Pastoral Care

The chaplains in the Pastoral Care Department are here to assist all patients, families, and staff from any faith background with both religious and spiritual needs. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You may call a chaplain or have a nurse call a chaplain for you at any time. 

• Chaplains are clergy with expertise in the spiritual needs of children, families, and staff in a hospital setting.
• Chaplains may celebrate baptisms and other rites important to a patient's faith.
• Chaplains also provide bereavement support, conduct funerals, and conduct memorial services.
• Our chaplains work closely with our social work teams to ensure the best care for your family.

Clinical Pastoral Education

Arkansas Children Hospital Northwest’s pastoral care program offers selected clinical chaplain students the opportunity to complete their clinical rounding. This is made possible through a non- affiliation agreement with The Merchab Institute.

For those interested in learning more about CPE, please contact Scott Martin, Staff Chaplain, at martinse@archildrens.org or 479-725-6544.

Our Chapels

Arkansas Children’s Hospital Chapel

The ACH Chapel is open for prayer to people of all faiths. It is located on the second floor near the Capitol Café and is open 24 hours a day for patients, families, and staff. 

• A prayer journal is available in the chapel for you to share prayers and concerns. 
• A prayer request card is also available from a chaplain or in our chapel, so that you can add a name to the prayer list. This prayer list is distributed to local congregations weekly.
• Devotionals are held Monday – Friday at 9:30 a.m. in the Chapel. (Devotionals may be canceled without notice if the chaplain is called upon elsewhere in the hospital.) 

Faithful Friends Program at ACH

Faithful Friends was established at ACH in order for us to ensure that newly admitted patients and their families are aware of the availability of spiritual support, whether they physically see a member of Pastoral Care or not. This program allows trained volunteers to deliver new, soft stuffed animals (“Faithful Friends”) and the colorful storybook, Fuzzy Bunny, A Faithful Friend, to children newly admitted to ACH units such as Medical/Surgical, Infant Toddler, Intermediate Care, and Neurology. Patients and families will learn that their Faithful Friend comes to them with love from people they have never met who are thinking of and praying for them – a tangible symbol of God’s healing presence. 

These Friends are often tucked next to patients who are going into surgery, held next to the hearts of anxious family members who are waiting for news, kissed by injured children waiting for families to arrive at the hospital, and loved by siblings feeling detached from their brother or sister.