Susannah Carter ('21) Serves as UVA Hospital Chaplain

Susannah Carter (‘21) spent this summer as a Hospital Chaplain Intern at UVA Health, bringing her faith and studies in Clinical Pastoral Education at the University of Richmond into practice.

“I spent 300 hours in direct patient care providing emotional and spiritual support to pediatric patients and families with an additional 100 hours in personal and professional development with my intern cohort. Together, we learned from resident and staff chaplains how to provide compassionate care to those in need. In addition to the time spent on my pediatric units, I worked one 24-hour on-call shift each week, responding to pages throughout the hospital from traumas to medical codes to bereavement support for families.”

Susannah also told us about one of the most impactful moments of her internship: “I was working a 24-hour on-call shift in the hospital, and this was by far the hardest shift I had worked. I received calls all throughout the evening, many of them involving patient deaths. After seeing so much loss and grief, I felt defeated and emotionally depleted. I didn't know how I was going to be able to care for the rest of my patients that night. Just fifteen minutes before my shift ended, I got a page. A nurse in the NICU called, asking for an emergency baptism for one of her patients. I had never baptized anyone before - I was terrified, and felt awfully unqualified - but I was so touched knowing that I would be able to bring life to this family. It was a Sunday morning, and I could not help but see a parallel to Christ's triumph over death on Easter Sunday after the darkness of the cross. Welcoming a child into the faith in the face of loss so deeply encouraged me - I was reminded that God was still over the hospital that morning. Being able to symbolize such hope and shine a light on Christ in the face of such devastation was incredibly powerful. I cannot fathom the joy I’ll have if I get to see that child again one day.”

When asked about how her time at Covenant prepared her for this role, here is how Susannah responded: “Covenant taught me to see the Lord's presence not just in my theology classes, but in every aspect of my life. In English essays for Mr. Campanelli and Mr. Spruill, I remember writing about the need for redemption in a novel or God's sovereignty in concluding paragraphs. In Biology with Mr. McCaskill and Chemistry with Mrs. Peters, I remember being taught to see the intentionality of creation, recognizing God's hand at work in the natural world. In the same way, I'm able to reflect on my experience this summer and process it from the same lens: God is at work in the hospital, and if you look carefully, you can see Him. He's in the smiles of the sickest of children. He's in the cards written by nurses to their long-term patients. He's in the "How are you?"s exchanged by emergency room doctors in the middle of the night. Covenant shaped my worldview and helped me to find God in all spaces of my life, in all highs and all lows. I was able to share that with patients this summer and see it for myself in the hospital.”

Susannah plans to pursue graduate studies in counseling following her graduation from the University of Richmond this spring.