Grand View Chaplain Reverend Earl Ball Retires
(April 29, 2011) Sellersville, PA – Grand View Chaplain Reverend Earl Ball retired last week after 19 years with the hospital where he was Director of Pastoral Care. Over the years, he was present at the bedside of hundreds of people and their families and was still comforting patients up to the last minute on his final day as Chaplain. “Being present at the bedside to listen and offer spiritual support is what I consider sacred ground. We have cried together and prayed together. I have been deeply touched by this work,” Reverend Ball reflected.
Reverend Ball’s role extended to serving as Chaplain to employees, as well as chairing the bioethics committee. In this latter role he helped patients and their families through the decision-making process about care, including moving from life-saving measures to palliative comfort care. “Grand View and its staff are unique – genuinely warm and welcoming. I feel fortunate to have been part of an integrated healing team.”
Patients and staff alike found healing not only in Reverend Ball’s comforting words, but also in music he played on the accordion. He kept the instrument in his office ready to play impromptu requests at patient bedsides and employee celebrations. “Playing the accordion is my own form of music therapy,” he laughed. On a moment’s notice, he played hymns, polkas, and ‘Happy Birthday,’ renewing and lifting the spirits of others throughout the hospital.
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Reverend Earl Ball
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“Listening to people’s journeys and life stories has blessed me and impacted how I live my own life. I have learned how important is to be present in the moment: to not put off the things you want to do, but to do them now.” Grand View’s vice president of quality Darla Weaver paused to honor Reverend Ball at his retirement celebration and said, “Our Pastoral Care program will continue, however Reverend Ball will be missed. We wish him the best.”
Grand View Hospital, Bucks County’s first hospital, has provided residents of Bucks and Montgomery counties with comprehensive health care services since 1913. Grand View offers a range of inpatient and outpatient care – particularly emphasizing the areas of surgery and orthopaedics, women’s, and children's health, heart and vascular care, and cancer treatment. For more information about Grand View Hospital services and programs, please call the Grand View Information Line at 215-453-4300 or visit www.gvh.org. Grand View is the only hospital in Bucks and Montgomery Counties to receive a five-star quality rating in total joint replacement for 2010 from HealthGrades®, the nation’s leading health care ratings company. The American Stroke Association recently awarded Grand View Hospital its Get with the GuidelinesSM–Stroke (GWTG–Stroke) Gold Performance Achievement Award. |