Clinical experience is a major part of the CPE training and Lancaster General offers an excellent setting for that experience. The above tabs will direct you to more information about Lancaster General and its various facilities. Most CPE interns and residents will be based at the main downtown hospital. At least one resident will complete a significant portion of clinical time at Women & Babies Hospital.
Lancaster General Hospital is Lancaster County's oldest operating non-profit, community-owned hospital. The Rev. D. Wesley Bicksler, pastor of Salem Evangelical Church on North Water Street, is credited with spearheading the idea of starting Lancaster General and served as its first superintendent in 1893. At that point in time, Lancaster had two hospitals, the County Hospital, which was known as the Almshouse, and St. Joseph’s, a Catholic hospital which was frequently filled to capacity. The County Hospital has become Conestoga View, which is the county home, while St. Joseph’s was sold to a for-profit organization and renamed Lancaster Regional Medical Center. Lancaster General has constantly grown throughout the years, but has remained committed to its original purpose: “It is restricted to no class, country or creed, but aims to provide the best possible treatment for all.”
Lancaster General has been committed to education from early in its history. The School of Nursing was formed in 1903. Other allied health schools were added in the areas of diagnostic medical sonography, invasive cardiovascular technology, medical technology, nuclear medical technology, radiologic technology, respiratory therapy, and surgical technology. These schools combined to form the Lancaster General College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The family practice medical residency program, established in 1969, is among the finest in the country. The residents provide medical services to a broad range of the population as both inpatients and outpatients through the Family Health Services, Water Street Rescue Mission, and the Walter Aument Family Health Center in Quarryville.
In the early 1960’s, the Lancaster County Council of Churches became interested in providing a chaplaincy ministry and Lancaster General Hospital was seen as the logical site since it was the largest of the three hospitals in the community. For a brief period in 1960, there was an opportunity to experiment with a full-time chaplain through the interim availability of a local minister, the Reverend David Jones. As interest grew, an effort was made to secure funding for the chaplaincy program.
Finally, in 1964, the Lancaster County Council of Churches voted to begin the program, committing itself to call a chaplain and to support the program in the early period of development. The administration and board of the hospital were approached with a proposal to establish a chaplaincy program. It was to be a non-denominational ministry, serving primarily persons without church affiliation, or from outlying areas of the county. The possibility of a training program for pastors and seminarians was also part of the design. In 1964 the Reverend Kent Smith, a certified supervisor, began his ministry at Lancaster General Hospital. In January 1965, the first CPE students began their training.
The Mission of the Clinical Pastoral Education Program at Lancaster General Hospital brings theological students, pastors, chaplains, lay persons, and others called to ministry and service within religious vocations into supervised encounters with people in critical life situations in order to improve personal ministry skills and enhance self-understanding.
Our mission fits well into the Lancaster General Mission, “Lancaster General advances the health and quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve by providing superior healthcare that demonstrates community benefit.”