CPE chaplain interns complete summer unit at USA Health

By Michelle Ryan-Day
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USA Health recently celebrated the completion of its summer unit of clinical pastoral education (CPE) with a ceremony honoring chaplain interns who spent the past few months providing spiritual and emotional support to patients, families and others throughout the Gulf Coast.

The interns represented the Community Chaplain Network/CPEI organization, under the supervision of chaplains Scott Speight, founder and CEO of Community Chaplain Network, Inc., and Kim Crawford Meeks, manager of the USA Health Spiritual Health and Counseling Department, and The Center for Clergy Care and Education, under the supervision of founder and director Don Winslet, Ed.D.

Throughout the program, interns gained clinical experience at USA Health facilities, including the Mitchell Cancer Institute, as well as Westminster Village and Gentiva Hospice. Their work extended across the Gulf Coast, from Mobile and Baldwin counties in Alabama to Pensacola, Florida.

“CPE chaplain interns gain the experience of providing support through meeting people where they are along their journey,” Crawford Meeks said.

Clinical pastoral education combines classroom learning with hands-on experience, giving chaplain interns opportunities to apply what they have learned while caring for people facing illness, loss and other challenging circumstances.

“A classroom can teach grief theory, spiritual assessment, theology, communication skills, ethics and crisis intervention,” Crawford Meeks said. “But at the bedside, interns discover what those concepts actually mean when they are standing with a frightened patient or grieving family.”

Several of the interns will continue their CPE training with USA Health. Rymona Hayes and Clint Harris are continuing into their next CPE unit with the Spiritual Health and Counseling Department, and Greg Stuckey will join the department for his next unit. Vivian Silliman, deacon; Necie Borroni, priest; and Brooks Milling, priest, completed their required CPE units and will continue their studies through the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.

The summer program concluded with a sand ceremony celebrating the unique gifts and personalities of each chaplain and recognizing the individual impact they made on the lives of people throughout Gulf Coast communities. The different grains of sand coming together offered a visual representation during the ceremony of the distinct qualities each intern brought to the program and the collective difference they made through their ministry and service.