FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information: Methodist Heatlhcare Public Relations -(210) 575-0160

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Betty Hilton, a longtime Texas resident and the first chaplain of the Jewish faith to be appointed to local hospital service, has joined the Pastoral Care Services staff of Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio.

Rabbi Barry Block from San Antonio’s reform Jewish congregation, Temple Beth El, and also a member of the Methodist Healthcare Board of Governors, said, “Methodist Healthcare has always been highly sensitive to the spiritual needs of its Jewish patients, working closely with local Jewish congregations and Rabbis. Now, with its own Jewish chaplain, Methodist will directly meet the needs of Jewish patients from outside San Antonio and those who are not members of a local congregation, while also coordinating even more closely with San Antonio synagogues.”

“Betty Hilton is well qualified to fill this role, because of her training at the Ecumenical Center, her sensitivity to all streams of Judaism and her deep spirituality,” he continued. Eric E. Smith, D. Min, Vice President, Pastoral Care Services, agrees that Hilton’s arrival marks a new era. “This is a first for us,” he said. “We’re pleased that we can offer counseling by someone versed in the Jewish faith to the significant numbers of patients and physicians we serve. Having Betty on board adds diversity and balance to our overall pastoral care services.”

Hilton will be a liaison between the Jewish patients at Methodist Healthcare hospitals, physicians, temples and synagogues in town, and pastoral leaders, so with the expressed permission of the patients, their spiritual leaders can be aware of who’s in the hospital and who needs to be visited, Smith said.

“Hilton will receive referrals of Jewish patients encountered by other chaplains as they make their rounds,” said Smith. “However, she is fully qualified to care for people of all faith traditions and able to help all people utilize their spiritual resources.” Hilton has completed significant rabbinical studies in the United States and in Israel since 1981, and has completed a year of clinical pastoral education through the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health, training at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital.

Graduating Magna Cum Laude from Montclair College in New Jersey was just the start of Hilton’s educational journey, which has spanned many years and two continents. She founded women’s spirituality groups in Washington, D.C. and San Antonio, Texas. She has served the on committees for the Congregation Beth Am in San Antonio and Temple Beth El and is a member of the Jewish Palestinian Dialogue. Hilton is a former member of the board for Jewish Federation and Jewish Family Service.

A perennial teacher and student, Betty Hilton accompanies the “Gypsy Caravan” Klezmer Band for fun and writes for varied Jewish publications. And now she is pioneering this new position in the chaplaincy at Methodist Healthcare hospitals.

Methodist Healthcare Pastoral Care Services has been recognized as having the only level 1 pastoral care program among hospitals with an HCA affiliation. Qualifying as a level 1 program, Methodist Healthcare offers clinical chaplaincy, an employee assistance program, and clinical pastoral education training (which is about to accept its first Russian Methodist chaplain for training and is training a Catholic priest from Africa). As a level 1 program, the Pastoral Care Services Department also offers Counseling and Wellness Service, with PhD level staff supervising psychological counselors who can be involved with psychiatric units for charity care patients.

Methodist Healthcare is San Antonio’s largest and most preferred health care provider whose facilities include seven acute care hospitals: Methodist Children’s Hospital of South Texas*, Methodist Hospital, Methodist Heart Hospital*, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital,* Northeast Methodist Hospital,* Metropolitan Methodist Hospital* and Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Hospital--Northwest. Construction on the new Methodist Stone Oak Hospital is due to begin in early 2006.

* a Methodist Hospital facility

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