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Originally posted by justamom
...kind of off topic, but the thought just hit me.
I've never been to a public funded/state run hospital. Do they have chapels?
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The one I work at does.
The chapels and meditation rooms are scattered throughout the public areas (with a main one associated w/ the Chaplaincy / Pastoral care office). Some are generic, some are very religion-specific (ie, Muslim prayer rooms). There is also a section that promotes other faith-based activities like Tibeten Meditation and Reiki.
I dont' know if MDACC is the best general example tho: it is a *huge* world-renowned institution that deals with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds in some very complex and critical medical care. They've had to learn to strike a balance between being patient with people of other faiths, and yet providing for that aspect of care.
Interestingly, while the staff has to allow for (almost) any expression of faith, if a staff member--even accidentally--expresses their *own* faith in a manner that rubs anyone even slightly the wrong way, they end up in front of a disciplinary committee before the end of the day.
It's a tough balance.
Adrienne