Health Ministries

Pat Whitaker, RN, MSN | parishnurse@oll.org | ext. 203

Pat Whitaker, our Parish Nurse, is an RN with a current license who serves God by caring for his people. Knowledgeable in both professional nursing and spiritual care, our Parish Nurse is a staff member who provides spiritual care for the community in the context of the values, beliefs, and practices of the Catholic Church. With this focus on spiritual health, our Parish Nurse promotes health as wholeness to prevent or minimize illness within the faith community—including its groups, families, and individual members—through the practice of nursing.

Our Parish Nurse does not provide hands-on bedside care or invasive treatments, but will assist in finding the community agency to best meet the needs of the individual and their family.

All Parish Nurse services are free and confidential. They include:

• Annual blood drives
• Home, facility, and hospital visits to assess needs, discuss health concerns, and provide support and spiritual presence
• Consulting with families and individuals on health concerns
• Facilitating referrals to assist in meeting the needs of individuals and families
• Developing programs to promote understanding of the relationship between lifestyle, attitudes, faith, and well-being, and evaluating the outcomes and impact of these programs
• Recruiting and coordinating volunteers
• Assisting with funeral Mass planning
• Maintaining a loan closet of durable medical equipment
• Support for the grieving, those experiencing cancer, widows/widowers, and those with atrial fibrillation
• Coordinating the prayer shawl ministry
• Coordinating home/facility-based visitation ministry
• Those wishing to have their blood pressure checked may make an appointment to come into the office for this.

Our parish nurse maintains a loan closet of durable medical equipment. This program also involves maintaining, cleaning, and storing the equipment.

Available equipment includes:

• Bed valets (partial side rail for help getting in/out of bed)
• Blood pressure monitor
• Commodes/toilet risers
• Crutches
• Grabber tool
• Knee scooters
• Shower bench/shower transfer benches
• UPWalker
• Walkers (with and without seats)
• Wheelchairs (one child-size, two transfer wheelchairs)

Please call about equipment as soon as possible to help ensure availability.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an umbrella term for Fertility-Awareness-Based Methods (FABMs) used to achieve and postpone pregnancy in accordance with Catholic teaching. Click the links below for local NFP resources.

• Brochure about NFP resources in the Grand Rapids area
• NFP resources from the Diocese of Grand Rapids
• Humanae Vitae
• NFP resources from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Couple to Couple League