News - November 30, 2021

*REPUBLISHED                                  CONTACT:  Lindsay Hutter

703.824.1109 | lhutter@goodwinliving.org

Goodwin House Inc. Expands Pastoral Ministry and Chaplaincy Training in Northern Virginia and Maryland

Alexandria, VA – Today, Goodwin House Inc. (GHI) announced its Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Program is accepting applications for its Winter 2022 unit, taking place January 10, 2022 – April 22, 2022. Earlier this year, GHI partnered with MedStar Health to expand its pastoral ministry and chaplaincy training for its CPE program, providing GHI CPE students with the opportunity to engage in ministry with MedStar Palliative Care teams in Maryland.

GHI offers the only CPE program in Northern Virginia, and is one of only 350 accredited centers in the United States. The CPE program is a professional theological training program that educates and trains leaders from all faiths in pastoral ministry and chaplaincy. These students develop their skills providing spiritual support with home and hospital visits in hospice and palliative care contexts, pastoral leadership and crisis invention. In addition to MedStar Palliative Care, students in the program engage in ministry in a variety of clinical placement sites, including Goodwin House Life Plan Communities, Goodwin House Palliative Care and Hospice and INOVA hospitals in Northern Virginia.

“As a partner in innovative care, MedStar Health will help us enrich our educational offerings and expand our CPE program for students in Northern Virginia and Maryland,” said Liz Pomerleau Goodwin House Director of Clinical Pastoral Education. “Faith-based values are at the core of the Goodwin House mission and our approach to senior living and care. This collaboration will allow us to shed light on the important role of professional spiritual care in palliative care as well as senior living and healthcare.”

“The CPE students that we work with through Goodwin House have been invaluable in helping us demonstrate the value of chaplaincy in a palliative context,” said Kat Walker, assistant vice president, Palliative Care. “MedStar Health palliative care teams strive to care for the whole person as we care for patients and their families who are suffering. Spiritual care is such an important part of addressing their needs comprehensively .”

To learn more about the GHI CPE program and apply for the upcoming session, please visit https://www.goodwinliving.org/clinical-pastoral-education-cpe-program/.

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About Goodwin House Incorporated: Celebrating 54 years of providing exceptional service to older adults, Goodwin House Incorporated (GHI) is a not-for-profit, Virginia-based corporation affiliated with the Episcopal Church. Through its growing family of senior living and healthcare services owned and operated across Northern Virginia, GHI serves 2,000 older adults with options that include: two Life Plan Communities—Goodwin House Alexandria and Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads; an innovative continuing care at home program—Goodwin House at Home; and a portfolio of healthcare services and partnerships delivering Home Health, Rehabilitation, Primary Care, Palliative Care and Hospice.

GHI also is the management agent for The Lewinsville Retirement Residences, Inc. serving low-income older adults in McLean and Great Falls, Virginia. GHI also advances its mission through the Goodwin House Foundation, a 501(c)(3) supporting foundation that provides financial support to current and future residents in need and to fund programs dedicated to promoting growth and education of staff as well as overall well-being and vibrant living as we age.

About MedStar Health: At MedStar Health, we use the best of our minds and the best of our hearts to serve our patients, those who care for them, and our communities. Our 30,000 associates and 4,700 affiliated physicians are committed to living this promise through our core SPIRIT values—Service, Patient first, Integrity, Respect, Innovation, and Teamwork—across our more than 300 locations including 10 hospitals, ambulatory, and urgent care centers. As the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University, MedStar Health is training future physician leaders to care for the whole person and is advancing care through the MedStar Health Research Institute. From our telemedicine and urgent care services to the region’s largest home health agency, we’re committed to providing high-quality health care that’s also easy and convenient for our patients. At MedStar Health—It’s how we treat people. Learn more at MedStarHealth.org.