WISHARD HOSTS RELIGION AND HEALTHCARE FORUMS 

Indianapolis, March 13, 2009 – On Tuesday, March 24 Wishard Health Services invites the public to attend a free educational program on the various religious practices that people may encounter in the healthcare community.  The program will be held at both Wishard Memorial Hospital and the Indiana University School of Medicine and is titled Faces of Faith.  The program will include representatives from various faith traditions including Hindu, Humanist, Mennonite, Orthodoxy and Pentecostal backgrounds.
The program is designed to educate Wishard and IUPUI staff members and the community as a whole about the practices, rituals and unique concerns of religious groups, with an emphasis on how these issues come into play in the healthcare environment.        
"With an ever-growing diversity of spiritual practices on the part of our patients, our need as healthcare professionals to appreciate the importance of a spiritual presence with people of different faiths becomes more and more important," said Father Robert Lyons, manager of Chaplaincy Services at Wishard Health Services.  "Each day at Wishard our staff faces the challenge of providing care to patients from various faith traditions.  Their medical and social needs are important, but for many patients, a connection to their tradition is an equally vital part of the support needed during illness and recovery."       
For more information about this unique program please contact the Wishard Chaplain's Office at 630-7000.  The seminar will be held at 9 a.m. in the Myers Auditorium, located at Wishard Memorial Hospital, 1001 W. 10th St., and again at noon at the IU School of Medicine’s Van Nuys Medical Science Building Room B26.   All members of the community are welcome to attend.  Advance registration is not required.  Parking is available in the Wishard Parking Garage, located across from the Wishard Main Entrance on Wishard Blvd.