Pastoral Care

Your health demands more than physical attention. At St. Bernards Healthcare, our pastoral care team sees to your spiritual and emotional well-being through a patient and family-centered approach, whether you need prayers, encouragement or the sacraments. Regardless of your faith background, we’re here for support at the time you need it most. Spiritual care is a key part of our mission to deliver Christ-like healing to you and your loved ones.

How We Can Help

Our team is here for patients, families, caregivers, and staff if you want to:

• Talk to someone about how you’re feeling or if you have received news of a difficult diagnosis/medical decision
• Request prayers
• Receive the Catholic Sacraments of Holy Communion, Reconciliation or Anointing of the Sick
• Arrange Baptism for yourself or your baby
• Ask for assistance in contacting a minister of your faith
• Feel supported though grief and crisis situations

If your faith affects how you can receive medical care, we’ll also help you communicate your needs to nurses and doctors.

Where We Serve

We can visit you at St. Bernards Medical Center, the Flo & Phil Jones Hospice House or St. Bernards Behavioral Health. Have a loved one in St. Bernards’ care? Feel free to call 870.207.4559 with a prayer request.

Chapel & Prayer Garden

Any time of day or night, you’re welcome to visit our hospital chapel, located on the ground level between the surgical tower and emergency department. (View a hospital map.) A priest celebrates Mass at noon each Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Behind the chapel, you’ll find our prayer garden, a quiet place for meditation and solitude. It’s open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.

Spiritual Care Team

Director Katie Grissom leads a compassionate team that includes:

• A Catholic priest
• Olivetan Benedictine Sisters
• Team members of various denominations
• Pastoral aides

Let us know if you’d like to receive a visit from a member of your local faith community. We’re in touch with leaders from many congregations, and we know how helpful it can be to talk to someone you know and trust.

Volunteer in Pastoral Care

If you’d like to support your neighbors during some of the most significant times in their lives, consider becoming a pastoral care volunteer. You may serve as a:

• Pastoral care aide who offers prayer and companionship
• Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion if you’re a practicing Catholic with a mandate from the Diocese of Little Rock
• Hospice volunteer who ministers to patients and families near the end of life

To get started, complete a volunteer interest form. Then, we’ll reach out to schedule your training to prepare you for this important and sensitive ministry.

No One Dies Alone: Volunteer Training

You could be a caring, powerful presence for someone during their final hours. As a volunteer for the No One Dies Alone program, you’ll sit with patients who don’t have family nearby at the end of life. To view upcoming training sessions for this meaningful volunteer opportunity, search our events calendar.

Infant Burial Ceremony

In Matthew 5:4, Jesus taught his followers an important truth: "Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted." The loss of a child through stillbirth or miscarriage can bring unimaginable heartache and sorrow. For families experiencing this grief, we believe our mission to provide Christ-like healing means we walk alongside them while they mourn. Each year, we hold an infant burial ceremony at Holy Cross Cemetery in Jonesboro (off Timberridge Drive) to remember the tiny lives lost during pregnancy. Our Catholic priest performs the ceremony, while our Pastoral Care and Women's & Children's teams handle all funeral arrangements. Families can then grieve without worrying about expenses or other challenges that go with burying a loved one. Most importantly, they have a resting place to remember their babies. 

Do you bring worries with you to the hospital?

If you or your loved one are nervous about being admitted to the hospital, please know we care about what you care about and we're here to help. St. Bernards offers many services including emotional support from our Pastoral Care team and private mental and behavioral health services. Please fill out the form and our Pastoral Care team will pray specifically for your situation.

Admissions Anxiety Prayer Requests Form