Blind volunteer chaplain overcomes obstacles to help Mesa hospital patients

Article in "The Arizona Republic" dated June 29,2010

Five days a week Timothy Burdick and his dog, Ansel, roam Banner Baywood Medical Center and Banner Heart Hospital, each wearing an identification badge with their name and picture as they comfort patients and offer a listening ear and a head to pet.
Burdick is a volunteer chaplain, and Ansel is his seeing-eye dog.
Volunteer chaplain helps Mesa patients
Burdick, 56, is part way through the process of becoming a board-certified chaplain, which may elevate him from the status of a volunteer to a hospital employee. He is on his third of four units of classes, which will wrap up in September, and then he'll stay at the hospital to complete his 1,600-hour internship.
He started volunteering at Banner in January, a month after his wife, Susan, died of multiple health complications. His wife of a little over three years, Susan was a registered nurse; Burdick said working in a hospital makes him feel close to her because he is leading the life they talked about living together.
The Southern California native is not new to chaplain work; he worked as one during graduate school and in a mental-health hospital in Washington.
He said the convenience of getting around a hospital is something that drew him back: He walks by feeling his way along its walls, and the setup doesn't change much, give or take a few obstacles.
His chaplain certification will come from the Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Association, which matched him with Chaplain David Yanez, staff chaplain at Banner Baywood and Banner Heart, and Burdick's teacher.
Yanez said working with Burdick has taught him and the hospital staff that accommodating a person who is blind is far from impossible. There are some ways Burdick is limited, but they have found ways around every challenge.
"My identity isn't wrapped up in my blindness," Burdick said. "I always realize that if I'm going to do something, I can do it, but I have to figure out . . . the different challenges in the way, what I need to overcome."
One of the biggest challenges was finding a way for Burdick to fill out patient charts at the end of the day. Instead of filling out a form, he uses a program called JAWS, a screen reading program that allows him to input all of the same information. He studies online and can listen to some of his readings.
Perhaps Burdick's biggest hurdle was navigating the hospital campus.
But after six months, he said he's become comfortable finding his way around. At first it was like a maze, and he had to rely heavily on Ansel to get from place to place.
Still, when Burdick travels to a less familiar part of the campus or goes to an area he can't take Ansel, he isn't afraid to ask questions or bump into things.
"I make due with what I have," he said.
And though he can't see exactly what's going on, important especially during emergency situations, Burdick says he has other ways of knowing what's going on and how to help.
"If I really listen, I can tell a lot about the non-verbals," he said. He has learned what questions to ask and how to get through to people, including using humor and sometimes just letting Ansel do the work.
Not all patients want to pray, hear about Burdick's beliefs or talk about religion, but he said he tries to find common ground with every patient, even those who refuse to hear his message.
"Whatever their stance is, you let them know you respect them," he said.
Aside from the hospital being a good fit for him physically, Burdick said helping people work through their pain has been a way for him to work through his own pain of losing his wife.
"It helps me when I know I can help someone else," he said. "People have given so much to me in my life. . . . This is my way of giving back."