Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center

The setting

When you become a CPE intern at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, you will find a vibrant Spiritual Care Department that is invested in student learning. In our department you will have the opportunity to interact with a music thanatologist, an ethicist, and chaplains from different spiritual backgrounds. Riverbend hospital looks out on the McKenzie River and a grove of towering fir trees. It is a 384 bed, level II trauma center that serves central and southern Oregon, and it includes cardiac and neuro trauma adult ICUs, a level III NICU, specialties in brain and spine injuries, cardiac care, cancer treatment, and surgical specialties. Riverbend chaplains also support a 35 bed inpatient behavioral health unit and a 7 bed critical access hospital. The clinical context will expand in the next two years to include a 42 bed inpatient rehab hospital and a 96 bed behavioral health hospital for both adult and pediatric patients.

Springfield, where the hospital is located, and the neighboring city, Eugene, make up the third largest metro area in Oregon. Home to the University of Oregon, there is a thriving performance arts center, college football, and a professional baseball team. Highlights include miles of scenic bike paths along the river, the Saturday Market featuring local artists and farm-fresh produce, and a quirky food and vibrant arts scene. The area offers access to many types of outdoor recreation, including hiking and camping, winter sports, river access, and the picturesque Oregon coast.

How we teach

In our Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program, we offer spiritual and clinical education that will allow you to become more effective at providing spiritual care and embodying your unique way of ministry. As you go through the program, you will be invited to develop skills that help you become a more effective spiritual caregiver, that encourage you to deeply engage your identity, personally, professionally and spiritually, and that challenge you to reflect on how you are in relationships with others.

How we educate

Our curriculum includes is rooted in an experiential model of education. Through seminars and didactic instruction, small group reflection and one on one consultation with the CPE Educator, our program brings you into supervised encounters with patients and hospital staff. Your peer group consists of theological students, religious clergy of all faith backgrounds, and lay people interested in learning to provide spiritual care.

For more information on the other clinical sites of the PeaceHealth CPE program, please visit Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at PeaceHealth