From pre-surgery prayer to pastoral counsel and worship services, our professional, caring ministers are always available to offer spiritual and emotional support to patients and families of all faiths.
Chaplain services
Our chaplains are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to support patients and their families. We provide:
- Spiritual, emotional, and sacramental support
- Pastoral care and counseling
- Empathic listening
- Consultations on difficult decisions
The Pastoral Services department ensures that patients of all faiths have their spiritual needs met in accordance with their faith tradition.
We offer two regular services in the Di and Dallas Krapf Interfaith Chapel:
- Catholic mass: Wednesday at noon
- Jumu'ah prayer service: Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Our ministerial staff offers attentive care and counseling to patients and their families.
Meet our chaplains
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David Simmons, DMin, BCC
Director of Pastoral ServicesThe Reverend David B. Simmons, DMin, BCC, serves as the Director of Pastoral Services. With 25 years ministry experience, David served congregations in Texas, Virginia, and Pennsylvania before coming to Hershey Medical Center in 2011. David is a graduate of the Clinical Pastoral Education residency program at Hershey and has conducted research in emotional crisis and faith, provider-patient communication, post-traumatic growth, and the spirituality of men in crisis. He has served the Neuroscience Critical Care Unit, the Medical Intensive Care Unit, Palliative Care, and Trauma Services.
David coordinates a 30+ member team of chaplain educators, chaplain interns, chaplain residents, staff chaplains, and chaplain associates. David is an ordained Baptist minister and is endorsed for ministry through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. David holds a Masters of Divinity Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Master of Health Administration degree from Penn State Harrisburg. He is board certified in chaplaincy through the Association of Professional Chaplains.
Biography -
David Carnish, MDiv
Clinical Pastoral Education ManagerThe Rev. David Carnish leads the clinical pastoral education (CPE) program at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center as manager. An ordained Baptist minister, he has served as a chaplain since 1990 in Level I Trauma hospitals, nursing homes, hospice facilities and churches. He was also as an interim pastor and associate minister at Baptist churches in Louisville, Ky., and San Francisco.
Previously, Carnish supervised clinical pastoral education programs at Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Cone Health in Greensboro, N.C. He graduated from Valdosta State College in Valdosta, Ga., with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and received his Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. In 2020, Carnish earned a Master of Arts in interdisciplinary humanities from Penn State and is currently working toward a doctorate in art history at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University.
Biography -
Kenton Derstine, MDiv, DMin
Clinical Pastoral EducatorKenton T. Derstine joined the Pastoral Services staff at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in 2020. Certified by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), he has served as a pastoral educator for more than 25 years. He earned his master’s of divinity from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., and a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
After completing his training at Indiana University Health, Derstine became a CPE supervisor and later CPE program manager at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. He also served as director of CPE and field education at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va. In addition to his position at Hershey Medical Center, Derstine is an associate faculty member at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Washington, D.C.
Biography -
Brittany Powell, MDiv
Clinical Pastoral EducatorRev. Brittany Powell serves as a clinical pastoral educator (CPE) at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Previously, she was a CPE-Certified Educator Candidate and Chaplain Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads in Falls Church, Va. She has also served as a chaplain for Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care in Newark, Del. Originally from Atlanta, Powell earned a master’s of divinity from the Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and is endorsed for ministry through the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Currently, Powell is preparing for the final phase of her certification as a chaplain educator by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education.
Biography -
Darlene Miller Cooley, MDiv
Staff ChaplainThe Reverend Darlene M. Miller joined the full-time pastoral services staff in July 2016. Currently her clinical assignments include the Cardiac Care and Neurology departments. She brings a wealth of professional, pastoral, and life experience to the position. Before entering ministry she was an accomplished human resources specialist, Director of Equal Employment Opportunity, certified mediator and trainer with the U.S. Department of Navy and other government organizations.
She received her Bachelor of Art degree in Psychology from West Virginia State University, Institute, West Virginia and Master of Art degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
She is an ordained Baptist minister, has served as associate pastor at Harrisburg churches, and is presently serving as an associate pastor at the Goodwin Memorial Baptist Church in Harrisburg, PA. She is a graduate of Hershey Medical Center’s Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) intern and residency programs. Since 2015 she has served the HMC Department of Pastoral Services as PRN Chaplain Associate and has led the Martin Luther King services for the past two years.
Darlene is a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and has been blessed with traveling to many places. Most recently she traveled to Israel for a two weeks stay. Her most precious memory from this trip was the breath taking allure of the Holy land while walking through the stories she has learned since childhood.
Biography -
Kelsey O'Brien, MDiv
Staff Chaplain, Palliative Care and OncologyKelsey O’Brien is the palliative chaplain at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Since 2017, she has served in the Neonatal Intensive Care, Labor and Delivery, Oncology and COVID-19 Intensive Care units, as well as supported palliative care patients throughout the hospital. Through her work with the palliative population, Kelsey has become an expert on end-of-life questions and choices, and the spiritual worries that often accompany living with a serious illness.
Kelsey is ordained and endorsed in the United Church of Christ and board-certified through the Association of Professional Chaplains. She completed her Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J., and Bachelor of Arts in theology at Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.
Her research interests include bereavement and loss support, grief, trauma-informed care, health care ethics, and burnout and compassion fatigue in the health care provider setting. In her free time, Kelsey enjoys nature, baking and reading.
Biography -
Laura Ramsey, MA, BCC
Senior Staff Chaplain, Penn State Health Children’s HospitalThe Reverend Laura Ramsey serves as the senior staff chaplain in Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, coordinating all spiritual care, with a focus on caring for staff. Laura completed her Clinical Pastoral Education residency program at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where her clinical assignments were in pediatrics, women’s health and oncology. She then served as staff chaplain at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Women & Babies Hospital for several years.
Laura received her board certification in chaplaincy in 2014 and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She earned her Master of Arts in ministerial studies from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (now United Lutheran Seminary) and is currently working toward her Doctor of Ministry at United Lutheran Seminary. Laura has two young children and enjoys time with family, restoring her family’s old farmhouse and playing the piano.
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