Phoenix, AZ, Jun 18, 2020 -- LaTribuna Christian Publishing’s CEO Chaplain Paul Vescio is quoted saying, “Chaplains provide the added love and support that care center patients so desperately need. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I was visiting with a patient and helped them with their needs. Many times, I would go and get a nurse because the patient was struggling with healthcare issues. Chaplains are more than just someone who pops their head in the door, shares a scripture verse, a God Bless You and then leaves. We really do help in uplifting the patient’s spirits and in being a helping hand with their needs. Chaplains also provide the compassion, hope and love of Christ that can mean the difference between having a positive day or having a very negative day.”

LaTribuna Christian Publishing is very pleased to announce, Chaplain Paul was mentioned in a recent story about these very important healthcare issues. The article was published by the Arizona Republic and featured on AZCentral.com. Here is the link to that story written by Reporter Brianna Frank. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/06/11/covid-19-restrictions-leave-some-chaplains-unable-visit-patients/3165184001/

Here are some key points of the story that feature Pastor Wayne Basye and Pastor Charles Ross who are very close friends of Chaplain Paul.

'Night and day' difference between virtual, in-person chaplain visits

Wayne Basye, 71, is pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church in Yucca, Ariz., a small unincorporated community that's about a half-hour drive south from Kingman.

He said there's been four people in the area who have been hospitalized since the pandemic, and subsequent hospital visitation restrictions, began. One of them died.

Basye said it's hard to tell people, some of whom have been in his congregation for 10 years, that he cannot physically visit and comfort them in what could be their final days.

"We believe in touching, the laying on of hands," he said. "I do understand the virus and the nature of the virus but I also know that there's ways of getting pastors and spiritual leaders in to visit people."

He added that having a pastor present during someone's final moments isn't just for the person themselves, but for the mourning family.

"[The pastor] brings the family through that situation — if they can't be there with the family and it's just done over the phone, it's hard to assess the damage," he said. "You can turn what might be a horrible situation into a beautiful situation. That person knows the Lord, he's going to be with Jesus, the people there know the Lord and they're happy for him ... a lot of times people need a pastor there when they so-called 'pull the plug.”

That hasn't been able to happen for the last three months. Though Basye can speak to hospitalized people over the telephone, he said it's not the same.

"It's night and day," he said. "It's the difference between someone calling you up and saying 'hey, how you doing?' and somebody taking care of you when you have a broken leg, but that's all that's been available and there's nobody to blame ... it's just one of the stories that's going to come out of COVID."

Chaplains provide "medicine for the soul"

Pastor Charles Ross, 47, knows the importance of having a spiritual leader present during a hospitalization — having needed one himself, at a point in his life.

Ross was hospitalized at a Phoenix facility from April 2016 to August 2019.

During that time, Chaplain Paul Vescio regularly visited Ross, who told The Arizona Republic that his stay would "absolutely not have been the same" without the chaplain's reassurance.

"On the days my wife couldn't make it, my church members couldn't make it ... I always knew I would at least have Chaplain Paul come sit with me," he said. "Not for five, 10 minutes but sit with me for hours. We'd talk about life, we'd talk about the word of God, we'd talk about everything."

For the last few weeks, he's been conducting virtual bible study via FaceTime with one patient at the facility, though he hopes to eventually hold the sessions through Facebook Live so more patients can join in. And in an ideal world, he'll soon be able to return to in-person bible studies with those who are hospitalized.

Like Basye, Ross believes having a pastor or other spiritual leader around when one dies can help the person pass peacefully and comfort their family through their mourning.

"It's extremely important to have someone that you feel is connected to God and has a relationship with God in your time of need and grief," he said. "In those times, you don't feel like you're capable of reaching God or that he hears you, so you rely on pastors, you rely on someone else to get that message to God on your behalf."

Ross said it's "unfair" that many patients across the state are unable to see their spiritual leader because of the COVID-19 restrictions.

He said he wishes every hospital or care facility in the state had an in-house chaplain, saying that they are "just as important as doctors, nurses and CNAs (certified nursing assistants)."

"He was that person in my ear that reminded me that God hasn't forgotten about me, and that's just as important as medicine, because it was medicine for my soul," he said.

LaTribuna Christian Publishing CEO Chaplain Paul Vescio was also quoted saying, “Chaplains are more than just a quick passerby, we are the patient’s friends, advocates, and helping hands, we are very essential in ensuring the safety, and spiritual and healthy wellbeing of the patients. It’s far past the time that a pathway to safe visitation was created so that patients and family members along with members of the Clergy can be reunited in order to provide the spiritual and the loving care that people so desperately need in American healthcare. Please contact your elected officials and share with them the importance of having Chaplains in American healthcare and in expressing your concerns about the heartbreaking corona virus polices facing our nation right now.”

LaTribuna Christian Publishing supports acts of compassion, kindness, and love towards others. For more information please visit their websites at www.miraclesofkingman.com www.latribunachristianpublishing316.com

Media Contact:
Chaplain Paul Vescio, CEO
LaTribuna Christian Publishing
Phoenix, AZ
[email protected]
http://www.miraclesofkingman.com
http://www.latribunachristianpublishing316.com