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Philosophy in Action Creating Healing Environments Exceptional Medicine and Compassionate Care Our promise of exceptional medicine and compassionate care is a continuation of the healing ministry begun in 1890 in Bellingham by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and their lay colleagues when they founded St. Joseph Hospital to care for loggers, mill workers, and their families. Our promise guides what we do and how we go about doing it. It is relationship centered. It is based on the ethic that everything in the environment affects recovery and healing. Very little is neutral; almost everything can either enhance or impair the healing process. From our faith tradition, exceptional medicine and compassionate care integrates healing in a holistic sense: a focus on the physical, emotional, and spiritual as we provide highly reliable, safe clinical treatment, striving to use the best that technology and science can provide. It guides us as we continue to develop strength as one healthcare system serving many communities. It guides us as we develop our models of care in service to our patients and families. It guides us in how we hire, develop and respond to the needs of our caregivers. It guides us as we design facilities. It guides us as we continuously improve systems, processes, programs and organizational infrastructures. We will have fulfilled our promise when every PeaceHealth patient receives safe, evidence-based, compassionate care: every time, every touch. It combines the science and art, the head and heart of our health care ministry. This is the cornerstone of our culture at PeaceHealth.
Note: Names of patients and families below have been changed to protect their privacy. Dear Susan, Thank you for the "Carol Package." Having John's hair locks and handprint with me gave me such great comfort that will surprise me in my darkest moments. Ten years down the road, both of my children will be able to put their hand on their father's handprints and feel his strength and spirit. It is all because of you and your tender heart. God Bless You. I also want to thank you for your company and emotional support during John's stay in ICU. To me, what you have done is way beyond your duty. I'll never forget your kindness. Please accept my most sincere gratitude. Affectionately, Carol
"Thank you so much for the care and support both Dad and I received. I felt as cared for and comforted as he did and I can't begin to adequately express how much I appreciated that. Clearly your mission is to minister to the whole person, spiritually and emotionally, as well as physically. The gentleness and respect you all showed were amazing. Passing from this life into the next was not without its difficulties. The dignity you helped provide made the transition easier. Thank you!" Anonymous, Whatcom Region, PeaceHealth
Renewal Experience No One Dies Alone Bridge Assistance Lane Workforce Partnership
Using the Arts in Healing
Safe Passage Imagine this place as a tranquil estuary where our lives, like meandering rivers, widen and deepen. In these gentle currents, nothing separates us. Between those giving and those receiving, all boundaries dissolve. Mutual longings and fears, grace, trust and caring move as quietly among us as early mists slipping along the Narrows. With these companions we can easily share the sudden and certain faith that even our difficult crossings will be safely made. And that guided both by prayer and skill, we will be carried ever closer, as on an inbound tide, to all that "peace" can mean. - Phoebe Newman (written for the dedication of the new patient care wing at Ketchikan General Hospital)
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In the late 1800s, the frontier communities of Whatcom
County lacked hospital facilities to care for illness and injuries.
Ketchikan General Hospital employees created an Art for Healing Committee
to raise funds for artwork for the hospital. Local artists were commissioned
to create pieces that enhanced the healing environment, a poetry contest was
held, and "Safe Passage" became the signature poem of our
facility. Patient rooms were given names depicting features of the
rainforest such as Cedar and Foxglove; music and CD players were purchased
for patient use; and a community theater production of "Wit," the
searing story of a cancer patient, was co-sponsored by the hospital. By
uniting the arts with our healing skills, Ketchikan General has created a
healthier, more imaginative environment for both our patients and employees.