\":760,\"height\":212,\"caption\":\"Huntsville Doppler\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Hville_Doppler\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/huntsville_doppler\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/9411105d64e99263c7bfe9a8eb092ab4\",\"name\":\"Mandi Hargrave\",\"description\":\"Mandi was no stranger to Muskoka growing up and as she got older she knew this was the place she wanted to call home. She loves time with her dog, being outside and laughs shared with friends. She loves sitting down to chat and hear a good story, one you\u2019ll hopefully let her share with the Huntsville community.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/author\/mandihargrave\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program - Huntsville Doppler","description":"Often when people enter the hospital with physical trauma, spiritual and emotional needs arise. The role of the spiritual care practitioner is important.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program - Huntsville Doppler","og_description":"Often when people enter the hospital with physical trauma, spiritual and emotional needs arise. The role of the spiritual care practitioner is important.","og_url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/","og_site_name":"Huntsville Doppler","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/","article_published_time":"2017-01-30T10:24:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1404,"height":672,"url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mandi Hargrave","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Hville_Doppler","twitter_site":"@Hville_Doppler","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mandi Hargrave","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/"},"author":{"name":"Mandi Hargrave","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/9411105d64e99263c7bfe9a8eb092ab4"},"headline":"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program","datePublished":"2017-01-30T10:24:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/"},"wordCount":591,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg","keywords":["breaking","chaplain","karen hamra","spiritual care practioner"],"articleSection":["Community"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/","name":"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program - Huntsville Doppler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg","datePublished":"2017-01-30T10:24:44+00:00","description":"Often when people enter the hospital with physical trauma, spiritual and emotional needs arise. The role of the spiritual care practitioner is important.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2017\/01\/MAHC-1.jpg","width":1404,"height":672,"caption":"Karen Hamra, spiritual care practitioner (chaplain) at MAHC"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/spiritual-care-mahc-funding-pressure\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Spiritual and emotional support aid healing, but funding pressures impact MAHC program"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#website","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/","name":"Huntsville Doppler","description":"Read Local","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#organization","name":"Huntsville Doppler","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2025\/03\/logo-Canadian-1.jpg","width":760,"height":212,"caption":"Huntsville Doppler"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HuntsvilleDoppler\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Hville_Doppler","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/huntsville_doppler\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/#\/schema\/person\/9411105d64e99263c7bfe9a8eb092ab4","name":"Mandi Hargrave","description":"Mandi was no stranger to Muskoka growing up and as she got older she knew this was the place she wanted to call home. She loves time with her dog, being outside and laughs shared with friends. She loves sitting down to chat and hear a good story, one you\u2019ll hopefully let her share with the Huntsville community.","url":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/author\/mandihargrave\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}