Residents and patients at The New Jewish Home have always appreciated chaplaincy visits. During the pandemic, however, these visits evolved to provide deep emotional and spiritual care to meet the needs of our older adult clients. Each year, in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary, The New Jewish Home helps train chaplains by hosting students in our Clinical Pastoral Education Program (CPE). We are one of the few nursing homes in the country to offer training to chaplain interns, and the only one accredited in New York State by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education as a training site for this crucial work.

Liz Weingast, Our Vice President for Clinical Excellence and Gerontological Nurse Practitioner, Speaks About Protecting Patients and Staff in the Age of COVID-19.

Dr. Ruth Spinner, our Manhattan medical director, has been expertly leading The New Jewish Home’s system-wide response to the devastating pandemic since February, tracking the disease in Asia before we experienced any cases of COVID-19 at our facilities. She continues to skillfully guide our COVID-19 tasks force, which brings senior leaders, clinicians and administrators across our system together on a daily call where they proactively plan and solve problems, discuss best practices and analyze the latest guidance from the New York State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control. Though the worst of the pandemic is now hopefully behind us, Dr. Spinner continues to lead with candor and motivation to provide our clients with outstanding clinical care. We asked Dr. Spinner a few questions about her experience and what sets The New Jewish Home apart.