A listening ear at El Camino Hospital A listening ear at El Camino Hospital (May 07, 2004)

Chaplain offers emotional support, hope

By Julie O'Shea

In the hustle of hospital life, it is easy to forget that one of the most fundamental parts of patient care doesn't come in the form of IV tubes or second opinions. And it's easy to forget that the best medicine in the world doesn't always come from a bottle.

Rather, what a patient sometimes needs more than anything else is simply a good listener.

"We are here to make connections," said Maryellen Garnier. "It's about being present to people, but mostly it's a lot about listening."

It's a motto Garnier has lived by during her 30-plus years in the health care industry. However, since becoming the chaplain of El Camino Hospital seven years ago, the adage has become particularly humbling.

While at times her days at the Grant Road hospital can be emotionally taxing, Garnier, who worked as a nurse before becoming an ordained Episcopal minister in 1993, said the job suits her well, and she can't imagine doing anything else.

"I still can't believe I've been given this job," Garnier said with a smile during an interview in her cozy first-floor office, surrounded by neatly arranged books and photographs.

"Spiritual care has meaning," Garnier said, but there is much more to El Camino's chaplaincy services than prayer. The department, run out of two small rooms off to the side of the hospital lobby, is staffed by 50 volunteers who provide emotional support and hospitality, whether it be a smile, a hug or just a listening ear, to patients, doctors and nurses on a daily basis.

"I think what we need to allow for is that people experience grief in different ways," said Garnier, who responds to all the hospital's code blue calls and is a constant presence in the critical care unit.

"We are sort of this quiet group of people, trying to make people aware of us," Garnier said. "What we try to offer is hope."

Added Lorraine Guidi, the director of the chaplaincy department: "It's a very special job, and not everyone can do it, really -- you have to care; you have to be a good listener.

"I'm thrilled to be working with her," Guidi said of Garnier. "She's just like a little butterfly. She's everywhere."

Pushing a chair up to a bedside in the oncology unit on Monday morning, Garnier grabbed hold of Nicole Otomo's hands and asked how she was doing.

Otomo, who was diagnosed with leukemia in December, said she was feeling tired but was nonetheless happy that Garnier stopped by the sixth floor for a visit. Otomo had been admitted to the hospital a month ago and is set to go home within the next few days.

The chaplain asked how she was sleeping, and Otomo spoke excitedly about her two sons and new grandson, Paul Nicholas, born just three months earlier.

Otomo has known Garnier for nearly two decades. Their sons had gone to school together, and they both went to the same church.

Outside the room, nurses bustled by and announcements were made over the intercom. A woman on a stretcher was rushed down the hallway, and another sat slouched in a wheelchair. But inside Otomo's room, overlooking green fields and hills, all was quiet as the two women, still clutching each other's hands, talked on about life and family.

"You are the most beautiful patient on the floor," Garnier told Otomo.

Otomo, a brunette with rosy cheeks and bright eyes, laughed after Garnier left the room.

"Did you hear what I told her?" Otomo smiled. "I keep telling the girls that I am the most beautiful patient on the floor only because everyone else is 72 years old.

"I don't like to be fussed over," she continued, shifting to readjust the blanket on her bed. "It's such traumatic news to everybody because I was 'Mrs. Jock.'"

Garnier, however, never fails to make Otomo forget about her illness, if only for a minute.

"She is very cheery and uplifting," Otomo said of her longtime friend. "When she visits, it leaves a long-lasting effect on me."

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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