Spiritual Care for Healing and Support

At St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center®, our pastoral care team provides spiritual and emotional support to patients and their family members of all faiths. Though our compassionate care, we seek to comfort and promote healing.
Our Services
Chaplain Services
Chaplains are available for patients who need assistance with special religious concerns during hospitalization. They also offer grief and bereavement support.
Our religious Sisters play a vital role in providing comfort and care to patients and family members at the hospital and outpatient facilities like The Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center®. Our Sisters are a reminder of Catholic Health's founding mission and enduring values to help those in need.
Call 516-562-6720 for more information about chaplain services.
Celebration of Mass
Mass is celebrated daily in the main hospital chapel at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center®. Persons of all faiths are welcome. Our patients can view Mass on Channel 96.
Sacraments
We administer the Sacraments of Anointing (Last Rites) and Reconciliation (Confession) for Catholic patients. We also offer the opportunity for daily Communion visits from our Eucharistic Ministers.
St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® offers a Sabbath hospitality suite to meet the needs of family members of our Orthodox Jewish patients. The two bedroom, one bath suite is equipped with a kitchen and is available on a first come, first served basis.
Call 516-562-6720 to reserve the Sabbath room.
Do you or a loved one need palliative care?
Our dedicated palliative care specialists help patients achieve the best quality of life.
Sr. Pauline Gilmore
“I want to recognize and acknowledge all who I come in contact with; it might be with a comforting word, a nod, a smile, or just a friendly moment of eye contact. I make myself available to staff, patients, and family members and try to give each of them reassurance and a sense of peace and hope during difficult times.”
-Sr. Pauline Gilmore, FMM, director of pastoral care at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center®. A member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, she has served at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® for the past 15 years.

Sr. Stella Slonksi
“Called as a Sister of St. Joseph, I want to reveal God’s love, healing, hope, light, and comfort. This mission challenges me, calls me, and moves me to be a compassionate, hope-filled, non-judgmental, loving, and peace-filled presence to those who are sick or suffering. Being present in these moments gives voice to our patients and holds sacred their story and their journey.”
-Sr. Stella Slonksi, CSJ, chaplain for The Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center®. A member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, she has served at Catholic Health for more than a decade.

Our I-CARE Values
Integrity: We are who we say we are and act in accordance with the splendor of truth of our Catholic moral teaching and our Catholic values.
Compassion: We have compassion for our patients, see the suffering Christ in them, strive to alleviate suffering and serve the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of our patients.
Accountability: We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.
Respect: We honor the sanctity of life at every stage of life and the dignity of every person, and incorporate all the principles of Catholic social teaching in our relationships and advocacy.
Excellence: We seek the glory of God in the compassionate service of our patients, and we strive to do the best that can be done, whatever our role.
Our Mission
We, at Catholic Health, humbly join together to bring Christ’s healing mission and the mission of mercy of the Catholic Church expressed in Catholic health care to our communities.
Role of Spiritual Care at Catholic Health
Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services
Catholic Health's pastoral care team welcomes prayer requests for spiritual support.