Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center - Richmond, VA
Chaplain Service
About the Program
*** Update: Public services and groups are currently on hold. The Hope Chapel is open for private devotion. Chaplains are available for personal counseling, to include Telehealth options.
Chaplain Service ministers to all faith traditions, and provides continuous programs of specialized care for inpatients, outpatients, families, and hospital staff. We have staff chaplains in both Protestant and Catholic traditions, and upon requests of another particular faith group, the service maintains a resource listing of local religious leaders to contact as needed. All VA Chaplains are qualified by graduate education, clinical training, pastoral experience, and faith group endorsement to provide spiritual care in a medical health care setting.
Mission
Our Mission in the Chaplain Service of the Central Virginia VA Health Care System (CVHCS) is to support spiritually and pastorally all the personnel in our center: Veterans and staff, family and friends. In a proactive ministry of presence, we engage in visitation, personal and group counseling, worship opportunities, divine services, and sacramental rites to enhance and celebrate the spiritual dimension of those entrusted to our care.
Services Offered
| Pastoral and Sacramental Ministries | Counseling | |
| Professional help in crisis situations: | Individual Veterans | |
| Serious illness | Selected Veteran groups | |
| Poly Trauma | Veteran's family members | |
| Impending death | ||
| Worship | Weddings and Memorials | |
| Public (as scheduled) | Veterans and their families | |
| Private (as available at other times) | upon request |
Referrals to:
Specialized clinical caregivers
Veterans service organizations
Community organizations
Other volunteers as appropriate
Hours of Services
Daily Services
Mon – Fri
9 a.m. Daily Devotional (Interdenominational)
11 a.m. Daily Mass (Roman Catholic)
Weekly Services
Sun
10 a.m. Protestant Worship
2 p.m. Catholic Mass
Fri
1:15 p.m. Muslim Juma
Education:
Clinical Pastoral Education Course offered through the CVHCS Chaplain's Service
Check out the CPE program brochure in the resources section
Veterans and Spirituality
| Chaplain Service Staff | |
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Chief of Chaplain Service |
Chaplain Mark Flores serves as the Chief of Chaplain Service for the Central Virginia VA Health Care System. Chaplain Flores earned the Master of Divinity degree from the Beeson School of Divinity of Samford University. He is an ordained Baptist minister and is endorsed to serve as a chaplain by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. He completed Clinical Pastoral Education at the Baptist Health System in Birmingham, Alabama and the University of Virginia. Chaplain Flores is a Board Certified Chaplain with the National Association of Veterans Affairs Chaplains and the Association of Professional Chaplains. Chaplain Flores served as a church pastor for seven years, a home hospice chaplain for twelve years, and as a chaplain in Air Force Reserve for thirteen years. Chaplain Flores is married with two children and he is from San Antonio, Texas. “Chaplains support the adherent draw from their own spiritual center or essence.” - Chaplain Flores |
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Staff Chaplain |
Chaplain Brad M. Bradley was ordained in 2014. He is a 2016 graduate of Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University earning a Master of Divinity Degree. He received his Ecclesiastical Endorsement from the Baptist General Convention in 2018. He was a member of the first Clinical Pastoral Education Class and completed his Clinical Pastoral Education here at Central Virginia VA healthcare Center. Chaplain Bradley serves the Polytrauma and 514 STAR/PRTP units. He has been happily married to his wife, Sharon for 35 years, they have three grown children and four grandchildren. Chaplain Bradley was born and raised in Richmond VA, and served honorably four and half years in the US Army as an Infantry Soldier. “Chaplains bring light to dark situations. We are professionally trained to relate to the spiritual needs of people in a multi-faith healthcare setting. We specialize in hearing the stories of our patients, learning what is true for them, and guiding them to find their own solutions. We deliver compassion, understanding guidance and spiritual presence in times of lost and grieving. We also share in the celebration when victory is won.” - Chaplain Bradley |
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ACPE Certified Educator |
After working as a mechanical engineer for nine years, Ken responded to God’s call to the ministry and enrolled at Westminster Theological Seminary in 2000. He was ordained with the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination in 2005 while he pastored a church in Pennsylvania for six years. He completed his CPE training in Allentown, Pennsylvania and was certified as an ACPE Associate Educator in 2014. He came to the Richmond VAMC in February of 2015 and was certified as an ACPE Educator in 2016. “It is an honor to listen to others’ sacred stories and to help them make meaning and find comfort,” he says. Ken currently educates students in the CPE program. “Chaplaincy at the VA is an opportunity to serve the Veterans who have made sacrifices to serve our country by providing them with spiritual and emotional support.” - Chaplain Linder |
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Staff Chaplain |
Chaplain Connolly was ordained in May 1978 as a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and holds the Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees. He completed twenty years of service as a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy and retired in 2010 at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education at the Hampton VAMC in September 2011 and joined the Chaplain Service at Central Virginia VA Health Care System in the following June. “Staff Chaplains of this Medical Center offer the spiritual and moral dimension of the total therapeutic treatment we strive to provide our Veterans and their eligible family members. When severe challenges to health arise, they impact more than just the physical elements of the total person. There are mental and spiritual aspects to consider as well. We assist Veterans, family members, friends, and staff with a variety of spiritual issues and moral quandaries as they arise.” - Chaplain Connolly |
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Staff Chaplain
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Chaplain Marshall was ordained to the Gospel ministry in March 2017 and holds a Master of Divinity Degree from the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. She is endorsed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. She completed five units of Clinical Pastoral Education at the McGuire VA Medical Center prior to being employed as a Staff Chaplain in September 2018. Chaplain Marshall serves the Spinal Cord Injury/Disorders Units, Outpatient Oncology, CBOCs, Women’s Clinic and facilitates Footlights: A spirituality group for Women Veterans. “A VA chaplain is professionally trained to provide spiritual and emotional care to Veterans and their family members as well as staff; regardless of their faith tradition. Caring for the whole person includes helping people find meaning in their lives in times of suffering, crisis, and end of life as well as during periods of joy and calm. We are prepared to assist in their spiritual journey through prayer, spiritual counseling and by listening to their story.” - Chaplain Marshall |
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Staff Chaplain |
Chaplain Simmons is a graduate of Virginia Union University and the School of Theology Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry degree respectively. He also attended the Presbyterian School of Christian Education where he earned a Master of Arts degree in Religious Education. He earned a Doctor of Education from Nova Southeastern University; Ft. Lauderdale, FL Reverend Simmons is a member of Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia where he was ordained in 1988. He is a CPE Supervisor in the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), Inc., and a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC), and a Board Certified Chaplain in the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC). He has worked here at VAMC-Richmond since August 1991. Rev. Simmons served as Director of Pastoral Care and Clinical Pastoral Education at Richmond Memorial hospital from 1988 – 1991. He served in the USAF, and is a retired disabled veteran. “Chaplaincy is ministry or service and/or compassionate care provided to our veterans that has a personal dimension of care and is representative of God’s love for humanity.” - Chaplain Simmons |
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Staff Chaplain |
Sean J. LaBat is a clinical staff chaplain at Central Virginia Veterans Administration Medical Center. His area of focus is substance abuse and mental health. He currently serves a chaplain in the Navy Reserve and has been deployed to the Horn of Africa. LaBat is a Presbyter in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He did his clinical residency at Prisma Health in Columbia, South Carolina. Among his clinical and research interests are how people experience spirituality and religion, especially among those with no religious preference. He is involved in creating evidence based and evidence informed clinical spirituality care modalities. His book Anton Boisen: Madness, Mysticism, and the Origins of Clinical Pastoral Education will soon be published by Rowman and Littlefield. He currently serves a chaplain in the Navy Reserve and has been deployed to the Horn of Africa “Pastoral care, in my view and experience, can take many forms. It provides prayer, ritual, and counseling that gives meaning and adjusts our lives to how they really are. Pastoral care also has a responsibility to provide advocacy for patients, family, and staff and aid in navigating institutional structures that can be hard to understand (all the more so if you don’t feel well). Regardless of stated religious or spiritual preference I think an important role for chaplaincy is to be, and encourage others to be, humane and caring persons regardless of surroundings or situation and always look for practical ways to live that out.” - Chaplain LaBat |
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Chaplain Service Secretary |
My name is Luetrana “Trina” Mackey and I am Secretary for the Chaplain Service. I am originally from Long Island, New York and I have been a resident of Virginia for 20 years. I served 9 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and United States Army. I have 10 years of experience. “What does Chaplaincy mean to me? I think the role of the Chaplain is to be a comforting advisor who ministers to the spiritual and moral needs of the people. They are here to remind them that they have the spiritual and emotional wherewithal within themselves to solve the problems of life by remembering there is a Higher Power in that operates within them. They are not alone in this thing called life.” - Trina Mackey |
Contact Info
Location
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Main Entrance Chapel
First Floor near Eye Glass Clinic
Room C1X-1
Contact Number(s)
- 804-675-5000 Ext. 2104
- 804-675-5000 Ext. 5125
Hours of Operation
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Mon - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. in Chaplain Service Office
Nights/weekends - call operator for Chaplain on duty
