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The introduction of the Personal Health Information Act affects pastors and parish visitors in their ministry to parishioners in hospital. If you are hospitalized and wish a visit from your pastor or parish visitor, or from a hospital chaplain, you must make your needs and wishes known by providing written consent to your health care provider.
Before being admitted to hospital, contact your parish. Let your pastor know when you will be hospitalized and what your needs might be. Arrange for the celebration of the Sacrament of the Sick and the Sacrament of Reconciliation if you wish. When you are being admitted to hospital, be sure the admitting clerk knows you are Roman Catholic and that you would like to be placed on the Roman Catholic visitors' list. They should ask you to sign a consent form to permit such a visit. Without your written consent, the chances of your pastor being able to see you are greatly reduced. If family members ask a priest to visit loved ones, they should inform nursing staff that this is the patient's wish prior to his visit.
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An advance health care directive or living will can also include a signed, typed or hand-written statement which states the following: 'I am a Roman Catholic. I hereby give consent to visits by members of my faith community for the purpose of support and reception of the sacraments of the Church.' If you have designated someone to be your decision maker in the event that you are unable to speak for yourself, please make sure they know of your wish to receive the sacraments.
Click here for an emergency health identification form. This document is in Adobe Acrobat format and can be printed out, filled in and kept in your wallet. You may also handwrite this information if you prefer.
If you would like to know more about the Spiritual Care offered in Winnipeg hospitals, or the Personal Health Information Act, refer to the links below.
For more information on the Statement on Health Care Directives, refer to the website for the Catholic Health Association of Manitoba : www.cham.mb.ca
If you wish to know more about the Personal Health Information Act, download the following PDF document from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: http://www.wrha.mb.ca/about/files/policy/10.40.020.pdf
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