Spiritual care
When you need spiritual or emotional support through you or your loved one’s health journey, lean on the chaplains at Spectrum Health.
Chaplains provide compassion, comfort and counsel to people of all faiths and traditions—including people who aren’t religious. Chaplains at Spectrum Health have completed special training in working with people in a health care setting.
Chaplain services are available to our:
- Hospital patients and their loved ones
- Hospice patients and their loved ones
- Residents of Spectrum Health Rehab and Nursing Center – Kalamazoo Avenue
Spectrum Health chaplains can support you and your loved ones in many ways. You may ask them to:
- Be a comforting, nonjudgmental presence
- Contact a religious leader from your faith tradition
- Help with advance care planning
- Help you resolve conflicts between your spiritual beliefs and recommended medical treatments
- Perform religious rituals
- Provide Catholic communion to patients who identify themselves as Catholic to their nurse
- Provide grief support
- Provide religious and spiritual resources
- Say prayers and blessings
Chaplain services are always free.
For parents who have lost a child, our S.O.U.L. (Sharing Our Untimely Losses) Parent Support Group is available for grief support.
Find a quiet place to reflect, meditate or pray. Most Spectrum Health hospitals have an interfaith chapel that’s open to patients and visitors. To learn more, select a hospital below.
- Corewell Health Big Rapids Hospital
- Corewell Health Blodgett Hospital (part of Corewell Health Grand Rapids Hospitals)
- Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital (part of Corewell Health Grand Rapids Hospitals)
- Corewell Health Grand Rapids Hospitals Fred & Lena Meijer Heart Center
- Corewell Health Gerber Hospital
Corewell Health CPE
We offer accredited units of CPE through ACPE The Standard in Spiritual Care & Education (acpe.edu). Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is experiential, theological education designed to improve the quality of spiritual care offered by chaplains or spiritual caregivers of all faith traditions and level of experience.
Our CPE program uses the action-reflection action model of learning that integrates the components of spiritual care, personal and theological reflection, individual and group supervision, peer review, and supportive group process. The goals of the CPE program include the integration of spiritual care, theology, psychology, and other behavioral sciences. A unit of CPE is a minimum of 400 hours. 300 hours are direct spiritual care with patients.
The educational program
Extended unit
- We are not currently offering an extended unit of CPE
Summer intensive unit
- Contact for more information.
One-year residency
- Corewell Health West: September 2, 2025-September 6, 2026
- Corewell Health West stipend: $37,502 with benefits and vacation time.
- Corewell Health Southeast: September 13, 2025-September 12, 2026
- Corewell Health Southeast stipend: $40, 414.40 with benefits and vacation time.
- CPE Units: 3 or 4 units are offered based on need over the 12-month program.
- Time commitment: 40 hours per week, evenings and weekend shifts included.
- Preferred Experience: Successful completion of one unit of CPE is prefered. A graduate degree (usually in theology, philosophy or psychology) preferred
Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Corewell Health West is accredited to offer ACPE Accredited CPE Levels I and II, and Certified Educator CPE by: ACPE:
The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education
1 Concourse Pkwy, Suite 800 Atlanta, GA 30328
Completed applications may be emailed to our ACPE Certified Educator, Trent Elders.
Contact Us
Get spiritual care, support and guidance from specially trained chaplains.