Our Hospital Chaplain to the Emory Healthcare System
Since January 2nd, 2008, Monsignor Frank J. Giusta has been the Catholic chaplain for the Emory Healthcare system. That includes Crawford Long, Egleston, and Emory hospitals and the Emory clinics, the Winship Cancer Institute and the Wesley Woods Center complex.
Chaplain's Availability
Sundays through Thursdays Monsignor Giusta is at one of the above mentioned institutions to do ministry with the patients and their families, particularly but not exclusively with the ones who are Catholic. Since he is the only Catholic chaplain on the staff and the only chaplain that speaks Spanish, ordinarily he starts his visitations with patients who have a Hispanic name. Also, on these five days he takes emergency calls 24 hours a day, from 6:00 am on Sundays through 6:00 am on Fridays. On Fridays and Saturdays the pastoral care of the patients in these institutions falls to the parishes in which territories they are located.
Monsignor Giusta receives emergency calls through a beeper that is activated on the five days and five nights on that he isavailable. There is a chaplain that carries a duty day and/or a night/weekend pager 24 hours a day, including on holidays. The nurses on the floor contact the duty chaplain and this person assesses the need and decides whether to contact Monsignor Giusta . From his home, it takes him between 15 to 30 minutes to arrive at each of these institutions, unless there is a big traffic problem.
Religious Affiliations
Each patient can list his/her religious affiliation on the admission papers, and we strongly encourage people to declare their religious affiliation.
Eucharistic Ministeres
Some parishes have Eucharistic ministeres who visit the patients in Emory Healthcare facilities. Monsignor Giusta is very happy that they have the desire to exercise this kind of ministry and encourages them and others to be involved in it. He strongly believes in the ministerial vocation of our laity and, from a practical point of view, it is not possible for him to visit all the Catholic patients in these institutions repeatedly.
Contact Monsignor Giusta
To get in touch with Monsignor Giusta, you can e-mail him at frank.giusta@emoryhealthcare.org or call him at 404-712-7204.
Pastoral Services Office
The central office of the Pastoral services is located on the second floor of the main building of Emory Hospital near the main entrance. The phone number is 404-712-7200. The office is opened from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. The other institutions all have a Pastoral Services office as well. After hours you can call the main number of each institution in the Emory Healthcare system and they will handle your call appropriately.
Monsignor Giusta wants you to know that the Church is close to you in times of suffering, pain and death.
Read More
Read the Georgia Bulletin article, Listening Is New Hospital Chaplain’s First Priority* (April 3, 2008).
*Link opens in a new window.