Chaplains are in the hospital on weekdays and on-call at all times. Urgent requests should be directed to a nurse who will contact the on-call chaplain.
Volunteer Eucharistic ministers provide communion to Catholic patients on a regular basis.
Spiritual care
Our mission
Rooted in theological integrity and sacred traditions, we minister to the human condition to foster individual and corporate healing, meaning and hope.
Spiritual care is an important part of the healing environment at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Chaplains are available to patients and their loved ones for support, comfort, guidance and advocacy. The Center for Reflection and Renewal in the Heart Hospital lobby offers a labyrinth for meditative walking, a quiet prayer alcove, and comforting and encouraging print resources from many faith traditions. Occasional services are offered form the hospital community.
Our scope of practice
- Quality spiritual care: Responding to the deepest healing needs of patients and their loved ones through spiritual assessment, care and counseling in collaboration with health care staff.
- Clinical education for ministry: Developing competent, spiritually and ethically sensitive professionals in ministry, through the clinical education program.
- Leadership in ethics: Promoting values of a just and compassionate society with the hospital, health system and broader community.
Services
Spiritual health providers are available to patients and their loved ones for support, comfort, guidance and advocacy. They respect all religious or spiritual preferences and collaborate with hospital staff to give patients the best care possible including:
- attending to the spiritual and emotional well-being of patients and their loved ones
- listening to and assisting patients in making meaning of their health care experience
- providing spiritual guidance, devotions, rituals and sacraments
- offering compassion and counseling in the midst of injury, illness and frightening life changes
- contacting places of worship and clergy or other spiritual leaders
- consulting on ethical issues and health care decisions
- providing spiritual and emotional support for hospital staff
Spiritual care staff
Staff chaplain, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Email Chaplain Bakatu
612-863-4880
Sebastien is a Catholic priest who provides spiritual support to hospital patients and the sacraments of anointing and communion to Catholic patients. He has served as professor of religious studies at the University of St. Thomas, and as a formator and spiritual director at St. John Vianney College Seminary. He attended seminary in Rome, and was ordained in his homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He continued studies in Europe, earning his Ph.D in 1994.
David Bergstrom, M.Div.
Staff chaplain, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Email Chaplain Bergstrom
612-863-8544
David joined the Allina Health team in January 2019 and provides spiritual care to the neuro/medical-surgical ICU patients, family members, and staff that serve there. He is a Twin Cities native with a B.A. from Bethel College, and a M.Div. from North Park Seminary in Chicago. He is ordained in the Covenant Church, and has served in chaplain ministry for ten years. He and his wife Karin live in Minneapolis with their two teenage sons.
Staff chaplain, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Email Chaplain Brown
612-863-4878
Nancy Brown provides spiritual care to oncology patients and their families, and the staff who serve them. She is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, earning her M.Div. degree from Luther Seminary in St. Paul. She served three congregations over 28 years as a parish pastor.
Ken Burg, M.Div
Staff chaplain, Abbott Northwestern Hospital (Advanced Heart Failure Team)
Email Chaplain Burg
612-863-0323
Ken manages the Spiritual Care Department and has served as a staff chaplain since 2011. He primarily attends to cardiology patients, families and staff. Ken holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, NY, is ordained in the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination, and is board certified through the Association of Professional Chaplains. He has served 25+ years as a pastor in churches in Philadelphia, PA, Albany, NY, New Hope, and Northfield, MN. Born and raised in Cottage Grove, MN, he suffered through the sudden death of his first wife in 1999 and teaches grief recovery. He is married to Jane and they have two adult children. Ken's favorite hobby is finding dirt-cheap travel bargains and cheering for all the Minnesota sports teams.
Board certified chaplain, Association of Professional Chaplains
Staff chaplain, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
CPE supervisor
Allina Health Clinical Pastoral Education
Email Chaplain Goodman
612-863-4881
Kim is a CPE supervisor, CPE program coordinator and staff chaplain at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. She has her B.A. from Concordia College, Moorhead and M.Div. from Luther Seminary in St. Paul. She did congregational internship in an Anglican church in the suburbs of London, England, and completed CPE residency at Abbott Northwestern. Kim is ordained in the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) and is active in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. For the past eight years she has served as a staff chaplain at United Hospital with a focus on oncology, hospice and mental health. Kim lives in south Minneapolis with her husband and two children where she is active in neighborhood revitalization, house restoration and community livability.
Shawn Mai, M.Div.
Director of Allina Health Spiritual Care & Pastoral Education
CPE supervisor, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Email Chaplain Mai
612.863-4916
Shawn is director of Spiritual Care and Pastoral Education for Allina Health and is a CPE supervisor at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. His undergraduate degree is in religion and sociology from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN and his Master of Divinity degree is from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. He took his first unit of CPE at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, KS and completed a four unit residency year at Presbyterian/St. Luke's in Denver, CO. Ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1992, Shawn served Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis from 1992-1997. He has served as a hospice chaplain with Fairview Hospice and as executive director of Spiritual Care for Walker Methodist in Minneapolis from 1999-2012. He offered his first unit of CPE at City of Lakes CPE at Walker in 2005. He joined United Hospital in 2013 and became director of Spiritual Care and Pastoral Education for Allina Health in 2017. He is married and has a daughter, son and three grandchildren.
Kyle Vlach, M.Div., LMFT
Manager and CPE educator, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Email Chaplain Vlach
612-863-0749
Kyle Vlach is a life-long Minnesotan, an ordained Christian minister and interfaith chaplain & educator. His education includes a B.S. in Psychology and M.Div. with Post-graduate Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy, and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He completed both his CPE Internship and Residency at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Kyle is an ACPE Certified Educator and manager of the Allina Health CPE Center. He has served Allina Health most of his adult life, beginning as a nursing assistant and staffing coordinator during college, and as chaplain beginning in 2005. Kyle lives in St. Paul with his wife and daughter.
Andrea Wichhart-Tatley, M.Div.
Palliative Care chaplain, Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Email Chaplain Wichhart-Tatley
612-863-7012
Andrea is the spiritual health provider for the Palliative Care team. Prior to her present position, she worked in palliative care at Mercy Hospital and with other health care systems in the Twin Cities. She has spent much of her life in the beautiful state of Minnesota where she enjoys photography, hiking the North Shore and writing. She is the Lead Resiliency member for Allina Health's Hospice and Palliative Care group where she develops and facilitates programs to encourage staff to care for their patients by caring for themselves first and foremost. She teaches about resiliency both in workshops and through a bi-weekly blog. Her work often focuses on nature-based therapies as they integrate with spirituality and the use of the sacred creative as centering tools for both patient and staff.