Sojourn Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

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Sojourn Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

Sojourn Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center aka Sojourn Chaplaincy Inc SFGH is a unique facility.

San Francisco General Hospital

SFGH is a Level 1 Trauma Center, a prestigious research center in collaboration with the UCSF School of Medicine, home of the only Psychiatric Emergency Service in San Francisco and provider of extensive in-patient and out-patient medical services to the diverse people of the San Francisco Bay Area. SFGH is operated by the City and County of San Francisco and is str

ongly committed to serving every individual who enters its doors regardless of ability to pay. Many of the patients we serve are socially and economically marginalized, homeless, suffer from mental illness or substance abuse or are victims of trauma or violence. With its bustling lobby and extensive grounds, it is a city unto itself. And yet, with staff singularly committed to providing excellent medical care to those individuals who face the most extensive barriers in accessing care, SFGH also has the feel of a loving family.

07/27/2026

Today we’re introducing something we’ve been dreaming about for a long time.

The Compassion Circle is a community of people who have chosen to include Sojourn Chaplaincy in their estate plans.

Not because they have enormous wealth.

Not because they have everything figured out.

But because they know what compassionate presence can mean during life’s hardest moments.

A future gift of any size, helps ensure that patients, families, and healthcare workers at SF General Hospital will continue to have someone who listens, stays, and walks beside them.

Many members simply designate a percentage of a bank account, retirement account or include Sojourn in their will. Every commitment helps build a future where compassionate care remains available to those who need it most.

If you’ve ever wondered how your values can continue to make a difference beyond your lifetime, we’d love to introduce you to the Compassion Circle.

Learn more through the link in our bio.

How are you leaving a legacy of compassion?

06/29/2026

Partnerships make compassionate care stronger.

We’re grateful to SFGH Foundation for featuring Sojourn Chaplaincy and our Executive Director, John McLean Wolff, highlighting the role spiritual care plays alongside medicine every day at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Together, we’re helping ensure that patients, families, and healthcare workers receive not only excellent medical care, but compassionate emotional and spiritual support when they need it most.

Thank you to the Foundation for sharing our story - and to everyone who makes this work possible.

06/18/2026

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas finally learned they were free - more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

As healthcare providers and spiritual care practitioners, we recognize that history continues to shape health. The legacy of slavery, segregation, and unequal access to resources continues to impact Black communities today.

This Juneteenth, we celebrate Black resilience, culture, leadership, and achievement while renewing our commitment to health equity and justice for all.

06/12/2026

This Pride Month arrives in a difficult time.

Across the country and around the world, many LGBTQ+ people are watching hard-won progress come under renewed attack. HIV/AIDS research funding has been cut. International HIV prevention programs that have saved millions of lives face an uncertain future. Gender-affirming healthcare is being restricted in many states. LGBTQ+ immigrants, asylum seekers, and communities of color are facing increased fear as immigration enforcement, detention, racial profiling, and racism continue to threaten the safety and dignity of vulnerable people.

Many people are living with uncertainty and the experience of being reduced to a political issue rather than seen as a human being.

In moments like these, it helps to remember our history.

Sojourn was founded during the AIDS epidemic, when people were getting sick and dying while facing profound stigma, isolation, and rejection. Our founders chose a different response. They showed up. They sat at bedsides. They listened. They prayed. They grieved. They advocated. They accompanied people through illness, loss, and uncertainty.

Years later, Bishop William Swing reflected on that work:

“My job was to allow them to see the humanity, not the issue.”

That wisdom feels especially important today.

The challenges facing LGBTQ+ communities in 2026 are not the same as those of the 1980s. But our history reminds us that dignity is not something people earn. It reminds us to see the person behind the debate, to build communities where people know they belong, and to show up for one another when fear and uncertainty threaten to pull us apart.

This Pride Month, we honor those who came before us. We celebrate the resilience, courage, and leadership of LGBTQ+ communities. And we recommit ourselves to the simple practice that gave birth to Sojourn: showing up for one another.

🌈 Happy Pride.

05/12/2026

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

In hospitals, people carry more than physical exhaustion.

Healthcare workers witness trauma, loss, uncertainty, and moral distress every day. Patients and families are often navigating fear, grief, and isolation at the same time.

Spiritual care creates space for people to pause, breathe, process, grieve, and reconnect with what helps them keep going.

Sometimes care looks like a conversation.
Sometimes it looks like silence.
Sometimes it looks like a referral.
Sometimes it is simply knowing you do not have to carry something alone.

Mental health support is part of compassionate healthcare.
So is spiritual care.

What helps you manage your stress?

04/28/2026

This week is Patient Experience Week.

At Sojourn Chaplaincy, we’re grateful to be part of the Patient Experience community at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Patient experience is not separate from care. It’s how care is received - whether someone feels respected, heard, and treated as a whole person in the midst of illness or crisis.

Every interaction matters. The way a question is asked. The time someone takes to listen. The presence offered when there are no easy answers.

Spiritual care is part of that experience. Our chaplains sit with patients and families in moments of fear, grief, and uncertainty, and we support staff who carry this work every day.

We’re grateful to be woven into this work, and to stand alongside all those who make care more compassion-full.

Who are you celebrating this patient experience week??

04/27/2026

We just wanna offer a deep bow of gratitude to everyone who has applied for our fall 2026 training program. We are sorting through the application and will be reaching out this week to setup interviews with applicants we will be moving forward with. We ask for your patience as we sort through applications and look forward to meeting many of you through the interview process.
It’s clear already that this Fall 2026 class is going to be something very special.

Have you ever applied for a chaplaincy training program?

04/22/2026

Environmental justice is public health.

Health is shaped by the conditions people live in: air, water, housing, and climate.

Here in San Francisco, these realities are not abstract. Communities like Bayview–Hunters Point have long faced environmental burdens that directly impact health, from air quality to industrial exposure, as well as generationally rooted unequal access to resources.

In healthcare settings, we see these conditions manifest in people’s lives every day.

Health is never only individual. It is shaped by the environment, our community, and systems of equity or systems of injustice.

As we mark Earth Day, we’re reminded that caring for people requires caring for the world we live in and that this work is inseparable from justice.

04/20/2026

Care does not happen in isolation.
In hospitals, in communities, in moments of crisis—care is something people carry together.

We see it every day.

In the ways staff support one another through long and difficult shifts.
In the quiet presence of someone sitting with a patient who is not alone.
In the many small, steady ways, people continue to show up for each other.

This is the heart of spiritual care.

It is not about having the right words.
It is about being willing to be present.

At Sojourn, spiritual care volunteers are trained through our Community Chaplaincy Training Program.
If you feel called to this kind of work, we invite you to learn more.

Applications for our Fall 2026 training program are open now and due at the end of April.

You can find the application at the link in our bio.

03/09/2026

March is Women’s History Month, and we are honoring the women who care for our communities every day.

In hospitals and clinics across the country, women serve as physicians, nurses, chaplains, social workers, and support staff-showing up with skill, compassion, and courage.

Some forms of care require courage.

Supporting patients through pregnancy, illness, and loss.
Standing with people at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
Advocating for those whose humanity is being denied.

We are grateful for the women who continue to show up-day after day -to care for others and to protect the dignity of every patient.

Thank you.

Address

San Francisco General Hospital And Trauma Center
San Francisco, CA
94110

Telephone

+14152068814

Website

http://www.sojournchaplaincy.org/

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