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HAMC Chaplain’s ministry changes for changing needs

By Sue Sitter - | Feb 18, 2023

Sue Sitter/PCT Gary Dorn, chaplain at Heart of America Medical Center and pastor of Christ Community Church in Rugby, sits in the hospital chapel for a chat.

Heart of America Medical Center Chaplain Gary Dorn has been making changes in his hospital ministry to fit changing needs both in his life and the lives of others.

However, he said his core values and passion for service will never change.

Dorn began his duties at HAMC six and a half years ago, when he and his wife moved from Dunseith, where he had pastored a church. He signed on with HAMC as a part-time chaplain.

Before their 18 years in Dunseith, Gary and Jean Dorn lived in Appleton, Wisconsin.

After a short time, Dorn’s ministry became a full-time job. Beginning in March, he’ll serve as chaplain part-time again.

“When I went from part-time to full-time, they added more clerical, and meetings and staffing situations,” said Dorn, adding he will turn 70 on March 4.

“I’m going to be stepping away from some of that stuff and just doing the patient care, which is my heart. I want to be with people and tell them about the love of Jesus.”

Meeting needs

Describing his job, Dorn said, “I work wherever the need is.”

Dorn ministers to patients in all parts of the hospital as well as those living in Haaland Estates and Haaland Manor.

“And as a chaplain, you’re pretty much non-denominational, so I’m contacting other pastors all the time to have them come in, because that’s what people want primarily,” he added.

“But I fill in the void if there’s not a home church,” he said.

“I walk alongside families through trying times,” he said.

“We offer Grief Share, which is a program for healing after the loss of a loved one,” he said. “That’s a 13-week, faith-based course of lessons, so that’s complete family care.”

Dorn said priorities have shifted for the hospital as long-term care becomes less profitable.

He said when he began his time with HAMC, “There were 50 residents in long term care on two floors and in three different areas including the (memory care unit). Now we are running in the 20s all on one floor. Population shifting always shifts the ministry needs.”

He added, “There were nine area Protestant pastors that would rotate through the long-term care and Haaland Estates leading worship services. Now, there are four of us that serve.”

“Little Flower has remained faithful to their senior parishioners,” he added.

At the beginning of Dorn’s ministry, residents of Haaland Manor would walk to the Haaland Estates building for church services. Outside volunteers moved freely in the building to offer religious and other services to the seniors.

Changes come

The constant stream of visitors ended with the arrival of COVID-19.

Dorn said after HAMC and the Haaland Estates and Manor lifted strict pandemic rules, “We moved to just hold weekly services at Haaland Home.”

But the facilities saw more changes. Attendance at weekly Bible studies “dwindled,” he said.

“So, we stopped at (the assisted living unit) and changed to a twice a month Monday Morning Hymn Sing at Haaland – which continues to be well attended,” he said, adding interest in Bible studies has increased there as well.

“Now we have residents at Haaland Home interested in Bible study once again so this week we are starting up a twice a month study of the Epistle to the Ephesians,” he said, adding, “Our staff is amazing at seeing the needs and offering suggestions as to how we can best minister to our residents.”

He has adjusted his ministry to serve a growing number of hospice patients.

“Hospice was one nurse driving a temperamental old minivan that would get stuck if snow was in the forecast,” Dorn said. “Now we have four nurses, one CNA and two SUVs.”

Dorn said the weeks-long planning periods to move people into HAMC’s nursing care facilities aren’t as frequent as they used to be.

However, with more elderly residents choosing to stay in their homes longer, the demand for hospice service has grown.

“When a person or family member decides it is time for hospice, this (planning process) can take place in hours and the team is on the way to serve,” he said, adding, “We currently are covering a six-county region.”

The profound changes left by COVID have impacted hospital staff as well, Dorn noted.

“Initially, there were military flyovers (to thank health care workers),” he said. However, the thanks became disrespect when staff attempted to implement policies requiring people to wear masks, “which they themselves despised.”

Support for staff, Rugby church

Dorn recalled instances of staff working round the clock to care for patients infected with COVID and subsisting on short naps taken on the floor.

Those and other sacrifices have left staff shortages especially in nursing, according to Dorn, who added that HAMC feels the impact.

Dorn said he primarily helps with hospice staffers and works on-call beside them, riding along with them sometimes in the middle of the night to see patients “because it’s better to have two people in the middle of the night running around.”

He added sometimes patients live as many as 70 miles away from the hospital.

Dorn said he stays involved in a hospice patient’s care as much as a patient or family wants.

“They get to choose,” he said. “I’ll just go in and tell them I’m here as much or as little as you want. Sometimes, I’ll only see them once if they have a good relationship with their church. If they don’t, I can see them monthly, if they’re far away, or as often as weekly.”

Dorn continues to serve as pastor of Christ Community Church in Rugby, where membership continues to grow.

“I’ve just been promoted from a church plant to a developing church as of January first because of the number of people attending that we have,” he said.

“People say, ‘If you had to quit one or the other, which one would you quit?’ And I honestly don’t know, because it’s hard to choose,” he added. “Because the ministry to the hospice and long-term care is so rewarding, because you’re there when people need you.”

Gary and Jean Dorn have two children.

Daughter Sarah Musser lives in Rugby with her husband and three children. She works as a payroll clerk and scheduler for HAMC. Son Matt lives in Wisconsin with his wife and five children.

“My original thought was that I needed to step away (from chaplain duties),” Dorn said.

“I was going to step away and just focus on the church, but I was approached with a lighter schedule here, and just doing the stuff that was my passion, and that’s sharing Jesus with people,” Dorn said.