Mount Carmel Health System 2014 Community Benefit Report | Page 4

Building a Healthier Community
By Helping New Moms and
Newborns

Mount Carmel’s Chaplaincy
Program: Beyond Bedside Care

Helping new moms and their babies get off to a healthy
start is just another day at work for Kristina McCoy, RN,
Mount Carmel Outreach Welcome Home Program.
Funded by the Mount Carmel Foundation, Welcome Home
helps new mothers ensure their newborns begin life in a
healthy environment. Specially trained caregivers like
Kristina make in-home wellness visits to conduct thorough
nursing assessments of mom and baby – checking the
baby’s sleeping and eating habits, administering a
postpartum depression screening, providing information
about the baby’s growth and development, and answering
any questions mom may have.
Recently, Kristina visited a teenage mom who was doing
a great job caring for her new son but was struggling
in other ways. Kristina connected the mom and her
boyfriend to counseling services; provided baby clothes,
diapers and breastfeeding supplies; and even obtained
bus passes so dad could get to work and the couple
could get to their appointments. Along the way, Kristina
learned that the new mom’s youn ger sister also had
recently given birth at Mount Carmel and had not yet
received a nurse visit. So Kristina provided similar
assistance to the sister.
Thanks to Kristina’s caring, compassionate efforts,
both moms and their babies are doing well – and our
community is a little bit healthier.
Kristina McCoy, RN, Mount Carmel
Outreach Welcome Home Program
”One small tip or question answered can mean a
healthier, safer life for that mom or baby. The benefits
of a Welcome Home visit are more than just questions
answered and problems solved — it’s also reminding the
mothers that they’re great moms and doing a great job
with their new babies.”

Each year, Mount Carmel hospital chaplains and
decedent care coordinators support more than 2,400
families as they face difficult end-of-life decisions. Issues
range from funeral home disposition, organ donation
and autopsy, to transporting decedents in a manner that
is sensitive to the cultural and religious needs of the
family, to connecting families with external resources
to defray the escalating cost of funerals.
Working alongside community partners, such as Lifeline
of Ohio, county coroner offices, funeral homes and
Probate Courts, Decedent Care Coordinators Wendy
Unger (Mount Carmel St. Ann’s), Sam Ross (Mount
Carmel West) and Paul Helwig (Mount Carmel East)
minister “beyond the bedside” in numerous ways.
They connect mothers who have experienced the loss
of a pre-term baby to resources to help pay for their
child to be properly laid to rest. They locate next-of-kin
for patients who arrive at the hospital and pass away
without identification or the family’s knowledge. And
they arrange funerals and burials for individuals who
outlive all members of their family and pass on with
no one else to accept responsibility for their final
arrangements.
Most people think a chaplain’s role is to pray with and
comfort people. It certainly is. But decedent care also
is an essential part of our ministry and our Community
Benefit.
Patricia Krebs, PCC, BCC, System Director,
Spiritual Care Services
”Mount Carmel’s decedent care coordinators assist
families in finding end-of-life solutions that honor the
dignity and personhood of the souls of their loved ones.”