COVID reflections: How the pandemic has changed the work of hospital chaplains

For those who have had a loved one die of COVID-19, there’s a cruel double punch: that person is gone, and their loss is being processed mainly in isolation.

The places we used to gather — by hospital beds and in houses of worship — have been largely closed to visitors in the pandemic. That’s made for an unimaginable year for hospital chaplains working on the front lines.

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with Stacey Jutila for more on what this past year has been like for those chaplains. Jutila is director of chaplaincy services at Essentia Health.

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