Health care for the spirit

For 20 years, Philip Tse was an engineer in San Francisco, moving up the corporate ranks at his company and doing quite well financially. But the stressful job provided him with little joy.

“At one point, my friends said, ‘Philip, you don’t even smile anymore,’” he recalls. “So I reflected on that and decided that I needed to do something meaningful.”

Philip found that meaning in spirituality, and now works to provide emotional and spiritual support for patients, families and staff in times of serious or terminal illness, adjusting to life changes, meaning- making, life review, fear, crisis, loss, and end of life.

Philip is the Spiritual Health Practitioner, the chaplain, in the Richmond Community of Care. “I like to call myself a spiritual care and counselling person,” he says. “There are lots of situations where I can help.”

Although Christian, Philip works with all denominations and multi-faith communities throughout VCH Richmond, but it’s at Richmond Hospital where Philip’s skill, empathy and respect for all beliefs is called on most frequently. To help him navigate this multi-faith setting, Philip meets regularly with spiritual leaders of other faiths

“Working in a hospital, I work with all different faiths,” he explains. “When I go in to see someone, I go in and try to understand their religion and what they believe in. It’s about trying to connect with them and be open. This is part of how we provide holistic care at the hospital.”

He recalls one situation when his multi-faith education helped a Muslim woman during the death of her spouse.

“I had learned that a man cannot touch a Muslim woman unless he is family, so I asked her, ‘Can I be your son for the next two or three hours till your son gets here?’ And when she was grieving, she came and held my hand, hugged me, and treated me like her son. It was a beautiful experience to be helpful to the family at such a time.”

When to request Spiritual Care

• Patient is consistently angry, depressed, lonely, etc.
• Patient has just been given bad news or has not accepted previous bad news.
• Patient is grieving or frequently speaks of personal loss – no matter how long ago.
• Patient appears to be unusually sad.
• Patient has few or no visitors.
• Patient has religious icons and/or literature beside the bed.
• Patient has requested spiritual assistance.
• A third party has requested spiritual care for the patient.
• An ethical or conflict issue has surfaced.
• Family members and/or staff are affected by any of the above.
• Staff person in deep distress who would benefit from support “in the moment.”

Contact information for Philip Tse

Office hours are Monday to Friday 0930 – 1730 hours

3North Link Room 3304

Office phone – 604-244-5506

Mobile – 604-314-9854