Hospital Chaplaincy
March 2, 2026 Letter to Pastors and Churches
Greetings Pastors and Churches,
We want to inform you of recent changes at our hospitals that affect our Baptist Hospital Ministry. Recently, and in anticipation of the province switching to electronic medical records, we were advised that the Spiritual Care Department will formally transition to a consult service. This means that chaplains will no longer be able to make unsolicited contact with members of your congregation. As a result, we may miss patients unless they or their families specifically request our support. We can also respond to a referral from their pastor--just contact us to give patient details.
We are seeking your help to partner with us so we can communicate widely with our Baptist community. We ask that, for at least the next three months, you include the following announcement in your bulletin or on-screen announcements. We will have an updated version in the fall around Spiritual Care week.
We appreciate your support through prayer and giving in the past. We also thank you in advance for your help with this important announcement.
Serving alongside you in Christ,
Rev. Joe Green, Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy Coordinator
For both planned and unplanned hospitalizations, we continue to ask our Baptist family to ensure they reply "I'm a Baptist" when asked about their religious or spiritual needs at registration. Regardless of whether you are a member of a Baptist church or simply call a Baptist church "home", every patient has the right to self-identify with the faith group of their choosing.
NEW: In addition to this, if seeing a Baptist Chaplain will be helpful to your care, we ask our Baptist family to ask their nurse or care provider to "consult a chaplain". Please identify yourself so that a Baptist chaplain can be sent at your request. This way we can support you and your family during your time at hospital with us.
Chaplain Contact Information:
Thank you for helping us help you in your time of need!
Funding and 2026 Operating Budget
The Halifax Hospital Chaplaincy is funded entirely by support of the following parties: the HRUBA Budget, a grant from the Atlantic Baptist Foundation, support from local Baptist churches and regional associations, and donations from foundations, individuals and estates.
With accounting and payroll services provided free of charge by the office of the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada, and offices, computer and paging services provided by the hospitals and the chaplains overseen by a volunteer committee, our overhead is kept to 2% of our budget, which means that 98% of all donations go directly to providing chaplaincy ministry.
A copy of the Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy Budget, approved on February 19, 2026, and including Estimates of Income and Expenditure for 2026 and comparative data from 2020 to 2025 is available here.
We also have several one-third page information panels covering frequently asked questions. You may print or download these documents:
1. “What impact does your giving to the Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy have?” A copy is available here.
2. "Information for Donors," including information about tax receipts for donations. A copy is available here.
3. "How to Donate," which gives details of how to make out a cheque and where to send it, electronic funds transfer and donation via the CBAC Website. A copy is available here.
If you would like color copies of the any of the information panels sent to your church, please send an email request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Information for Donors
Financial support for our budget comes from the budget of the Halifax Region United Baptist Association, supplemented by a grant from the Atlantic Baptist Foundation and donations from local Baptist Churches and Associations of Baptist Churches. Recently, donations from interested individuals, estates and foundations have increased—perhaps as a memorial to someone who spent time in hospital who was blessed by the Hospital Chaplaincy Ministry.
With accounting and payroll support provided free of charge by the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC), office space provided by the hospitals, and oversight provided by a volunteer committee, we are able to keep our overhead to only 2% of our budget. This means that 98% of all donations can be used to hire Chaplains for the provision of Hospital Chaplaincy Ministry.
As a Ministry of the Halifax Region United Baptist Association, which is a Registered Charity, all donations are eligible for tax receipts. Tax receipts for donations made in the current fiscal year (January 1 to December 31) will be issued early in the next year.
Three Ways to Donate to the Hospital Chaplaincy Operating Budget
By cheque:*
Please make out your cheque to Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada
Mail it to: PO Box 6003 Moncton, NB E1C 0V7
By electronic funds transfer to CBAC:*
Auto deposit is available by sending to Debbie Barriault, Director of Finance This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
On the CBAC Website:*
https://atlanticbaptist.ca/give/
* Please note that your donation is for the Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy
Endowment Fund
Several years ago we established an Endowment Fund to provide long term financial support for the Hospital Chaplaincy ministry, and donations to this fund are already yielding dividends that contribute to the annual operational budget.
In addition to cash donations, the Enowment Fund is also able to receive a transfer of shares of publicly traded stocks. This will be of interest to donors who wish to reduce taxation on capital gains.
Details are available from:
About the Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy
Greetings on behalf of the Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy Committee. We thank you for your prayers and financial support for our Chaplaincy Ministry.
The Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy is a ministry of the Halifax Region United Baptist Association (HRUBA) which provides chaplaincy ministry to patients, families and staff in the four hospitals in peninsular Halifax--the QEII Health Sciences Centre Halifax Infirmary, Victoria General Hospital, and Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre; and the IWK Health Centre, which provides care for women and children. These hospitals provide medical services not only to residents of Halifax, but to all of Nova Scotia, and specialized medical services to patients from the entire maritimes.
The chaplaincy ministry is overseen by a Committee of volunteers which reports to the HRUBA Council.
Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy Committee
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Chair: Alan Barkhouse
Clerk: Rev. Dr. Marlene Knowles
Treasurer: David Gibson
Member: Rev. Steve Baker
Member: Lic. Sharon White (on furlough)
Chaplains: Rev. Joe Green, Rev. Dr. Ida Armstrong-Whitehouse and Rev. Wayne Desmond
Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy Brochure
We have a six panel tri-fold brochure what describes this ministry and intoduces our Chaplains.
It includes contact information for our Chaplains so you can let them know when a patient in a Halifax hospital would like a visit.
These brochures provide useful information for patients or families planning for hospitalization.
You may print or download this document. A copy of our Brochure is available
If you would like color copies of the brochure sent to to your church, please send an email request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Hospital Chaplain Contact Information
Please feel free to contact the chaplains if you have questions or would like to let us know a friend or loved one is in the hospital who would like a visit.
Halifax Hospitals:
Rev. Dr. Ida Armstrong-Whitehouse
Rev. Wayne Desmond
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
We also have a close working relationship with the Hospital Chaplain at the Dartmouth General Hospital. As patients are frequently transferred between the Halifax hospitals and the Dartmouth General Hospital, this helps to ensure that chaplaincy ministry follows the patient.
Meet our Chaplains
We welcomed the Rev. Joe Green as our full time Chaplain in June, 2022. In May of 2024 he accepted a postion with NS Health as half time Spiritual Care Coordinator for Halifax hospitals, which reduced his time with us to half time. This is an excellent arrangement as it secures the visibility of the Chaplaincy within the health care system and also provides ongoing support for the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) courses for those training to become chaplains. Those students provide chaplaincy care to some of the Baptist patients as part of their clinical training. In the half time that he continues to work with us, Joe acts as Coordinating Baptist Chaplain and provides chaplaincy care to patients, their families and staff at the QEII Halifax Infirmary site Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The Rev. Dr. Armstrong-Whitehouse continues as our part time Chaplain, working 12 hours per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the QEII Victoria General site, NS Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre and IWH Health Centre.
At the beginning of May, 2025, the Rev. Wayne Desmond joined the team, working 15 hours per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays providing services at the QEII Halifax Infirmary and Victoria General sites.
Photos and short bios on Joe, Ida and Waye are available here.
Information to Pastors about Hospital Visiting
Requirements vary depending on the hospital, ward, and current infection control precautions. If you are considering hospital visiting, please contact one of the Chaplains to get the most recent information on any limitations or precautions you may face.
Joe is now offering short "visitation workshops" for local pastors covering topics such as infection control, confidentiality and best practices that a number of pastors have found very useful. Please contact Joe directly if you would like to attend one of the workshops or if you would like to request a topic for a future workshop.
Please note that the Hospital Chaplains are regarded as "staff" and will be able to visit even when you may not be able to, so they may be able to visit for you if you give them the patient information.
Spiritual Health Awareness Week: October 19-25, 2025
As we celebrate Spiritual Helath Awareness Week 2025, there are some useful resouce materials that you may wish to view on the website of the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care https://www.spiritualcare.ca/.
These include a number of short video presentations developed for Spiritual Health Awareness Week. Our Baptist Coordinating Chaplain, Rev. Joe Green, was asked to be interviewed for two of them:
1. What is a Spiritual Care Practitioner? (3 minutes 30 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSf6aTPL4T8
2. Why does Spirtual Health Matter? (58 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oWKxkUh-r9I
Induction Service for Rev. Wayne Desmond
The Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplaincy Committee is please to share a recording of the Induction Service of the Rev. Wayne Desmond as Halifax Baptist Hospital Chaplain that was held on Sunday, September 28, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. at New Beginnings Ministries, 26 Cherry Brook Road, Cherry Brook, NS B2Z 1A8. We were joined by many family members, former congregants and professional and clerical colleagues as we celebrated Wayne and his call to the Chaplaincy Ministry. The Guest Speaker was Rev. Dr. Dan Green. The friendly and inspirational service was followed by a reception provided by the Welfare Planners of New Beginnings Ministries.
The video is available at https://youtube.com/live/XR0wCX2WL58?feature=share. Please note that sound does not start until minute 6.
Annual Reports
A copy of our 2025 Annual Report that was included in the Halifax Region United Baptist Association Annal Reports Book for their Annual General Meeting of March 14, 2026 is available here.
A copy of our 2024 Annual Report that was included in the Halifax Region United Baptist Association Annual Reports Book is available here.
A copy of our 2023 Annual Report which was included in the Halifax Region United Baptist Association Annual Reports Book is available here.
A copy of our 2022 Annual Report which was included in the Halifax Region United Baptist Association Annual Reports Book is available here.
Letters to Churches
A copy of our March 20, 2026 letter to Pastors and Churches is available here.
A copy of our September 20, 2025 letter to Churches is available here.
A copy of our May 22, 2025 e-mail letter to HRUBA Council, Pastors Churches and Pastors is available here.
A copy of our October 10, 2024 letter to Churches is available here.
A copy of our May 27, 2024 letter to Churches, which outlines recent staff changes to the Hospital Chaplaincy ministry, is available here.
A copy of our October 13, 2023 Letter to Churches is available here.
A copy of our May 16, 2023 e-mail Letter to Churches is available here.
A copy of our October 7, 2022 Letter to Churches is available here.
A copy of our July 12, 2022 Letter to Churches is available here.
A copy of our September 15,2021 Letter to Local Churches is available here.