Nursing Homes Cut Staff Chaplains: Manor Care Ends Its Program. Official Hopes Local Clergy Will Serve.
By Michael Duck, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.
Jul. 10–Two chaplains who served Manor Care nursing homes in Bethlehem, Bethlehem Township and Palmer Township have lost their jobs, along with Manor Care staff chaplains across the state.
The eight staff chaplains in the company’s Pennsylvania nursing homes had been among the only ones left in HCR Manor Care Health Services, which operates nursing homes and assisted living centers in 33 states and was bought out by a holding company last week.
Manor Care officials say they’re making new arrangements to meet residents’ spiritual needs, but the personal relationships the chaplains built might be hard to replace.
“I know the staff and the residents are upset. … We really are a family,” said the Rev. Molly Clymer, who worked at Manor Care Health Services-Bethlehem until her position was eliminated on June 28.
“I just hope that the local clergy can pick up the slack,” added Clymer, an interfaith minister from Lower Milford Township.
Manor Care spokeswoman Kelly Kessler said one other Lehigh Valley staff chaplain served the Old Orchard Health Care Center in Palmer and Manor Care Health Services-Easton, which is in eastern Bethlehem Township.
Clymer, who worked at the Bethlehem facility since she was ordained two years ago, said her responsibilities ranged from leading worship services and Bible studies to “sitting with people who were dying, helping them as much as I can,” she said.
Clymer said she also baptized some residents’ relatives and helped support the staff’s spiritual needs, even by presiding over some staff members’ weddings.
As medical costs have risen, many owners of health care facilities like nursing homes have been bought out or gone private. The Carlyle Group’s $6.3 billion buyout of Manor Care was announced last Tuesday.
In addition, the demand for long-term care in nursing homes has plummeted as more seniors choose assisted living facilities or in-home nursing care. More patients now use nursing homes for short-term rehabilitation after hospital stays, Manor Care officials have said.
Kessler said those changes were a factor in eliminating the nursing home staff chaplain program, which was unique to Manor Care’s nursing homes in Pennsylvania.
Manor Care, which operates 46 facilities in the state, will continue to have staff chaplains in the company’s hospice division, Kessler said.
For its Pennsylvania nursing homes, Manor Care will now rely on five senior chaplains, who will each work with local staff members to coordinate religious activities at several facilities, Kessler said.
The company is also counting on local clergy to continue visiting nursing home residents, “which helps them maintain a connection with the community,” Kessler said.
But it might be a challenge to get enough clergy into the nursing homes, because many of those community connections have already been lost, Clymer said. “There’s a lot of residents that have been in homes for years and aren’t members of congregations any longer,” she said.
Religious services will still be held in the nursing homes’ chapels, Kessler said. Also, one of the eight staff chaplains in Pennsylvania stayed with Manor Care by taking a social services position, while at least one became a senior chaplain.
As for Clymer, she doesn’t know yet what her next job will be, but “God has plans,” she said. “I’m just trusting the Lord.”
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